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Editorial
There are two major changes proposed in the re-organisation of Local
Government operations. The first is the privatisation of the Parks and
Gardens Department which will affect all our Open Spaces (called PACSPE).
- the details of this are in our report on the Friends of Heswall Open
Spaces. The second is the Government's recently published Localism Bill.
As this is at a very early discussion stage - and not very clearly set out
- we will need to know just how this will affect us.
On our own activities since the Autumn Newsletter, our Open Meetings are
all drawing larger audiences, our Local History Group articles are
attracting a lot of attention - and new members. The Carols were well
attended and the Rangers Working Parties are also coaxing more helpers to
assist. Your Society continues to flourish - please pass the word!
David Stewart, Editor
Chairman's Notes - Spring Newsletter
Good news concerning Heswall and Alexandra Halls, about which Graham
Hurton will be reporting in more detail later in this Newsletter. Here, I
would just like to congratulate and thank Graham and the Steering Group
for their hard work and dedication. I have heard that the Council Officers
have been most impressed by the expertise and professionalism of the
Steering Group and no doubt that helped bring about a successful outcome.
The target hand-over date is 1st September this year, and the Steering
Group still has a great deal of work in front of it. However, future
success of the Hall will lie with the Heswall residents. The motto might
well be: help - or lose.
Dennis Clegg, our planning co-ordinator, has, as ever, been extremely
busy. As well as informing the Local Authority of the Society's views on
local planning applications, he has also advised local residents in their
objections to the "Caravan Site" in Banks Road, and the proposed
Sainsbury site (application refused) on the corner of Pensby Road and Irby
Road. Additionally, there have been some applications involving extremely
complicated detail.
Roger Lane and Jenny McRonald have also been extremely busy researching
and producing articles which have appeared in every edition of the Heswall
Magazine. The resultant publicity has both raised our profile and
contributed to an increase in membership.
Our December "Carol singing round the tree" saw a good turnout
despite the extremely low temperature. Our sincere thanks go to the Rector
who led the singing and the Port Sunlight Lyceum Brass Band. Without the
Rector's voice and the lightness of touch or the presence of the Band, the
evening would not have been so enjoyable.
I should also mention our October Open Meeting. A combination of an
illustrated talk from Gavin Hunter and the first public display of a model
of the Lower Village as it was in the late 19th Century (publicised in the
Heswall Magazine) saw a record audience which necessitated a last minute
move from our normal meeting room in Heswall Hall to the main hall, which
was fortuitously available!
Our final meeting of the season - our AGM - is on Thursday 24th March in
St Peter's Centre. Our speaker, a change to our advertised programme, will
be Michael Murphy and his subject: The Liverpool Overhead Railway,
John Pyke, Chairman
Open Meetings
The Society is continuing with its lectures during the winter. This year
in October we had the first of the season from Gavin Hunter who is a well
known historian of the local area. He spoke about the ancient villages of
Wirral, concentrating on the historic houses where the famous
personalities lived such as Lord Leverhulme. The usual carol concert was
held at the Church Gate in December amid all the snow that made the scene
very Christmas like for the carols. We were accompanied by the Port
Sunlight Lyceum Brass Band.
In January Ben Chapman, our ex-MP gave a most interesting talk on the rise
of China. Ben was in the Diplomatic Corps and was posted to Peking where
he spent several years. During his time as an MP he was on various
Committees dealing with China. Great interest was shown which led on to
many questions from the floor.
Tesco are coming to talk to us on 21st February. One of our own members,
Michael Fletcher is to talk on the growth of the Company which is now one
of the largest retailers in the world. He has been in the Company all his
working life and is now in a senior position. It is hoped the manager of
the local branch here in Heswall will be present to answer questions of a
local nature.
The last lecture of the season is by Michael Murphy who is another well
known historian of the local area. He is talking about the Liverpool
Overhead Railway. I am sure there are many members who can remember this
railway which was pulled down in 1956. This will be an illustrated lecture
in St Peter's Hall following the AGM on the 24th March.
John Billington
Planning:
In the Autumn Newsletter I mentioned the Static Caravan Site being
constructed at Banks Road and said that it was disputed whether a planning
approval granted in the 1980's had lapsed. The issue is whether work had
actually started on site before the permission lapsed. The matter is to be
decided at a public hearing which I expect to take place in April. If that
decides that the permission is no longer extant then I would expect that a
new planning application will be made which the Society will strenuously
oppose.
The Planning Application for a new Sainsbury's Store on the former Lookers
site on Pensby Road has been refused. The Society had raised a number of
concerns including the potential traffic problems. At the turn of the
year, having been unable to resolve the traffic issues, and also because
of the potential effect on Heswall Centre, the Council refused planning
permission.
