We asked, you said, we did

We asked

The Culture and Heritage Strategy for Birkenhead was commissioned in support of the Council’s ambitious regeneration plans. The strategy will set out how the Council will work in partnership to make sure that culture and heritage are at the heart of plans for renewal, including transforming our precious public realm. Celebrating Birkenhead’s history, telling our story in new ways and energising our communities through cultural experiences has never been more important as we recover from the pandemic and look ahead to the future.

The Council carried out public and stakeholder engagement through the Have Your Say portal alongside a range of stakeholder engagement. The consultation invited views on areas including what Birkenhead’s cultural assets are, what are the main opportunities for and from culture and heritage, what aspects of culture and heritage should be priorities for support and development within the new culture and heritage strategy and what successful culture and heritage strategy outcomes would look like.

You said

Residents and stakeholders provided a range of feedback on developing the strategy including noting the strong assets which were Birkenhead’s parks and gardens, heritage and museums and galleries. There was also feedback on priority areas for support and development and ensuring that provision was provided for children and young people. Issues and challenges to developing culture and heritage were also identified including maximising funding opportunities, ensuring connection with communities and creatives, and improving visitor experience.

For more information about the consultation and to view the consultation report click here

We did

The findings from the engagement were reviewed and a draft strategy was developed and taken to the Council’s Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee on 17 November 2021 for review. Following that, further engagement was undertaken with key stakeholders to finalise the strategy and to develop an action plan for the next 12 months. A number of changes have been made to the strategy in response to the engagement, for example strengthening the strategic themes and priorities to ensure that the Council’s and partners’ commitment to promote and protect the history and heritage of Birkenhead and Wirral is fully articulated.

The Heritage and Culture Strategy for Birkenhead was approved by the Council’s Tourism, Culture and Leisure Committee on 8 March 2022, and the action plan is now being delivered.

We asked: On 1st September 2021 Wirral Council embarked on the first of a series of consultation events aimed at capturing stakeholders’ ideas and feedback on the Dock Branch Park proposal, including a virtual 'Idea's Board' here on Have Your Say. The consultation events were designed to engage with stakeholders from a wide demographic spectrum including young people, people with a disability, parent groups and the public who will use the park on a daily basis

You said: In total 491 residents and stakeholders have contributed to the consultation carried out on the Ideas Board, Igloo workshops and pop-up events run by 'Placed'. Overall, there is support for the project to transform an unused part of Birkenhead into a valuable community asset. There is also a desire to be fully involved in the process of design to ensure that Dock Branch is responsive and designed in partnership with local communities.

For more information, and to see the results of these consultation events, click here.

We Did: The results of the consultation will be presented to the design team consisting of Mott McDonald, Building Design Partnership (BDP), Optimised Environments (OpEn) and officers of the Council. The findings of the consultation will be taken in to account and incorporated into the design of the park. Further consultation is planned for later in 2022.

We Asked

We asked residents whether we should change to 'whole council' elections or continue with the current system of ‘elections by thirds’.

You Said

527 people contributed to the consultation, which took the form of a poll. Most people (60.9%) thought that the council should move to an all-out electoral system. 38.0% did not think the council should move to this system, and 1.1% had no preference.

For more information about the consultation and to view the Consultation report click here.

We Did

The consultation report was presented to an extraordinary meeting of the council on 21st March 2022. Based on the report, the committee agreed to move to whole Whole Council elections from 2023.

We asked

Wirral Council developed a framework for the transformational regeneration of Birkenhead, the Birkenhead 2040 Framework. This is a twenty-year plan which sets out the most radical proposals for the town since the 1947 Town Plan.

A public consultation was held to ensure all residents and stakeholders could provide feedback on the draft Framework and help shape the final version. The feedback from this consultation will also be used to shape the final draft of Wirral's Local Plan, the land-use strategy for the Borough, which will be published for public comment in 2022.

The Birkenhead 2040 Framework consultation ran between 21 April to 19 May 2021. For more information about the consultation and to view the consultation report click here.

You said

Residents and stakeholders provided feedback on a number of elements of the framework. These included the framework vision which was approved by 85% of respondents. There are nine objectives describing the activity to be undertaken to achieve the vision and 71-89% of respondents supported the objectives. The eight catalyst projects outlined in the framework received respondent support of between 74-89% and the nine neighbourhood areas gained respondent support between 79-90%. Residents also provided ideas for future development and using a mapping tool identified Birkenhead’s assets, areas for change or new opportunities. Additional feedback was collected through stakeholder events and focus groups.

We did

The Framework was developed based on what residents and local businesses have told the council is important to them. Members of the council’s Economy, Regeneration and Development Committee (Wednesday 9 March 2022) approved the Framework.

At the heart of the proposals is the creation of family-friendly neighbourhoods with beautiful, green public spaces and parks. The plan will re-connect the revitalised town centre with the amazing opportunities along the Mersey waterfront and will make the most of the town’s iconic heritage and buildings. Work is already underway including at Wirral Waters, at Eureka in Seacombe, and in Birkenhead town centre.

The Birkenhead 2040 Framework will also support the development of Wirral’s Local Plan, focus on redeveloping brownfield sites on the east of the borough to meet our housing needs and underpin a key element of the regeneration which will make a real difference to the lives of the people of Wirral.

The Framework sets out a 20-year plan for Birkenhead which will evolve over time as different stages of the plan programme are reached. The Council will continue to engage with stakeholders and residents of Birkenhead to ensure that they are kept up to date with progress and that their views continue to shape the regeneration of Birkenhead over the plan period.

We Asked

We asked residents to provide their views on Library services in Wirral to help develop a Library Strategy for the next five years. The aim is to offer a sustainable library service that meets the needs of the community both now, and for future generations.

