Margaret Carney officially started her new role today but it seems that open government may not be high on the agenda.
A request for a photo of Graham Haywood's replacement with her team on her first day, plus a quick chat with her local 'paper, has been turned down by the council press office on the grounds that she is too busy.
While we hope this is not a sign of things to come, we would like to wish Margaret Carney all the best through the course of what will undoubtedly prove to be a challenging 2009 for the authority.
]]>The credit crunch has bitten hard, meaning that sales in the Christmas rush will have determined whether many stores will stay open in 2009 - or whether they will be forced to close.
It is disgraceful then, that in Southport, Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
Neighbouring authorities in Liverpool and Wirral both introduced schemes over December that allowed shoppers to park for free over Christmas - but not in Southport.
Here, despite a 'comprehensive' report into all aspects of parking that was published during the autumn, council officers and councillors neglected to consider local traders.
By the time they gave it thought, in November, they considered it would be 'too late' to introduce.
Such apathy is nothing short of scandalous.
When they are putting together their New Year's resolutions for 2009, Sefton Council MUST make it a priority to see what it can do to help local shops in what will be some very challenging months ahead.
It is time Nero stopped fiddling, and urgently begins fire-fighting before it's too late.
]]>Some readers have expressed concern to the Visiter that the closure will leave a worrying and sizeable gap.
It is doubtful the premises will stay vacant for long, however - the only store with doors facing onto both Lord Street and Chapel Street, with sizeable floorspace, it it a prime site.
Bargain hunters were flocking through the doors on Woolies' last day, but it shouldn't be too long before they're returning to welcome in the new tenants.
]]>A lot of charities are among those finding life difficult.
So a month after the Visiter launched our Alex Appeal, urging our readers to help send 10-year-old cancer sufferer Alex Powderly on a well-deserved holiday of a lifetime, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of readers who swiftly came to his aid, and raised even more cash for some very deserving charities besides.
A huge thank you to everyone - you really have made it a merry Christmas for a very special young boy.
Readers have also been incredibly forthcoming in making Christmas wishes come true for other people in town.
The Visiter's Christmas Wish Appeal continues to provide food hampers for our town's senior citizens and others in need of cheering up at this time of year, plus giving a helping hand to some local youngsters.
Rotarians, churches, the students and staff of KGV College and all those who brought goods into our office on Tulketh Street have brought smiles to the faces of many this Christmas. Thank you all!
As we're tucking into our turkey and snoozing in front of the TV, staff and volunteers at Southport & Formby District General Hospital will be working round the clock to provide the best possible care and support for patients and their families.
So we're hoping you will jump at the chance to recognise their hard work by nominating in the forthcoming Pride Awards, which aim to honour the dedication of hospital employees.
The awards, launched by Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust, will give patients and relatives the chance to shine a light on the people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make a difference to them.
We all know somebody who has been in hospital, and we all know how valuable the work of staff and volunteers is in making it a clean, warm and friendly place.
Southport Hospital was recently graded 'excellent' by the Health Care Commission for its exceptional standards of patient care, and the awards are the perfect opportunity to celebrate this hard-earned success.
So if you know an unsung hero at Southport Hospital then let them know what a difference they make, and nominate them for a Pride Award.
It's the least we can do.
]]>And yet an estimated 4,000 families in North Sefton are desperate to move into new homes. So it is of deep concern that house building has slowed down, with thousands of construction workers laid off.
Now the Government has announced that 500 homes must be built in Sefton each year from now until 2021.
The past few months have been difficult, but hopes are now growing that the US Senate may have set the wheels turning to start the recovery in the banking world and that as a result the housing market locally may soon start to recover.
When it does, the pages in the Southport Visiter's popular Your Property supplement are testament to the fact that thousands of people desperately want to live in Southport.
To people from outside town (and famously those wanting to retire here!), our resort is a stunning place in which to live. The battle is on, however, for the new homes to be built within the Southport area. It is time for an end to Sefton's calamitous Pathfinder scheme which has placed restrictive controls preventing many developers from building much sought-after homes in Southport.
Instead, planners have tried to encourage the building of new properties in areas such as Bootle, Netherton and Litherland, creating an artificial demand which simply does not exist - except out of necessity.
This has made life desperate for would-be first-time buyers and young families in Southport who want to buy homes near their families, among friends and raise their own children in the town which they love.