In Heswall Centre itself the units in the proposed remodelled Kwiksave
building are being actively marketed under the name of "The
Curve". We hope that they are successful and that the new occupants
materialise.
Local Authorities are in the process of preparing new "Local
Development Frameworks" to replace the present Unitary Development
Plans. In Spring 2010 the Society commented on the first draft of Wirral's
Core Strategy which will set the direction of Policy over the next 15 to
20 years, including the general locations where development will be
concentrated.
The Society has recently been consulted on the Council's "Preferred
Options". This has taken on board some of the points that we and
others made on the previous draft. In particular, increased recognition is
now given to the importance of existing town centres the Society having
put forward the view that, in the previous report, there was too much
emphasis on the Wirral Waters Project.
The new "Preferred Options" include a change which was promoted
by other consultees who argued that, in the original "Options
Report", residential development was focussed on the Renewal Areas in
East Wirral. As a result, although new residential development continues
to be restrained in West Wirral, the Council's Preferred Options do now
provide for some development in our area. The proposals are of a very
modest level - as it stands, 3 additional new dwellings per year in areas
covered by the Urban parts of Heswall, Gayton, Pensby, Barnston and Irby.
Although the document seems to be tightly written, your Committee's
concern, which I have expressed to the Council, is that once an opening
has been created it may be difficult to hold back on an increasing flow of
new development.
Finally, the Government is introducing a Localism Bill. This will bring
changes in what local communities can do in their areas and the inputs
they can make to the planning process. We will learn more about this in
the future but it does seem likely we will have to think about how the
Society makes the most of the opportunities it presents.
Dennis Clegg
Local History Group: February Update
We organised two events for the Wirral Heritage Open Days during the
week-end of the 11/12th September 2010, helping to compensate for the
general lack of involvement of the West side of the Wirral. On Saturday
Jenny McRonald led two History Walks along Telegraph Road, starting at
Mere Lane and ending up at Gayton Windmill. We had a good turnout in spite
of the rain which became steadily worse as the day progressed. On arriving
back at the start for the second tour we thought the participants had
decided to give up as the meeting point was deserted. Then, from under
every tree nearby, where they had been sheltering, the large group of
anorak-clad people appeared. Jenny's enthusiasm and knowledge was such
that torrential rain was not going to stop us thoroughly enjoying
ourselves. The Devon Doorway provided a very welcome respite at the end of
each tour.
The following day the weather was much more favourable when Oldfield Farm
was opened to the public by courtesy of Mary and Peter Johnson. The number
of guests far exceeded expectations and we could only marvel at Mary's
energy as she conducted tour after tour of some of the downstairs rooms.
Fortunately, we had help from several Committee members to manage the
queues. The sunny weather, the stunning views over the Dee to the Point of
Ayr, the historic farm buildings, and the very attractive dun Galloway
cattle in the neighbouring field all contributed to a very special day.
With so much else to admire, no one complained about having to wait for
the internal tour.
We were very gratified by the success of these two days and are already
making plans for similar events next September.
The model of Heswall Lower Village in the 19th Century, previewed in the
last Newsletter, has created great interest. We exhibited it at the
October meeting and an unprecedented number of people turned up for the
combination of a good speaker and to see the model. At the time of writing
it is on an extended exhibition at St Peter's Centre.
We have prepared further articles for the Heswall Magazine, one of the
history of buildings shown on the model, and we were impressed when one of
our photographs was chosen for the cover of that edition. The next article
covered John Pride, the famous artist who spent his last years in Heswall.
We were fortunate to have access to new information provided by one of his
descendents, including photographs. The last article covered the Roscote,
a grand old house in Heswall whose wealthy owners reflected the history of
the period, being engaged in shipping, cotton, banking and engineering. We
have been in email contact with the grandson of one of the owners, who is
himself in his nineties. Such is the power of the internet to obtain
information which could not have been accessible previously. He has
supplied some amazing coloured pictures of the Roscote copied from the
original photographic plates. We now have access to a database of
newspaper articles from the 19th Century which is providing a wealth of
new information and will provide the subject of future articles.
We have made contact with the U3A Local History Group, and we hope we can
cooperate on recording the memories of Heswall from conversations with the
oldest residents. As our activities become better known, we are being
offered many old photographs and documents to look at. We are always
highly appreciative to have access to such material and would encourage
members to contact us if they can help in this way - (roger. m. lane@btinternet.
com 0151 342 9269). We are preparing a stand for the Wirral Heritage Fair
at Birkenhead Town Hall on the 5th March and will report back on this in
the next newsletter.
Roger Lane
Heswall Hall Community Trust:
Progress to end January 2011
The transfer of Heswall Hall from Wirral Council to the new HESWALL HALL
COMMUNITY TRUST is planned to be completed in September 2011. There is a
lot to be done in the next few months and the new Trust is hoping to
inform all community groups and other interested parties of progress from
time to time.
