On the 3 December 1909, the Isle of Man Steam Packet vessel, the S.S. Ellan Vannin left Ramsey, bound for Liverpool.  During hurricane conditions, the vessel went down just off the Mersey bar with the loss of all on board.   I remember being taught about the Ellan Vannin disaster at school as many Liverpudlians  have strong connections with the Isle of Man, including me!  There is to be a special commemorative sailing to mark the centenary on Thursday 3 December 2009 on the 10.00am Mersey Ferries service from the Pier Head.  Andy Ball from Radio Merseyside will be Master of Ceremonies for the event and Hughie Jones from folk group, The Spinners will sing the song he wrote about the disaster.  Flowers will be thrown overboard to mark the memory of every lost soul.  No need to book, just buy your ticket on the day – £6.30 adults / £4.85 concessions.  Read more about the Ellan Vannin  here:  http://tinyurl.com/y9trgyy

Last night the Action Team was out in the Wallasey Village ward, knocking on doors and listening to views of local residents.  We covered a huge area and walked miles but the welcome on the doorstep made it all worth while!  It was a horrible damp evening and I must admit, I was glad to get home.

As a fan of the big band and the music of the 1930s & 1940s,  I was saddened to hear the news that Radio 2  stalwart, Malcolm Laycock had died.  I have listened to his evening show for many years and it was a Sunday night ritual, early bath, bed, book and the lovely Malcolm and his big band tunes.

On Thursday morning I am going on a whistle-stop tour around New Brighton with Highways Engineer, Joey Smith.  We have some funding money available which can only be spent on road safety measures or improvements and if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it, which obviously I am not prepared to do!  However, I don’t want the money spent on anything that the Council should be doing anyway.  I know there’s plenty of missing street name plates and faded road markings but this is additional money which needs to be spent wisely.  I am open to suggestions so if you know of somewhere within the New Brighton ward where the money could be spent on improving highways, please give me a call 07736 927201

Last night I chaired a very productive Licensing, Health & Safety & General Purpose Committee at the Town Hall.  Many residents of Bradman Road, Moreton came to support the recommendation for a gating order on a footpath to Wastdale Drive to prevent anti-social behaviour.  A gating order was also approved for Kelvin Road/Citrine Road in Seacombe in an area with high crime rates.  Other items on the agenda were the approval of a price increase for hackney carriage fares, vehicle testing arrangements, a review of polling districts in Pensby & Thingwall and approval of nominees for the Wirral Award.  More details of what was discussed at the meeting is available here: http://tinyurl.com/yl3w88b

Yesterday morning I attended the Remembrance Service at the war memorial on New Brighton promenade.  Despite the rather changeable weather the Royal British Legion, Royal Naval Association, Wallasey Sea Cadets, RNLI and many other organisations paid their respects to the fallen.   The poignant and moving service was conducted by the vicar of  St James, Frank Cain.  It was a huge turnout and it was great to see the the crowds applauding as the the parade passed by.  I was joined by my ward colleagues, Cllr Tony Pritchard and Cllr Bill Duffey, together with the Wallasey and Liscard Councillors.

This morning I was out and about in the sunshine delivering the Newslines leaflets to the great and the good of New Brighton.  It was ideal deliving conditions and I managed to get Vaughan Road, Dalmorton Road and Seaview Road done and dusted.  I was delighted to get a new deliverer to do one of my drops so thanks Barney for accepting the challenge!  We then headed off to the Parade Cafe for a late breakfast.

Last night I joined Inspector Fletcher and two PCs on patrol in New Brighton, Liscard & Seacombe.  Most of the calls were in relation to reports of gangs of youths misbehaving with fireworks and dangerous bonfires.  We toured the parks, playing fields and the prom but overall it was a quiet night.  I was really grateful for the opportunity to see how it all works first hand, it was quite an eye-opener.

The Local Government Association (LGA) have issued an interesting report entitled ‘Who’s In Charge’ and it’s all about non departmental public bodies, known as quangos. People have a right to know what their tax is being spent on.  They can vote out Councillors and MPs in elections if they think they are not spending money wisely but it’s more difficult to know what the 791 quangos do with £43.2 billion of public money, which equates to £2,000 per household, per year.  Quite rightly, people want to roll back the quango state and have more direct influence via the ballot box over how their money is spent by government.  Decisions about public services should be taken as close as possible to local people by locally elected representatives, not by unelected boards.  Read the report here http://tinyurl.com/ykpo2rh

The Wirral Globe has published a list of  free, organised fireworks displays which are taking place in local parks.  The nearest one for New Brightonites is at Central Park, Wallasey and the fun starts at 6.30pm.  For more details, click here: http://tinyurl.com/y93m6o3