Forums Forums Street News The State of Wirral these days 2022?

So the Council Tax has gone up again, [when will it ever go down?]
And the first excuse we get is the Goverments fault! Really? No bad management?
Have you seen the state of the place, Seacombe [ or as i call it these days, S***hole] looks likes Bidston's tip second dropping off point!
We have weeds some as high as a metre tall gowning all of the place, i don't think there is a road or street [ unless you have a Councillor living there!] not over grown, in the last week or two the quad bike have been out spraying weed killler around, but they are three months too late, next year will be even worse as the seeds would have been blown all over!
Also what's with our grass verges no getting cut any more, well in the poor area's anyway, the ones in Heswel, West Kirby etc are all cut don't we have million pound contracts with ground maintenance firms? So why aren't they doing their job? The same can be said for the grids there is still 80% of these still blocked up around Wirral, and they say rain is on the way so that will be more flooded roads!

Personally, I'd prefer to see LESS mowing, not more. Your manicured lawn may look nice to the civic minded, but they are a desert as far as wildlike is concerned.

Of the two, I find wildlife far more interesting than tidy-minded civic guardians. I hope they do even less of this sort of destruction and poisoning.

Some of the "bad management" is the Council failing to meet Government mandates. The Government has continually reduced Council budgets whilst increasing mandatory functions, conditions and targets. Look at green belt, virtually every Council has had to put forward plans to build on green belt, not through choice but because of the rules the Government created. The Government then proudly tell you how bad the Councils are for allowing Green Belt to be built on.

Wirral desperately needs more industry and yet we are being forced to destroy industrial and commercial areas for housing. Being a housing supply for Liverpool won't work out well for Wirral soon Council's are going to be funded more through business rates than they are now.

The sneakiest part of this is the use of Government grants to Councils where the Government has 100% control over the funding, use and allocation. If the Council doesn't apply for grants then they are sidelined in future applications for grants, this forces them to do projects which might not be necessary. Around 40% of the Council's finance is specific grants from the Government.

The days of a Council setting its own budget and plans have well gone, now the budget setting is almost entirely what services they can cut just to meet Government requirements.

If you want the grass cutting or weeds poisoned more often .... which other service are you going to cut to obtain the funding? Which Government rules are you going to break in doing so?

It is the Council's policy not to mow or poison at certain times of the year and in certain areas as part of the desire to rekindle wildlife diversity and population. The UK has lost about 50% of its insect population in the last 50 years, that is a loss of pollinators for plants and loss of food-chain for many other creatures, the eco-systems have been gradually destroyed and nobody knows where the tipping points are.

Not forgetting that the funding is very heavily subsidised by volunteers performing a lot of actions and raising money, this disguises how short of money the Council is.

I'd rather they mowed less and fixed the drains! I've seen quite a few bunged up solid. For verges and grassy areas, they seem to be mowing the very narrow ones and in larger areas just mowing a 1m strip round the edge which seems like a good compromise solution to me. It's giving something back to wildlife, when we've taken so much away. I like watching the various grasses with their subtle colours waving in the breeze (apologies to hay fever sufferers!) Let's face it, the days of carpet-bedded roundabouts and manicured verges are gone. I used to enjoy the carpet bedding, but I think leaving more grass unmown is a step forward, not back, in the grand scheme of things.

Years ago, when you came back from a long summer drive your number plate'd be splattered with numerous unfortunate insects. That doesn't seem to happen any more. Unmown verges will help to boost insect numbers, which in turn will help to feed the birds and support their populations.

You are right Greenwood. I've had tostop to clean the windscreen in the past. These days it's a clear at the end of the journey as when you started. Much of it is the bloody farmers spraying insecticide everywhere. There are laws against it, but they are not enforced. They can't be as the inspectors have been cut back to a ridiculous level. You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to get caught and the fines are derisory.

We need MORE wilding than less. One of the benefits is that rodents thrive too and they are preyed on by owls. Want to hear owls hooting? Then don't mow the grass