The Formby Blog

Freshfield Level Crossing MP Questions Government Minister

Bill Esterson MP has questioned the Minister for Transport about steps taken to improve the safety of the level crossing at Fishermans Path.

Here is the question and the answer as posted on the They Work For You website (Source: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2018-10-10.177677.h&s=speaker%3A24905#g177677.q0)

MP:

"What assessment he has made of the need for safety improvements at the Fisherman's Path rail crossing in Formby?"

Minister:

"Level Crossing safety is a matter for Network Rail, as the primary duty-holder for Britain’s railway infrastructure.

Network Rail have assessed Fisherman’s Path rail crossing in Formby and have implemented a number of safety improvements in the last year, including......."

 

Parking at Formby Waitrose

Our Lady of Compassion Church, Formby has recently posted the following on their Facebook page.

Please take note.

National Trust Seeks Feedback on Proposals for Future Care of The Formby Coast

The National Trust at Formby is asking the community to help further develop ideas for the care of the Formby coast, now and in the future.

Local people are warmly invited to come along to a series of drop-in events to be held throughout September. They will be able to review the feedback received during previous consultation events and contribute to the resulting proposals that are being developed.

Source: NT Formby

Consultation events in 2017 focused on collecting views and suggestions for how the Trust can best care for this unique and rapidly changing stretch of coast, for the benefit of the people who love it and the wildlife that makes its home here.

Topics discussed included

• How to balance the need for parking with conservation of the sensitive landscape at Formby,
• How to manage traffic on busy days
• And the big decisions posed by the encroachment of sand onto the Victoria Road car park.
• Discussions also focused on how to create and link habitats for the benefit of rare wildlife including Natterjack Toads and Red Squirrels
• And how to improve visitor facilities, which can sometimes struggle to meet demand.

Andrew Brockbank, Countryside Manager for the National Trust at Formby, commented:

“We want to work with our local community to find the best ways to adapt to changing demands on this stretch of coast. The sand dune shoreline is constantly shifting here at Formby and the popularity of the coast brings pressures to both the fragile habitats and facilities.

We want to make better provision for our visitors to have a wonderful time here while showing sensitivity to local needs and demonstrating good conservation.  We received a fantastic response to our consultation events held throughout 2017 with many ideas being shared about how to care for this special coastline.

We now need to work more closely together to balance these multiple demands on the coast.”

Fiona Matthews, the Trust’s Community Involvement Officer at Formby, added:

“These September drop-in events are aimed at ‘sense-checking’ the feedback we have received so far and sharing our emerging ideas. The next step after these events will be to develop these basic principles and ideas into detailed proposals, working alongside the community.”

Local people can drop into any of the events to talk to staff, pick up a copy of our proposal booklet and contribute their views.

Formby Library	Saturday 1st September 10-00-14.00
	Saturday 8th September 10.00-14.00
Formby Pool Café	Tuesday 11th September 9.00-13.00
	Saturday 15th September 9.00-13.00
Formby Market, Chapel Street	Friday 7th September 9.00-16.00

                                

Additional events will also be added over the coming weeks and will be publicised locally and through the National Trust social media feeds. More information about the consultation events to date and the emerging ideas for Formby Point can be found at:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/formby/projects/get-involved---the-future-of-formby-point

Comments can also be shared by contacting the National Trust at Formby by email talkingformby@nationaltrust.org.uk

 

The search is on for Formby's most Instagrammable bike rides

Bike hire scheme Bike & Go is challenging Formby residents to help them find the most Instagrammable bike ride in the region as part of a project to uncover the UK’s most social media-worthy cycle routes.

The #Instacycleroutes guide will celebrate the bike rides with the best photo opportunities in England and Scotland – the two countries in which Bike & Go operates – to help social media stars find new selfie locations while also showcasing nearby cycle routes.

The bike rides could take place anywhere across the region, as long as they feature at least one Insta-worthy hotspot.

The suggestions will then be compiled into an online guide which will be made available on the Bike & Go website.

To suggest a bike ride, users need to tweet @UKBikeandGo or upload to Bike & Go’s Facebook page using the hashtag #Instacycleroutes, or email suggestions to info@bikeandgo.co.uk. All suitable entries will be compiled into the online guide.