Why force a 'regeneration' of South Sefton by giving families from the north of the borough little choice but to move into an area where they simply do not want to live?
Market forces - and people's own choice - should be left to rule.
Let's build these new homes - but let's make sure they're built in Southport.
]]>But the warmest of all deserves to be extended to incredible fundraiser Andy Monk, who is due to arrive outside Southport Town Hall at 1pm today (Thursday, September 18) partway through a mammoth 5,262-mile mission that was inspired by the wife he so dearly loves.
He is visiting radio station and newspaper offices across Britain to ask them to pass the message on that every day without a cure is a day too late for somebody with MS.
The love of Andy's wife, Gwen, has had MS for 15 years, although she wasn't diagnosed until 2000.
Andy said: "It was our silver wedding anniversary a few years ago and I asked Gwen that if she could have anything in the world, what would it be. She said 'I just want to be able to walk properly again'. It was an indication of how MS can affect you - it takes away the ability to do things that we all take for granted."
His target for the North is £10,000, £50,000 overall.
So if you're in town today, please pop along, give him whatever donations you can - and give a truly inspirational human being the warmest of applause to encourage him along.
If you cannot make it to the town hall, please e-mail Andy at: andy@walkamile.co.uk
]]>In recent weeks, the Southport Visiter has reported how local families, local businesses and even the local authority have suffered after hefty demands for utility bills thudded onto their doormats.
Now even our churches are not immune from big firms trying to squeeze every last drop from them after Ofwat gave the green light for the imposition of a controversial new charge.
Local clergymen now fear that churches - many of whom are already under great financial pressure due to falling congregations and growing repair and maintenance bills - could face closure.
Like the proverbial tea cup stemming the rainwater flooding through the church roof, it will take a lot of bailing out just to stay afloat.
No wonder church leaders are furious that much of local people's profound generosity - displayed in filling collection plates each week, or contributing to the church fair - will now go straight into utility firms' ever-deepening pockets.
Places of worship play an incredible role in our community.
They are safe havens for the very people who need help the most. Their support is unquestioning. They give people hope, they get them back on their feet when others turn away.
They celebrate our marriages, help us mourn our deaths, mark our arrivals into this world.
They provide luncheon clubs, meeting places for parents and toddlers, Sunday school and holiday clubs for youngsters, companionship and gifts for older people at Christmas.
Their many and varied projects help shelter and feed the homeless, and even support some remarkable projects rebuilding lives of those in the Third World.
How much of their superb work will now go undone? And at what human cost?
This new charge is disgraceful, grubby and money-grabbing - parishioners may as well pour their hard-earned cash down the drain. We hope they will continue to support our local churches now more than ever.
]]>With Labour on the back foot nationally, the Conservatives have used the ever-divisive issue of healthcare to score political points with a stomach-churning report.
In a busy hospital environment - where thousands of people pass in and out daily - pest infestations are bound to occur and even the smallest case should not be ignored.
Southport Hospital has proven itself as a safe and clean environment - it has been free from superbug MRSA since last year.
Frankly, it should not matter how many times controllers are called out - just that pest problems are dealt with quickly and safely.
It's Great Up North
BLACKPOOL-born Coleen Nolan has shown her support to the North by saying that it's time to knock all those regional stereotypes on the head.
Coleen, who will open this year's Southport Flower Show said the event is a perfect way to show the rest of the UK that we don't just "wear flat caps and eat pies" all the time.
Thousands of visitors will be flocking through the gates of Victoria Park for the Flower Show in a couple of weeks and it is a brilliant opportunity to show them the resort for what it is: a friendly, welcoming town, rich with culture and history.
Friday saw M People and The Christians wow crowds with hits such as Harvest For The World, Movin' On Up, Proud and Search For The Hero. They were first class.
Saturday saw rising operatic star Natasha Marsh accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharnmonic Orchestra in performing some rousing classical favourites. Sefton schoolchildren also impressed the crowds with their impressive performance of opera ITOKU, which was specially written for the Capital of Culture.
This really has become such a popular event in Southport, congratulations to Sefton Council for their part in putting on such a great show.
The crowds on both nights, certainly everyone we spoke to, loved it. Even the weather was kind this year! The sun certainly smiled more on the Classics than it did on The Open last week!
Here's looking to Southport Summer Classics 2009 - we can't wait to see who'll top the bill next year...
Friday saw M People and The Christians wow crowds with hits such as Harvest For The World, Movin' On Up, Proud and Search For The Hero. They were first class.
