Sat night saw the community coming together to put the FUN into FUNDRAISER

As half of the residents from around Meols Park descended on the Players Bar in West Kirby to raise money for the new play area

Smile now!  ….

What a set of local elections!

A huge congratulations has to go to Councillor Geoffrey Watt who stood in the West Kirby and Thurstaston Ward and was returned as Conservative local councillor with an even bigger majority. So too was John Hale in the Hoylake and Meols Ward.

A big congratulations has to go to Wendy Clements, a new addition to the Wirral West Conservative Action team, who worked tirelessly in Greasby, Frankby and Irby and came within a gnats whisker of becoming our new local councillor, overturning a nearly 700 Lib Dem majority. Wendy will continue to work as the Conservative council candidate in Greasby, Frankby and Irby as well as working closely with me and the rest of the Action team.

John Meyer, another new candidate to join the team, he too didn’t manage to become our local councillor in Pensby,Thingwall and Barnston, but he ran a wonderful campign and cooks a mean curry! He has made lots of new friends in the area and has been overwhelemed by the  number of phone calls and hand delivered letters from local residents expressing their regret that he didn’t become their local councillor. However, John like Wendy will be contesting the ward again and will continue to work with me and the rest of the Conservative Action Team.

Tom Anderson…. what can I say? Absolutely wonderful news. He worked his socks off and he’s become our new councillor for Upton. Tom has always wanted to be a councillor - he’s worked with me for the last 5 years, always upbeat, always wanting to help and most of all genuinely wanting to make a difference and help the people of Wirral. It was a particularly tough campaign for Tom who during the final few weeks lost his father. He declared then and there if he won the election he’d win it in his dad’s memory. Well it was a nail biting finish, requiring 2 recounts and there was only 4 votes in it. Those 4 votes got Tom elected. For sure his dad was overseeing that count.

And what a night Wirral had across the board. There were some spectacular gains in Wallasey and with the wins in Wirral South and Wirral West, the Conservative Party has now become the biggest party on the Wirral with a total of 24 seats. Not enough to take overall control, but a giant step in the right direction to taking control.

Well done to all our councillors and more importantly thank you to the people of Wirral for putting your faith in them and voting for them.

Wirral Conservative Councillors working for you all year round -

You can contact the Wirral West office by dialing 0151 632 1052

Vote for local democracy - vote Conservative this local election
For a cleaner, greener, safer Wirral.

Tom Anderson - Upton
Wendy Clements - Greasby, Frankby, Irby
John Meyer - Pensby, Barnston and Thingwall
Geoffrey Watt - West Kirby, Thurstaston, Caldy
John Hale - Hoylake, Meols

Tom Anderson has been working tirelessly in Upton with local residents; to clean up the streets, stop anti social behaviour, improve the village, clean the green spaces and areas and helped save the local post offices in Upton. If elected he would be a terrific Councillor doing his utmost to serve his local community.

Wendy Clements is our local candiate and if elected would make a superb local Councillor. She lives in the area, cares about the areas and knows it well. Her recent campaigns include her working with her own local dentist Clive Morgan and local residents to ensure Greasby has a local dentist. Wendy also led the local campaign to stop the erection of yet another phone mast and she too worked on the successful 5 month campaign to keep post offices in Greasby, Frankby and Irby

John Meyer - has worked with local residents, local Councillors and Shadow Secretary of State Jacqui Lait to have a thorough examination and investigation into the Pensby phone mast debacle. He is also working with the lead petitioner over the application for a new supermarket in Pensby - there was a 726 name petition against it. He too fought on our victorious 5 month long campign to keep the post offices open and is also working with local residents to stop antisocial behaviour to make the streets, safer and cleaner.

Geoffrey Watt As the local Conservative Councillor for the area, Geoffrey has helped, and won, countless campaigns over the years: helped to preserve green spaces, prevented the unsightly erection of poorly located phone masts, worked with residents on numberous planning applications and worked on our ‘Save the Local Post Offices Campaign’ making sure Newton post office remained open.

John Hale - Councillor for Hoylake and Meols - is working with the local traders and residents to prevent antisocial behaviour and nuisance drinkers. He’s working to protect our local parks and green spaces as well as to fight closures of local residential homes. He too fought to keep the local post offices open and works tirelessly on behalf of his local residents.

Theresa May was invited here to Wirral to meet with Jo Wood of the the Rape crisis centre and to meet with some of the centres helpers and fundraisers.

The Crisis Centre is itself under crisis, questions being asked how will it continue to be funded and continue to help the women of Wirral and Merseyside.

As reported on the Globe website.

WIRRAL Conservatives accused the council of burying its head in the sand’ in a row over the controversial siting of four mobile phone masts last night.

They want a change in the 56-day rule governing mobile phone company applications after a council delay in sending out paperwork notifying T-Mobile of a planning committee decision refusing permission to install masts in Pensby, Gayton, Moreton and Claughton resulted in the phone giant having deemed consent’ to go ahead with its plan.

Following public outcry a report was compiled by the former Chief Executive of Bolton Council Bernard Knight which found that administrative error was to blame. Disciplinary action was later taken against staff from Wirral’s technical services department.

