Outing Doughty : An Introduction

As we exclusively revealed in September of last year Labour councillor Paul Doughty would soon ‘Dance Away’ from Wirral politics . This time there have been no screaming headlines about bullying ,harassment,anti-semitism,Militant or a hard-left takeover.  However Doughty now finds himself  ‘auto-excluded’ from the Labour Party for campaigning for Cllr Chris Meaden ,the ‘Independent’ candidate in Rock Ferry, just a couple of weeks before he was due to quit as a Labour councillor.  Doughty’s crime? Appearing in a photo feebly wearing a white rosette and holding a leaflet supporting Cllr Meaden which appeared on Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin’s Facebook page ( we have more to say on this particular picture but we’ll save that for another time.)

We’re left to ask the question why it took the Labour Party so long to boot him out.  We can only assume that they thought he’d appeal to the ‘swing’ voter. However as we set out a few weeks ago in our Wirral Leaks : Past,Present,Future  post there were a few stories that we wanted to do before we too finally escaped the cesspit that is Wirral politics. The rise and fall of Doughty and his position as chair of the Merseyside Pension Fund , acting chair of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum and astonishingly his recent appointment as the chair of Northern Local Government Pension Schemes was certainly one of them.

A number of sources have been in touch about Doughty over the years raising their concerns about various conflicts of interest, links to ‘colourful’ local businessmen/women and other eyebrow-raising matters . We have been investigating these further and busily compiling a Wirral Leaks ‘Special Report’ to commemorate Doughty’s curious political career. We are inviting further contributions and meanwhile offer you this sneak preview as to one of the real reasons that Doughty is now happy to be seen wearing the white rosette of ‘independence’ :

I bumped into Cllr Paul Doughty on Friday.  He told me he is not standing in the local elections this year because there are “just too many [pesky, darn-tootin’] conflicts of interest” with his architectural/development practice.  No, really?!!

Then he illustrated exactly the sort of conflict he was talking about, telling me that he has plans to build a 17-storey residential tower on the car park between the Cheshire Lines Building and Bridge Street, which would severely impact upon views out of the Hamilton Square Conservation Area and harmfully dominate views from within Hamilton Square Gardens …

And believe us there are plenty more other such ‘conflicts of interest’ that we intend to explore in our forthcoming ‘Special Report’…

 

 

The Local Election Circus Comes To Wirral

The names in the frames have been announced  for the local elections to be held on Thursday May 2 2019 . So we bring you the Wirral Leaks cut out and keep guide to where we think  the keenest contests will take place and which candidates to watch.

The first match up that caught our eye was the political celebrity death match to be held in the Rock Ferry ward where  ‘Independent’ Cllr Chris Meaden goes head to head with the official Labour candidate and former local Labour Group leader Yvonne Nolan.

Credit where it’s due at least Cllr Meaden is throwing herself into the ring and is prepared to put herself to an electoral test unlike Councillors Mike Sullivan, Moira McLaughlin and Bill Davies who also fly under the flag of ‘Independent’. It will be interesting to see whether the Rock Ferry electorate vote for ‘personality’ over ‘politics’. Although with Rock Ferry regularly having the lowest voter turn out in the local elections we suspect that the winner of this particular political battle will be the one who best galvanises the local electorate from their political apathy. Good luck with that one.

Elsewhere judging by the resources that the local Labour group are throwing at the Birkenhead & Tranmere and Prenton wards, and the results last time round, it would seem they are anticipating a strong challenge from Green Party candidates Steve Hayes and Chris Cooke respectively.  The former is contesting current Wirral Council leader Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ ward now that the cowardly lion has bailed out of facing a public vote . The latter is up against Labour Wirral Council Cabinet member for being permanently excited, Cllr Angie Davies, who has been touted as a potential Labour Group leader (no laughing at the back) so this will be a particularly interesting ward to keep an eye on.

