Formby First

Are You Prepared To Pay For The Green Waste Collection Service?

Sefton MBC have started a public consultation over a proposal to charge for the Green Waste Collection service.

Consultation Summary

An opt-in charge for the green waste service was recommended by Cabinet as an option for approval and agreed by full Council on 28th February as part of the Two Year Financial Plan and Revenue Budget for 2013/14. 

To help reduce a deficit of around £51 million and provide an additional saving the council has agreed in principle to:

a) Charging for the collection of “green” or garden waste from residential properties in the borough

b) Offering the service to any household within the borough that is willing to pay for a green waste collection service, including areas where the service is not currently provided.

The new proposal is to provide a fortnightly green waste collection service (via a 240 green wheelie bin for use as stated above), to any household willing to pay for the service on an annual basis (January to December).

Sefton MBC want to know what you think of this proposal.
Start: Mar 21, 2013 End: Jun 14, 2013 Results Published: Dec 1, 2013 

https://www.engagespace.co.uk/sefton/default.aspx

 

Village Heritage Boards Finally Installed

Two brand-new 'Heritage Boards' have finally been installed in the village. One outside the swimming pool and the other outside Barclay's Bank.

I first suggested this idea in 2006 after I had visited Frodsham Village to look at their scheme.

Frodsham has  more  old buildings which is an advantage, nonetheless, in my view a similar scheme would benefit Formby. It's taken a long- time to get here, but I thoroughly approve.

I wrote about the idea on this blog in 2009.

The Parish Council has for some time been considering installing heritage boards. I visited Frodsham in 2006 and took a series of photographs to explain my suggestion. After a series of conversations ........ the Parish Council embarked on the 'Village Project'' which has led to several changes. Formby Civic Society have been approached about the idea of a 'Heritage Scheme' and I hope they support the Frodsham model. In the slides that follow I have included photographs that illustrate the potential of a scheme.

• There is a nice planter donated by a local society, thus sharing the costs.
• Even when an original building has gone the local blue plaque scheme records the history of the people and the building.
• Other plaques record brief histories of buildings.
• In my view Formby deserves a clock and the type illustrated is relatively cheap but very attractive and functional.
• The heritage board is next to one of the public houses and this shown on the board. One of the slides shows this building standing next the heritage board, look for it as the slides change.

What do you think? Do you agree with me that this type of scheme would enhance Formby? Should there be similar schemes for other parts of the town, Freshfield for instance?

The original slides are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanbrady/sets/72157602763835931/

The present installation falls far short of my original ideas, for instance the 'Heritage Walk' has somehow migrated away from the village. Originally the idea was to make the village a place to visit in its own right. Formby is popular, but many visitors came and go without ever setting foot in our village, which is the 'heart of our town'.

In common with Frodsham activists I share the idea that Formby should be a 'Destination Town'. Despite the loss of the 'Portas Town' funding, perhaps Sefton MBC’s mysterious Capital Grant mentioned in my last posting will help to realise this dream.

What do you think? Do these ideas listed above still have merit?

Further references to the Frodsham scheme on this blog:

http://www.formbyfirst.org.uk/2009/06/meetings-and-events.html
http://www.formbyfirst.org.uk/2008/12/shop-local-action-group.html
http://www.formbyfirst.org.uk/2008/12/formby-forward.html

Getting Down To The Hard Decisions

This week Sefton MBC will confront the hard decisions required to meet the Governments spending target for local Council Tax. In a series of meetings Sefton Cabinet members followed by the full Council will hear, debate and propose a budget.

There are many changes and the full document is well over 130 pages long. To see these proposals follow this link: Future Expenditure Plans. There's lot of pain in this long document.

There is an intriguing reference to the possibility of additional funding to support High Street Innovation in one of the other documents:

It is proposed to offer other town centres and shopping parades throughout the Borough the same level of support. The Revenue Budget 2013/14 and Two Year budget plan, elsewhere on today’s agenda, includes a proposal to finance an additional £1m of capital spend using funding from reserves, which will fund a variety of schemes. More detail on this will be put before Cabinet on 28 March 2013, but part of this funding will be earmarked as part of the initiative to regenerate the high street.

Some of you may recall that in the run-up to last years Sefton elections there was a promise of such aid. Perhaps this is the outcome of that promise.

At any rate if it does come to pass it will be some consolation to Formby for missing out on £22,000+ funding arising from the lack of a Portas Town Bid

 

Formby Parish Council Loses Funding Opportunity

Mary Portas and her report

Last February I suggested Formby Parish Council should become a 'Portas Town' Team. This would have enabled them to submit a bid for Central Government funds.

In the end Formby Parish Council did not submit a bid.

You can find the original posting here: "Parish Council Should Bid for a Town Team" as well as other stories that describe the progress of the suggestion.

The Portas Town scheme was popular and oversubscribed and some of the successful original applicants included Parish and Town Councils. Since then applicants that formed Town Teams and more importantly made a bid, even if it failed, have been awarded a sum of £10,000 pounds in a second funding award. This was given by central Government to each official applicant. Formby Parish Council missed out on this second award because it did not apply for the first one.

As a result Formby Parish Council is now ineligible for yet another large grant.

Sefton Cabinet members meet this week to discuss  the ‘High Street Innovation Fund'. The document in front of the Cabinet member’s states:

"To note the current Town Team partnerships that exists within Crosby,  Maghull, Southport and Waterloo and their agreed activities... Agree that the £100,000 High Street Innovation fund be allocated as follows;  Crosby - £17,000, Maghull - £17000, Southport - £49,000 and Waterloo -
£17,000"

The Council document goes onto comment:

"By allocating the above amounts to the Town Teams it will allow partners to create community and economic resilience within the Town Centres, while also allowing the Town Teams to implement a number of their activities. The funding combined with their already allocated £10,000 Portas Pilots monies will allow the Town Teams to plan a sustainable model that will enable them to co-ordinate future activity and map out the future of their Town Centres."

As a former member of the Parish Council I can only express my bitter disappointment at the inertia shown by our local Council members. Their failure to be proactive in the first place has led to the loss of considerable funding that Formby could ill afford to lose. Perhaps as much as around £22,000, the equivalent of half the annual precept.

In my view this failure ought to be acknowledged, the Council should resign. The citizens of Formby deserve an opportunity to elect others more willing to be active for the common good.

The Parish Council began in 2003 and initially received praise for its energy and actions. It is sadly merging into obscurity and anonymity. With the honourable exception of a couple of members, too many of the Council seem to be content to be members in name only.

 

Sefton Decides Formby Swimming Pool Future

"Sefton Council set to decide on pool funding cuts" More on this story from the FT bit.ly/V2G8NI

— Formby Village (@FormbyVillage) February 12, 2013

More stories about Formby from twitter are available Formby Village 'Live'.