The latest Bike & Go project follows hot on the heels of the Quirky Bike Ride Guide, which was published earlier this year to mark the wide range of unusual bike rides on offer across the UK.

Suzanne Grant, Bike & Go Commercial Director, said:

“We know from the interaction we’ve had with our users that many love to photograph their bike rides and share them on social media.

“We also know that social media users are always looking for ways to create new content, and believe that showing people some of the amazing sights you can see while out cycling could encourage even more people to take to two wheels.

“We’re appealing to everyone who knows of bike rides with some great photo opportunities to share them with us so that even more people can enjoy the best cycle routes the region has to offer and post their experiences online.”

Bike & Go offers bike hire facilities from 22 participating train stations across the Merseyrail network, including Liverpool Central, Moorfields, Aigburth, Ormskirk, New Brighton and West Kirby, in addition to a further 49 participating train stations across much of the North West, North East and Yorkshire, East and South East of England, and Scotland. There are also a bike hire facilities at Seacombe Ferry Terminal and Leasowe Castle.

To hire a Bike & Go bike, users simply need to register their card details online, which they can do via smartphones, tablets, or at home, and pay the annual £10 subscription fee. They will then receive a user number via email which will allow immediate bike hire at just £3.80 per 24 hours whilst they wait for their Bike & Go membership card. Bikes can then be returned to any participating train station.

Parking at Formby

A message from NTFormby about parking

Formby is a very popular place for visitors and when the sun is out there’s nothing better than a trip to the coast.

At these times of the year, we’re incredibly busy and we know how frustrating the queuing traffic and long waiting time can be for our visitors. Below you’ll find some advice on ways to avoid the queues and ensure your visit is as stress-free as possible.

During the holidays and nice weather, our car parks at Victoria Road and Lifeboat Road are often full by mid-morning. We have limited car parking available with just 270 spaces at Lifeboat Road and 300 at Victoria Road.

Once the car parks are full it’s a one out, one in system. This means that queues and delays to get on to the property can be very long. Because of this we strongly advise visitors travel by public transport or visit outside of busy holiday periods. Although wider parking is available in and around Formby, the area very soon becomes congested causing a lot of issues for our local residents of Formby.

Public Transport

Formby has great public transport links, especially by train:

Freshfield station is located 1 mile from Victoria Road. Plan your journey here

Formby station is located 1.2 miles from Lifeboat Road. Plan your journey here

Local parking and Formby residents

We advise parking at the National Trust car parks or planning in advance so you can make use of public transport to take the stress out of your journey. You’ll also be helping our local residents too.

Please be mindful of local residents and their own parking requirements on private streets. Please don’t block driveways or create obstructions which will make it difficult for the emergency services to pass.

Other places to visit nearby

We understand that our visitors want to enjoy Formby, but we on busy days it isn’t always possible to welcome all our visitors to our car parks. Here are some suggestions for other places to visit nearby:

Ainsdale - 11 min (4.1 mi) via A565
Southport - 17 min (8.2 mi) via Coastal Rd
Blackpool - 1 h 7 min (55.4 mi) via M6
Morecambe - 1 h 13 min (64.1 mi) via M6

These coastal areas can also become busy during the holidays and warmer weather, so we’d advise checking the local website and travel updates before visiting.

What we’re doing to help

We know only too well how frustrating busy days at Formby can be. Our staff, who should be carrying out essential conservation work to care for Formby and protect it for generations to come, so very often spend their days controlling traffic, parking cars or picking up litter.

We’re working closely with our partners to come up with some solutions, as Formby continues to get even more popular.

We’re improving awareness of how busy our car parks get so visitors arriving know what the problem is and that we’re full. That means you can make the decision to either wait or visit somewhere else for the day.

We are supported by dedicated volunteers who will be helping us with traffic, marshalling the car park, walking the queues to give people information and generally assisting with running the site. They give up their free time to help us and our visitors – we couldn’t do it without them.

We are looking at longer-term plans at Formby to improve people’s enjoyment of this special place and reduce the stress of visiting when it’s busy. Working with such a delicate and changing coastline like Formby is a challenge and takes time to plan to ensure anything we do helps protects it for future generations.