Fire chief reads to Schoolchildren to mark World Book Day

MERSEYSIDE Fire and Rescue Service's Chief Fire Officer, Dan Stephens, visited a Huyton Primary School, to take part in 'World Book Day' celebrations. CFO Stephens joined a special assembly at St Columba's Catholic Primary School and then read to around 30 children from reception class.

The 4 and 5 year olds; dressed as an array of literary characters including:- 'Harry Potter,' 'Robin Hood,' the 'Queen of Hearts' and 'Fantastic Mr Fox' sat cross legged, listening carefully as CFO Stephens read 2 of their favourite stories - 'Dinosaurs Love Underpants' and 'Monsters Love Underpants.'

He also treated them to some real life stories about the Service Rescue Dogs, Belle and Willow.

CFO Stephens visited the School together with Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, Head of Local Policing Chief Superintendent Jon Roy and PCSO Mark McNicholl from Merseyside Police as part of World Book Day, which is an international celebration of reading.

The visitors listened to pupils read poems and were then presented with special trophies from the children.

CFO Stephens said:- "It was a pleasure to visit St Columba's and join their World Book Day event. All the children and staff put a great effort into dressing up as their favourite characters and they all looked fantastic. It is always heartening to see how much the children love books and reading, and I felt privileged to read some of their favourite books to them as part of such a special day."

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- "It was a pleasure to visit St Columba's and spend time with the children to mark World Book Day. Events like this are a great way to engage with young people and highlight how important reading skills and story telling are in a young person's education. It is also a really enjoyable way of talking to them about who we are and about the work of the Police and the Police Commissioner. I was thrilled to be presented with a reading champion trophy by the School; it will take pride of place on my desk in the Police and Crime Commissioner's office."

St Columba's Deputy Headteacher, Veronica Oprey, who was dressed as 101 Dalmations villain Cruella Deville, said:- "The School's staff and children had a wonderful time. We recognise the importance of encouraging children to be life long readers, and we encourage them to read just for pleasure. The World Book Day event is 1 of the activities that helps to inspire them to enjoy books. It was wonderful to have Chief Fire Officer Stephens and representatives from Merseyside Police and the PCC with us to read to the children."

The School has recently gained Knowsley premium position for progress in reading, across Key stage 2.

New Mersey Cruise Terminal enters key phase

LIVERPOOL City Council has appointed 1 of the UK's leading building and civil engineering contractors to prepare a new Cruise Terminal Facility on the River Mersey. The new facility will enable the City to welcome the world's biggest cruise ships to its UNESCO World Heritage listed waterfront.

After an open tendering process undertaken through the Official Journal of the European Union, the Council has awarded the 1st stage of a 2 stage design and build contract to UK wide construction company McLaughlin and Harvey.

The 1st stage will consist of supporting the Council's appointed design team, led by Ramboll UK, to finalise the design and construction method, including:- completing enabling works such as the controlled dismantling of the existing derelict Princess Jetty, which has been gifted to the City by Peel Land and Property.

They will also establish the final construction costs by inviting competitive sub contract prices for each package of works in advance of the 2nd stage main contract award, whilst designing out construction risks. McLaughlin and Harvey will also be fully supporting the Liverpool in Work programme to provide and promote engagement with local subcontractors and suppliers, and offer local employment opportunities.

McLaughlin and Harvey, established more than 160 years ago, have completed projects of similar complexity to the work required for the new Liverpool Cruise Terminal. They are currently undertaking marine based projects across the UK, from the Shetland Islands to Kent, and were appointed for their expertise in this field.

The main contract works involve the construction of the new Cruise Passenger Terminal on a suspended deck structure at the Princes Jetty site and the erection of a vehicular linkspan bridge and pedestrian bridge / walkway to connect the new terminal to the existing landing stage.

It also includes improvements to the existing landing stage, including:- modification of existing buildings such as the lower Cruise Terminal reception building, relocation of the building on the Northern end of the pontoon and creation of an ancillary buildings for storage and use by operational staff; improvements to Princes Parade to incorporate pedestrian crossing facilities, provision of terminal parking, pickup and drop off facilities, and supporting development.

This year Liverpool will welcome more than 57 vessels, with 100,000 passengers and crew, but the Council wants to capitalise on the cruise boom by creating a state of the art passenger and baggage facility, complete with passport control, lounge, café, toilets, taxi rank and vehicle pick up point, to cater for Liverpool's growing appeal in the cruise industry. The current terminal generates more than ₤7m a year to the City's economy.

The outline planning application for the new facility is expected to be heard by the Council's Planning Committee in April 2018. If approved, site preparation at Princes Dock, in Liverpool Waters, is expected to start in October 2018.

The Council is also in the process of promoting a Harbour Revision Order through the Harbour Authority to construct the new terminal in the River Mersey.

Further planning applications could potentially include supplementary projects with a new 200 room hotel and 1,700+ multi storey car park to enhance the City's capabilities in handling the next generation of turnaround cruises, which can carry up to 3,600 passengers.

Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "I'm delighted that we've appointed such a renowned company as McLaughlin and Harvey to undertake this phase of design work of our new cruise facility. This is a major step forward for what is 1 of the City's most important regeneration projects of this decade and is vital to growing Liverpool's tourism economy. We want to provide the next generation of super liners and their passengers a world class welcome with a 5 star experience. A new cruise facility will also be a huge boost to our plans to regenerate the North Liverpool Docklands and create thousands of new jobs which is why we're putting together the best team of experts to ensure we build this facility to the very highest standards."

McLaughlin and Harvey Contract Director, John Mariner, said:- "We are delighted to have been appointed to deliver this prestigious and iconic project on the Liverpool waterfront and look forward to working collaboratively with Liverpool City Council's team."

Although the proposed multi storey car park has been earmarked for the new cruise facility, the Council is reviewing locations North of Leeds Street so it could also support initiatives around the 10 Streets creativity district.

The Council, which recently held a 2 day public consultation on the scheme, is also investing a further ₤32m in upgrading the A565 to support the new cruise facility and North Docklands and is also gearing up to create a ₤20m link road to extend Leeds Street to the waterfront to support a new ₤30m Isle of Man Ferry Terminal.

Relocating the Cruise Terminal will also enable the Council to remodel The Strand, by removing junctions, such as the 1 servicing the current facility, that stem the flow of traffic along the key waterfront route.

Liverpool City Council, which is currently overseeing ₤14bn worth of regeneration projects, is also carrying out further maritime and infrastructure investigations, environmental impact assessments and surveys and is working closely with Peel Land and Property as the gifted Princes Jetty sits within its ₤5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme.

News reports located on this page = 2.

Fire chief reads to Schoolchildren to mark World Book Day

New Mersey Cruise Terminal enters key phase