Killingworth Lane

Birchwood Town Council insisted that it would start to look into making Killingworth Lane safer for local residents, however to my surprise there has been no obvious action (ahem).

What happened to the Cheshire Constabulary suggestion that mobile speed cameras could be used.. Laughable really, Killingworth Lane is only 200 metres long... But long enough for muppet motorists to accelerate to speeds over the 30 mph limit.

Action is needed, not words.

Birchwood Carnival - Not on WBC approved list

The sad inevitability of the announcement by Warrington Borough Council that Birchwood Carnival is not to be supported in 2007 does not surprise me. Apparently the Carnival Committee did not even apply for support, which is fair enough considering that the Ranger service has been decimated by the previous Labour Council, and previous Carnivals have relied heavily on Ranger support, both in planning and physical help on the day.

The lack of reaction from Birchwood Town council is deafening... Yet again.

Birchwood is in danger of having no community events at all in the future. I would expect the local Councillors to be speaking up for their electorate.

WBC and recycling

I think that Warrington Borough Council's recycling policies need at little re-work. The concept of moving to a fortnightly refuse collection will only work if re-cycling is embraced 100%. After a weekend staying with family in the Borough of Richmond, I was impressed with the council and their recycling policy.

They provide extra bins for glass, cans, plastics and food waste, and they collect these on set days, this is the only way that a fortnightly collection can work. Those people in Warrington without transport, will be unable to visit the re-cycling centres (Not taking into consideration the emissions from the car travel required). The recycling centres also need to be serviced more frequently, they are over flowing, with signs that leaving bags beside the bins is classified as fly tipping. So the easy option is to criminalise law abiding people who wish to comply with council policies, but who are failed by the council's lack of joined up thinking...

Killingworth Lane Dangerous Cut Through

Birchwood Town Council have had to listen to complaints about the numbers of cars cutting through Killingworth Lane, and indeed the excessive speed of the traffic.

"The Town Council has in the past put up signs advising drivers that there may be children playing and asking them to slow down. One resident commented that the signs are no longer effective, citing a lack of respect for both the law and fellow residents as the main reason for the potentially dangerous behaviour of some drivers."

http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/

This is not the first time that the issue has been raised at Birchwood Council this was reported back in August:

Lane is dangerous short cut

From the archive, first published Monday 7th Aug 2006.

KILLINGWORTH Lane in Gorse Covert is being used as a potentially dangerous short cut for the school, an angry resident has told Birchwood Town Council.
She said cars come flying'
round the roundabout on their way to Gorse Covert Primary School while residents are trying to reverse off their drives.
She said: "Do we just keep going on like this until somebody gets hurt?"


From the archive
http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk
© Newsquest Media Group 2006

Perhaps the message is not getting through. This is dangerous, and I would hope that it wont take the injury or death of a child before the Council take hard action. The answer is to make Killingworth Lane into a cul-de-sac, thereby reducing the traffic along Ashdown Lane which is used as a short cut instead of Gorse Covert Road. Ashdown Lane, being straighter than Killingworth Lane allows drivers to get to higher speeds than is possible on Killingworth Lane.

Let's have some action instead of platitudes from the Council.

Labour Cancelled the Firework Display

Wednesday 18th October 2006

Warrington Borough Council Leader Ian Marks claimed today that:

"the decision to scrap firework displays at Birchwood, Padgate and Woolston was taken by the former Labour administration, before control of the council changed."

http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/

If this is true, (of course it was) then I would expect that the new administration would be looking to re-build some community goodwill, and look towards re-instating these community events for 2007. It really is a bit of a no brainer really, take some control of the Parks and Landscape department and move it back into a state of public accountability, try asking the community what they would like.

I can imagine that those area affected will have many more private firework displays than in past years, with all the dangers and noise associated with them. Show some political cojones and re-instate the bonfires, take the responsibility away from those like David Stamp who appears to have succeeded in cancelling these events..

As I stated above ASK the communities involved.

Bonfire and Carnival Photos needed

Tuesday 10th October 2006

The enforced cancellation of the Community Bonfire and now the Firework display, means that part of Birchwood heritage has been lost. At least while David Stamp is head of Parks and Landscapes and there is a lack of political backbone to over-ride such descisions by unaccountable officers of WBC.

