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BOOST TO
WATER SUPPLIES IN SOUTHPORT
HOUSEHOLDERS
across Southport will soon be turning the tap on to even better
drinking water supplies thanks to United Utilities.
The company has started a three-month project on Monday, 1 September
2008, to replace old cast-iron pipes in the Church Town area with
modern plastic ones.
The work forms part of the company's £2.9 billion investment
programme between 2005 and 2010 to improve tap water and the
environment and when completed it will help prevent low water
pressure and water discolouration - as well as reducing the risk of
leakage.
"Some of our old water mains like the pipe here at Church Town date
back more than 100 years. It has done a great job all these
years but is now not up to modern standards and it is time to
replace it." said United Utilities' Project Engineer Henry
Bennett.
To keep disruption to a minimum, engineers will use the latest
pipe-laying technique, known as slip-lining, in which the new
plastic pipes are inserted into the old pipes.
"Slip-lining is the equivalent of keyhole surgery for water mains.
We only need to dig small access holes instead of open trenches and
the new plastic pipes can be fed through the old ones. It's
quicker and causes less inconvenience.” explained Henry.
Due to the nature of the work, traffic management will be required
on-site.
This will involve the setting up of temporary road closures at
certain points, which may cause a slight disruption to traffic flow.
Any closures will be clearly signposted and diversions will be put
in place.
Henry added:- “We would like to apologise in advance for any
inconvenience this essential work may cause and we thanks residents
for their patience and understanding.
We need to remember that when the work is complete it will be of
great benefit to our customers across Southport and that we always
aim to cause as little disruption as possible when carrying out
these schemes.
The main reason why we wanted to start work in early September was
so that we could complete the scheme before the run-up to Christmas.
This is the type of work that our customers' bills help to fund and
it will be well worth it when it is finished."
WRVS supported by Brighter Living Partnership are set to launch 2
new fruit and vegetable co-operatives in Southport
FROM the 25
September 2008, at Crossens Community Centre, on Rufford Road,
Crossens, residents of North Sefton will be able to order large bags
of fruit, vegetables and salad for £2.50 each. This will offer
a considerable saving when compared to supermarkets and traditional
retailers. This scheme will run between 12 and 4pm.
From the 9 October 2008, residents will also be able to order from
Parenting 2000 on Mornington Road next to Southport College.
This scheme will run between 3 and 8pm to include those who cannot
access the other co-ops.
Both schemes will have a launch event where there will be activities
such as cookery demonstrations, fruit kebabs and badge making for
children so there will be something for all the family. Orders
can be placed at the launch to be collected the
following week.
Both co-ops will launch with a new supplier who has also started
delivering to the existing co-ops in High Park and Woodvale which
offer a much improved range of produce.
Cllr John Dodd said:- "I think its good news for the residents
of Crossens, Churchtown and Marshside. The most vulnerable
residents will be able to benefit from this excellent service the
partnership of Brighter Living and the WRVS are providing."
WRVS are looking for volunteers to help run the schemes by packing
bags and managing the orders for all the schemes mentioned.
For further information please contact Ian Mitchell at Brighter
Living on 01704 501024 x 205 or Mandy Naylor at WRVS on 07714
898678.
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All
systems go for Alsop school
THE green
light has been given for work to start on Liverpool’s very first
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme. It paves the way
for building work to start next month on the huge £21m project which
will breathe new life into Alsop, one of the city’s largest and most
popular community secondary schools.
The city council’s executive member for education, Councillor Keith
Turner, said:- “The award of the Alsop building contract to
Morgan Ashurst signifies the start of a new dawn for education in
the city.
More than £485m
will be invested, between now and 2013, in rebuilding or
refurbishing every secondary school in the city.
Building Schools for the Future is the biggest schools rebuilding
scheme ever seen in Liverpool, providing every child with 21st
century education facilities.
It will boost
educational standards and opportunities for young people for
generations to come.”
Alsop has 1,700 pupils and was judged to be ‘outstanding’ by OFSTED
in its recent inspection. However, the arrangement of the
school campus, condition of the buildings and high proportion of
mobile classrooms are limiting the school from further improvement.
Under the BSF scheme, the existing mobile classrooms will be
replaced with a stunning, new 5,500sqm, three-storey building,
containing a range of flexible learning areas.
In addition, there will be extensive refurbishment of the existing
building, which dates back to 1926, to improve the facilities for
science and maths.
The massive investment will allow the school to focus on high
quality learning and teaching in a modern, 21st century environment.
A key objective will also be to make sure the new school is used by
the whole community.
Headteacher Phil Jamieson said:- “Our fantastic pupils and
dedicated staff do an excellent job, and we perform very well
academically, but BSF will enable us to revolutionise teaching and
learning here.
The project will give us the capacity to deliver an even more
diverse, challenging and flexible curriculum, targeted to meet the
needs of every single one of our students.
It’s a really exciting time for Alsop, and everyone here is looking
forward to the major improvements being made to our school.
It’s wonderful that we will soon have a modern, attractive,
state-of-the-art education facility, which will benefit generations
of young people in the area.”
The school has been designed by 2020 Liverpool, who are the city
council's joint venture partner for building services.
Gerry Connell, project director from 2020 Liverpool said:-
"The design concept involves creating flexible spaces, catering for
different teaching methods and learning styles."
The BSF programme is the biggest schools rebuilding scheme ever seen
in Liverpool. It is providing the city with £485m to rebuild
or improve every secondary school in the city.
Liverpool is included
in Wave 2 and Wave 6 of the government programme, giving the city a
once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost educational standards and
vastly improve outcomes for young people across Liverpool by 2013.
In order to secure the funding, the council has had to review
existing secondary school provision in the city and convince the
government that the schools being invested in are viable and
sustainable.
A key challenge
facing not only Liverpool, but another cities across the country is
declining pupil numbers.
Liverpool is losing
around 1,000 pupils from the system each year due to declining birth
rates and over the next five years, the city will face significant
surplus places in secondary schools.
Building Schools for
the Future aims to address this by ensuring that money is spent on
teaching pupils rather than sustaining empty desks.
The new Alsop school is expected to be completed by the autumn of
2010. |