Wirral’s regeneration and planning strategy overview and scrutiny committee met at Wallasey Town Hall on Tuesday night to discuss the report’s finding and four Conservative councillors were called as witnesses. But they were later barred from addressing the committee.

During a heated meeting, deputy leader of Wirral’s conservatives, Cllr Lesley Rennie told the committee: “I believe that many residents have lost confidence in this council. The call-in procedure is the last shred of democracy open to us as opposition, and is the only way the Conservatives can hold this lousy Labour Lib Dem alliance to account.”

Prospective MP for Wallasey, Cllr Leah Fraser who was also barred from commenting during the meeting, said: “Along with other witnesses I was gagged, Labour and Liberal Democrats want all the power without the responsibility. They are simply burying their heads in the sand and hoping this matter will go away. It won’t!”

Afterwards, Moreton and Saughall Massie councillor Chris Blakeley, who was also barred from addressing the meeting, said: “On this occasion, I’m afraid the word ’sorry’ isn’t enough.

“The incompetence of Wirral Borough Council was compounded by the failure of the Labour and Lib Dem councillors who sat on the regeneration and planning strategy scrutiny committee, who simply ratified the cabinet decision, perhaps this apathy shows just why Wirral is only a two-star authority.”

Heswall councillor Andrew Hodson said, “This is crazy. I was named as a witness because I am a ward councillor whose residents are suffering as a direct result of this council’s incompetence, and yet the Lib Dem Chairman said I wasn’t?

“Clearly he is out of touch with what is going on! It was clear to me that Labour and Lib Dems had got together to manipulate the witness list to their best advantage. I wonder, what do they have to hide?”

Parliamentary candidate for Wirral West, Esther McVey said: “The planning debacle here on Wirral has exposed fundamental flaws in the Telecommunications Act which I’m now seeking to challenge the government over. Why should there be deemed planning consent after 56 days’ if the telecommunications companies aren’t notified? It’s a total nonsense.

“Should anyone apply to the council for say, an extension on their house and get it refused, you won’t find you’ve got deemed consent’ after 56 days if the council haven’t notified you of the refusal, so why should telecommunications companies get deemed consent for phone masts?

“Many people have voiced their strong concerns over health issues too, which in the light of on going scientific research must be taken into account when considering mast applications. The way the law stands at the moment is an absolute outrage, riding rough shod over the community’s wishes and needs. It is undemocratic and I’m working to have it changed.”

Lib Dem leader councillor Simon Holbrook told the Globe: “This is a mistake that occurred 12 months ago and it’s time to move on. We need measures in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

“Mr Knight’s report found administrative errors in the handling of the planning application’s refusal which have now been addressed.”

 The Northwest Women in Business Awards 2008 is the first region-wide event of its type celebrating achievements of women who are running some of the region’s most successful and innovative businesses.

The Awards held last Thursday brought over 300 business women together  from across the region to celebrate women in business. The awards were hosted by the Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum whose role it is to act as the key policy advisory and strategic body responsible for the development of Women’s enterprise here in our region.

The Awards recognise individual achievements of successful entrepreneurs as well as aim to inspire and encourage more women to consider enterprise as a career and increase the number of women starting up or expanding business in the region.

Click here to see the 2008 winners

The Northwest Women’s Enterprise Forum Comprises:

Sylvia Philips  / Elaine Owen / Joanna Hartley / Dawn Gibbons MBE / Wendy Bowers / Amanda Meachin / Claire Dove MBE / Esther McVey

Much has been written and much has been said about Post Office Closures, some of it confusing, and some of it plain misleading. Here in Wirral West I and the entire Conservative Action team worked very closely with the local community for 5 months last year running a high profile and vigorous ‘Stop the Post Office Closures’ campaign. I believe that active community campaign prevented Wirral West from having any closures. Wirral West was fortunate the rest of country was not. Therefore I welcomed the Conservative motion in Parliament last Wednesday calling for MPs to vote to suspend the closure of 2,500 Post Offices, a very straight forward proposal that could have prevented Post Office Closures. By checking Hansard you can see which MPs voted which way, and I have to say, I was baffled to see so many Labour MPs, particularly those who have been vocal in the press about wanting to keep Post Offices open, voting against the motion. On Wirral, all of the Labour MPs, except Frank Field, voted against the Conservative motion to Stop Post Office Closures, by doing so they have been instrumental in allowing the government to carry out its programme to close another 2,500 Post Offices by 2009

Working with John Meyer and the Conservative Action Team in Pensby

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, shadow minister for women, came to Wirral this week to meet with some of Wirral’s business women.

Theresa armed with note paper and pad wrote down what the ladies had to tell her.

From; IT to PR,  from medicine  to education, legal to accountancy, all had comments and ideas to give her.

Friends of Meols Park are doing remarkably well - so far we’ve raised nearly £7,000 to help rebuild the childrens play area. We’re doing so well in fact that we’re hoping to begin work on the park in the next 2 months.

Last Saturday we held an Easter Attic Sale to raise more money for the park - click here to see the pictures