Saturday saw rising operatic star Natasha Marsh accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharnmonic Orchestra in performing some rousing classical favourites. Sefton schoolchildren also impressed the crowds with their impressive performance of opera ITOKU, which was specially written for the Capital of Culture.
This really has become such a popular event in Southport, congratulations to Sefton Council for their part in putting on such a great show.
The crowds on both nights, certainly everyone we spoke to, loved it. Even the weather was kind this year! The sun certainly smiled more on the Classics than it did on The Open last week!
Here's looking to Southport Summer Classics 2009 - we can't wait to see who'll top the bill next year...
Urgent care for children will return to our town after an absence of nearly six years, and we are delighted that the huge weight of public opinion has prevailed.
Back in 2002, the Southport Visiter launched a campaign against the removal of children's A&E services from our town.
We were astounded by the sheer scale of the response.
More than 26,000 people signed our petitions against the closure. Thousands took part in a march to the hospital. Politicians of all sides put aside their differences to unite in a common cause.
We were inundated with readers protesting to us by phone, via e-mail, calling into our office, sending in letters.
Soon the stories started to come in about parents furious at having to drive past the multi-million pound facility on Town Lane with their sick or injured children in the back of their cars, heading towards Ormskirk on what is often a very congested road. Sometimes, they were then turned away from Ormskirk, pointed in the direction of Alder Hey instead.
The story in this week's Visiter about Georgina Aindow, 4, turned away from Ormskirk Hospital with a broken arm is a case in point.
What should be a basic human right - for a parent to see their child assessed and treated at the nearest hospital and as quickly as possible when they're screaming in pain - on this occasion became an even more traumatic experience.
Many people have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring about this good news. They deserve a huge pat on the back, as does Sefton Primary Care Trust chief executive Leigh Griffin and his team who will now put the plans into place. The town's leading local newspaper will of course keep readers up to date with exactly what services the unit will provide, how it will work and when it will open.
This news is just the tonic that parents across Southport needed.
It seems that sometimes, perception and reality may differ.
A recent comment on the visiter forums, from ianpeter, reads: "I wonder why it seems that so many will write about the negative things to do with the NHS. Yet ignore any news that is positive and which the trust and staff involved deserve a big pat on the back.
"Southport and Ormskirk hospitals have no reports of MRSA, yet hardly anyone has made an point to say well done. Yet in this week's Visiter we See yet another negative story about a child going to Ormskirk and being unable to get a certain treatment.
"A few weeks ago the local press reported about young boy who was told he had to go to Alder Hey, because as the paper said, there was no doctors available. Yet on closer examination of the story, what was said, was that if the child required surgery for a suspected appendicitis, there was no paediatric surgeon available. That was why the child was referred to Alder Hey, still not the best thing for a child's ER, but not as bad as it seemed."
In this week's Visiter we DO publish the story about the Trust's excellent continuation of keeping MRSA at bay - ahead of the story about the girl with the broken arm!
Indeed the Southport Visiter is always happy to publish positive stories about the NHS in Southport.
In this week's edition, we feature the good news about a children's centre due to arrive in Southport soon, on pages 1 and 3. The story about the Trust's superb MRSA figures were published on page 27, along with a photo of some of the staff responsible.
The story about the girl who broke her arm but could not be treated at Ormskirk Hospital appeared further back still, on page 31, behind the good news stories.
We felt it was newsworthy because when children's A&E services were removed from Southport six years ago, the main reason given was that better care could be provided at Ormskirk.
Any parent with a screaming child in the back of the car, in severe pain, faces a traumatic experience having to drive past Southport Hospital, and to Ormskirk, for treatment - that trauma is made worse when treatment is then denied, for whatever reason, with the parent then redirected to Alder Hey. No small journey in any circumstances.
We congratulate Sefton Primary Care Trust for their long-awaited decision to provide a children's walk-in facility in Southport. Many hundreds of parents in Southport will no doubt be equally delighted.
When it comes to good news about local health services, and about the successes of staff working for local health services, we are always delighted to hear about and report such great news.
As far as jobs go in Southport, these people are among the most respected in our community for what they do, and deservedly so. We will continue to showcase their efforts, their ability, their determination whenever and wherever we can - we are as proud of what they do as anyone else in Southport.
So if anyone out there hears of any good news story we should be covering - please let us know!!
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