The company which will operate Heswall Hall on behalf of the new Trust has
been set up and an application to the Charity Commission for Charitable
Status is being submitted in the immediate future. Mr Graham Hurton is the
Chairman and Mr Tony Criddle is Company Secretary. There wil be 12
Trustees of the organisation, only four of whom are currently in place but
it is expected that other Trustees will be nominated in the coming months.
Wirral Council has started to plan the repairs and improvements agreed as
part of the transfer. The major items are a new roof, replacement windows,
and new gents toilets. It is anticipated that the work can be done on a
phased basis and this should mean that only parts of the Heswall Hall are
closed for limited periods. Full details will be circulated when dates are
finalised.
The theatre upgrade will be the subject of a further application in early
2011 to Wirral Council for funding from the Community Trust.
The operation of Heswall Hall is currently bedevilled by very poor sound
insulation between adjoining rooms making hiring out space very difficult.
A proposal to install moveable acoustic walls is currently under
investigation which, if implemented, would vastly improve the flexibility
of booking rooms at the hall.
A new User Group Council has been formed with representatives of many of
the existing User Groups. This provides a Forum for exchange of views
between the Trust and its users. At least for the immediate future this
Council will meet monthly.
To celebrate the new Trust and the refurbishment of the Hall an Arts
Festival is planned for the second half of October 2011. Much of the
organisation is being co-ordinated by Valerie Warr who can be contacted at
Valerie@warr.fslife. co. uk
It is expected that the post of Manager of Heswall Hall will be advertised
by the new Trust in March 2011. Several individuals have put their names
forward as being prepared to assist with the running of the Hall but more
help will be needed once the Community Trust takes over.
The new website: www.heswallhall.co.uk is under construction - watch it
for updates on the progress of the project. If you wish to help please
contact Peter Wright on 342 8156
Graham Hurton
Friends of Heswall Open Spaces
PACSPE or the Parks and Countryside Procurement Exercise is the local
government language for the privatisation of the Department. The current
budget of £14.4million covers the operation and maintenance of some 292
open spaces ranging from highway verges to beach lifeguards but of most
concern to us is the operation of the Ranger Service covering the Dales,
the Beacons, Poll Hill, Whitfield Common, Gayton and Feather Lane Woods;
and the Parks Department covering Dawstone Park, Puddydale and Gayton
Roundabout etc. Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council have held several
consultation meetings with Friends Groups and staff and the Council have
now given the go-ahead. The timetable will be the Contract Document to be
ready by February and out to tender by April, awarded by September and the
new contractor to start in December. We are being kept in touch with
developments by the Park Steering Group and we attended the Parks Forum
Meetings for Friends Groups held in November and there will be two more in
March.
Our concern must be that the improvements effected to the Dales by our
Ranger and the combined upkeep of some of the Parks should not only not be
jeopardised by this change but the management of the service should be
greatly improved. There has been a recent suggestion that the operation of
the Ranger Service should be changed into some sort of team operation
which could mean the loss of our own Heswall Ranger to the team which
would then cover Caldy Hill, Stapledon Woods and, eventually, Bidston Hill
as well, with no increase in staffing levels. We hope that this suggestion
is not included in the new Contract.
Rangers Report
Dan Travis reports that the Volunteer Working Parties through the winter
have been well supported - recently 13 people on the Dales and 8 on the
Beacons. Work on the Beacons is an attempt to save what is left of the
heather in the centre but work continues on both sites to maintain what
has been achieved so far.
David Stewart
The Heswall Society: What does the Society do?
We are involved in all local environment issues
We vet all planning applications.
We are consulted over all Conservation matters - The Lower Village
and Gayton Conservation Areas.
We are in close contact with our Friends in other Societies (Oxton, Wirral
Society, Footpaths Association, Merseyside Civic Society, Neston Society).
We publish a Newsletter twice a year.
We hold five open meetings in the year and publish a separate programme.
We have two specialist groups - the Heswall Local History Group and 00the
Friends of Heswall Open Spaces - open to anyone interested.
We are members of WBC's Dales Advisory Group.
Officers and their responsibilities:
Officers
Chairman: John Pyke 0151-342 3245
Immediate Past Chairman: Stuart Marsden
0151-342 1335
Treasurer: Graham Hurton
0151 342 9746
Membership Secretary: Diana Lane
0151-342 6749
Planning Co-ordinator: Dennis Clegg
0151-342 4158
Committee
John Billington
Open meetings
Suzanne Cook Publications
Brian Joynes Upper
Village
Roger Lane Local
History
David Stewart
Newsletter Editor; SSSI's
Co-opted Member:
Councillor Peter Johnson
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