In order to preserve some sort of historical record, I am looking for photographs and videos of past events to display on this site. If you have them in digital format you can create an account and upload them from your computer. If you dont have access to a scanner, you can contact me using the link on the menu, and I will scan the photos for and upload them.

I believe that it will be equally important to preserve records of past Carnivals as well, as it cannot be guaranteed that WBC will allow manpower from the Ranger service to help in the organisation of the Carnival. There is no permanent Ranger presence anymore at Forest Park, and the removal of such an important Community resource may well have further impact on community events.

WBC and the Freedom of Information Act

Monday 2nd October 2006

You may be unaware that WBC as a public body have certain responsibilites in law, one of these is covered by the Freedom of Information Act.

Earlier this year I submitted a request to the council under this act, the wording as below:

I would like to see all documents, electronic or paper based, relating to the decision by Warrington Borough Council or it's Officers or Employees to cancel Birchwood Bonfire.

I do have some of these documents in my possession, however getting blood from a stone may be easier than completing this request.. I will start to share some of the more interesting documents relating to the bonfire on here as time goes by, however in the mean time I would encourage anyone interested to copy and paste the above request to hnorris@warrington.gov.uk

I was going to link to the online form that WBC had available, only it isn't there anymore, the web page is here with further information:

http://www.warrington.gov.uk/other/FOI.asp

Have fun.

Now the Firework Display Cancelled

Monday 25th September 2006

So David Stamp has announced the total cancellation of Firework displays in the Warrington area.

"The new service, which will be introduced at the end of the month, coincides with the launch of a new events programme for Autumn-Winter. This will not now feature community firework displays at Birchwood, Orford and Woolston Parks.
Mr Stamp said: "Unfortunately, the combination of severe budget pressures, together with increasingly onerous event management and essential site and public safety measures have resulted in these high cost events being withdrawn."

http://www.warrington-worldwide.co.uk/

We have been sleep walking into the loss of these important community events. The council are here to serve the community, not themselves. I had hoped that the change in political leadership of the WBC in May this year,would have resulted in more control over the PC brigade of council officers.

This has not been the case, the debacle of the wheelie bins, and now this announcement are showing proof that the officers run this council to their own agendas.

Stamp cites health and safety issues again as a reason for the cancellation. This is a falsehood, I would encourage everyone to apply under the "Freedom of Information Act" for the H&S assessments for the bonfire and the community firework display. The H&S assessments were strikingly similar for the bonfire and the firework display. No one has been injured at the firework displays - fact.

I for one, would like to see some political backbone displayed by the Lib Dem and 'Conservative alliance in charge now. They have the opportunity to regain control of WBC for the tax payers of Warrington.

Bring back our 'official' Bonfires

From the Guardian Series, first published Friday 5th Nov 2004.

COUNCIL bosses have come under fire this week for their failure to organise any official bonfires in the town due to health and safety precautions.

Once an annual family outing, with bonfires held across the town at numerous locations, the traditional event has now been replaced by organised firework displays.

But the move, which has proved unpopular with the Warrington public, has angered many who are now calling on the council to reinstate the bonfires.

Birchwood town councillor Chris Fitzsimmons slammed the council's decision and blamed it on what he described as 'the health and safety mafia'.

Up until two years ago Birchwood Forest Park was the venue for one of the town's most popular bonfires but health and safety concerns meant the event had to be cancelled.

Clr Fitzsimmons said: "I've met with the borough council to discuss the matter but it was too late to organise anything for this year. We do hope to revive it for next year's 400th anniversary of Bonfire Night.

"I have expressed my dismay that the country has been taken over by the health and safety mafia, the same kind of mindset that says we can't have proper crockery at the town hall.

"I am disappointed that we can't have one this year but I accept that, to an extent, the Birchwood bonfire was a victim of its own success with far more people turning up than were initially expected."

Dave Stamp, Head of Landscape Services at Warrington Borough Council, said: "We carried out a major review of large scale council-run bonfires a few years ago and it identified a number of problems and health and safety issues with the sites.

"The issues were important enough to compromise the effective and safe planning of these events and we took the decision to focus our attention on free admission firework displays that would be suitable for the whole family and they are proving to be hugely successful."

From the Guardian Series
http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk
© Newsquest Media Group 2004