We asked what library services were most important – whether that be reading materials, joining reading groups, accessing IT facilities, and doing online research or taking part in arts and crafts, events, and support groups. We also wanted to know what we could offer more of and what we could do differently so the library you use the most, can offer the services you need. There was also the opportunity to provide a view on who should run the library and if a community managed library is something you would like to be involved with.

You Said

There were 1,562 responses to the survey, this provided a wealth of information in key areas including the library service, the online library, new ideas for libraries and community involvement in library operations. This information was used to support the development of the new strategy.

For more information about the consultation and to view the Consultation report click here.

We Did

The consultation feedback directly influenced the development of a new emerging Library Strategy, which includes options for a new operating model for Wirral Libraries. This information including the consultation report was presented to the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee on 18 January 2022. The committee agreed for this new proposed model to undergo further public consultation and engagement with service users, staff, key stakeholders, and their representatives. This second phase of public consultation will go live in February 2022.

We asked

We asked you share your views on being active to help us make sure that we are delivering the right activities, at the right times and at the right facilities. We also wanted to know what stopped you from being active, so we could help to overcome those issues. You were able to respond as a resident, a young person or as a representative of a partner organisation.

You Said

You told us how often you like to be active, what kinds of activities you enjoy and how and when you would prefer to be active. Barriers to being active were also highlighted as well as suggestions to encourage physical activity in Wirral.

We Did

The Sport and Physical Activity Strategy for Wirral 2021-2026 has been developed based on the Case For Change which includes the findings of this consultation: This strategy can be viewed here.

We asked

We asked Wirral residents and businesses to provide their opinions on the vision and objectives of draft Economic Strategy; whether they agreed or disagreed and what was missing. The Economic Strategy will support the council to deliver on some of the central aims of the new Wirral Corporate Plan - The Wirral 2021-2026 Plan.

You Said

You thought that Strong Communities and Good Quality of Life should be more strongly reflected in the strategy, that the Green Energy Sector should be better defined as well as the support available for SMEs.

We Did

The consultation feedback directly influenced the final draft of the Policy. The vision statement was updated and the Objectives and Principles changed to reflect the consultation findings.

The final Wirral Economic Policy has now been published and is available to view in the Documents section of the consultation page here

We asked

We asked residents what their preferred design layout would be for a proposed pump track in Central Park, Liscard.

Two options were presented:

• Option A, a continuous circuit track with a variety of rollers (bumps) and berms (corners).
• Option B, a single lap track with consistent rollers and berms.

You Said

Option A was the preferred design layout option by some distance. Most respondents supported the idea of a pump track in the park in general, and thought that they or members of their household would use it.

We did

Planning permission for the pump track was approved by the Council on 21 December 2021. Work to start building the track is intended to commence from January, and the track is expected to be complete and open to members of the public by Spring 2022. Further updates on the progress of the project will be communicated via the Wirral Council website, social media channels and press releases.

For more information about the consultation click here

For more information about the consultation click here.

We asked

We conducted a consultation for the Safer Streets 2 Project, which is funded by the Home Office. We asked for your views on the installation of alleygates in 10 key areas across Birkenhead and Seacombe. These areas were selected due to issues with anti-social behaviour, acquisitive crime and environmental problems, like fly-tipping. We wanted to know how residents felt about these alleygates being installed. The questions were framed in relation to the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that comes into effect in conjunction with the installation of alleygates. A PSPO is a legislative tool which comes under the umbrella of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. They can be used to prevent anti-social behaviour and related criminal behaviour in key areas which have seen high levels of anti-social behaviour or other criminality. The installation of alleygates closes the alleyway set out in the PSPO to the public and means only surrounding residents, who receive keys to the alleygates, can gain access to the alleyway. Breach of a PSPO, without a reasonable excuse, is an offence.

You said

Residents told us whether or not they objected to the installation of alleygates. This gave residents the chance to voice any additional concerns they may have prior to the installation of alleygates. 51 consultation responses were collected regarding the proposed PSPOs. 96% of overall responses were positive. The 4% objections or queries have been addressed. Analysis of the responses showed that 8 of the areas did not receive any objections to the PSPO.

We did

We responded individually to residents who had objections to address their concerns in full. The PSPO was sealed and came into force on the 5 November 2021. The appeals process against the PSPO lasted for 6 weeks from the 5 November, ending on 17 December 2021. Residents had six weeks from the date of the order to question the validity of the Order or any provision contained in it, to make an application to the High Court under Section 66 of the Act based on specified grounds set out within the Act. This allowed for residents who still have concerns about the installation of alleygates, and their associated PSPOs, to appeal it through the proper legal mechanism.

For those areas with no objections, we will continue with the alleygate installation as planned, with the alleygates set to be installed throughout January and February 2022. Following the installation of the alleygates, we will conduct an evaluation with residents to assess what impact they feel alleygates have had in their area. This further survey will consolidate the importance of public feedback and its impact on future decision-making.

For more information on the consultation click here.

We Asked

The Tree Maintenance survey is a resident consultation to gain insight regarding the performance of our tree maintenance staff and contractors when on site. Wirral Council employs staff and contractors to maintain our trees year-round. Each tree is inspected on a cyclical basis to ensure that they are healthy, safe and stable. Part of this assessment looks at the potential need for pruning. Residents were asked to register views on work that has been carried out and the professionalism of the staff involved. This covered how polite and courteous the workers were, how tidy they left the site and the overall quality of the work.

You Said

In Summary, most of the feedback is positive, suggesting that the tree contractors are minimising inconvenience, the quality of work is high, and workers respect the site and residents. However, some survey respondents believe that the quality of work could have room for improvement.

We Did

The resident feedback collected has been shared with tree contractors to work with them to improve the service to residents and ensure high standards of tree maintenance.