Another anticipated closely fought political battle involving someone else who has been spoken of as a future Labour Group leader will be taking place in the Pensby & Thingwall ward where Cllr Phill ‘Two L and Back’ Brightmore faces Conservative candidate Mike Collins , who we know is a particular favourite of ex Wirral Council control room staff. When Collins stood last time in this ward the final count was very close. So who will take the spoils this time round? The political heavyweight or the actual heavyweight? People of Pensby & Thingwall you decide!

Astonishingly we find that Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes  is actually allowed to stand in the Claughton ward. It is an appalling indictment of the state of Wirral politics and the standard of its politicians. And then again look at his ‘proposer’,  fellow Claughton councillor George Davies. Of course, Davies , as Frank Field’s electoral agent is used to doing the dirty work when it comes to such matters.  Below is a picture from the local elections last time around and what the lucky people of Claughton can look forward to suddenly appearing on the doorstep over the next few weeks – but then knowing what the people of Claughton know about Foulkesy’s antics over the years they get what they deserve

And finally… if the name of the UKIP candidate for the Wallasey ward is to be believed it would appear that Santa Claus is coming to town in time for the local elections but then it must be said we don’t believe in any of them…

 

 

Crossing the Party Line

We feel a clarification is in order following our unexpected mention at last week’s Council meeting where Cllr Mary Jordan said :

“Making jokes about the holocaust crosses that line, a line which even Wirral Leaks recognise…”

See webcast at 2:14:00 onwards.

Whilst we hope that Cllr Jordan wasn’t impugning our good/bad name with that comment we really need to make it clear that our Jo given the Bird in the Phoney War of Words  story to which she was referring was commenting on the fact we considered – and at the end of the day who are we to judge? – that comments made last year by Cllr Jo Bird  a woman of Jewish heritage referencing the holocaust were crass/insensitive/unfunny. And once again – who are we judge on that score? But were they really worthy of censure and suspension by the Labour Party ? Absolutely not and thankfully they have since been rescinded.

What Cllr Jordan fails to mention is the fact that our post called into question the repercussions that followed Cllr Bird’s comments and the collusion of her Jordan’s own local party with conduct far more worthy of moral and political outrage. But perhaps the subtleties of this website – and we do have some – are lost on those wanting to cite our wayward scripture for their own warped purpose.

But then political hypocrisy is not confined to the opposition benches at Wirral Council. Just prior to Cllr Jordan’s ‘faux outrage’ (© ex- Cllr Matthew Patrick)  Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin had been banging on about the newly arrived scourge of anti-semitism that didn’t seem to concern Labour councillors until very recently. Astonishingly she  mentioned the threat of involvement of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)  in investigating  anti-semitism within the Labour Party. Could this be the same EHRC that found that the Wirral Council had discriminated against disabled people under her oversight? The same people whose letter she had hushed up when former Conservative councillor Simon Mountney had handed out the EHRC verdict to councillors?

Nevertheless Cllr McLaughlin and her tag-a-long political follower Cllr Chris Meaden saw fit to walk out of the Wirral Council chamber , along with ‘outraged’ Conservative councillors , at the Council budget meeting held on March 4 at exactly the point when Cllr Bird was attempting to put her comments into context and talking about her Jewish heritage and her family’s persecution during the holocaust.

Under the circumstances the comments of Cllr Jordan, the actions of Cllr  McLaughlin  and Conservative councillors strike us as yet another example of the flagrant hypocrisies of our local political classes which currently makes them indivisible.

Frank Field’s Forty Glorious Years

You may have noticed that lately we’ve been prone to a bit of introspection which has often led us to question ourselves and ask – “Is it us?”

Are we too caustic? too mischievous? (© Wirral Globe) too poisonous? too insulting?(© Cllr Steve Foulkes) . As that Fred guy said : Have we been gazing into the abyss for too long?… 

… And then you lovely people send us stuff and we realise “Nah, it’s not just us, its all gone to shit out there and we are compelled to record the end of times and wonder how did it all get so messed up with the only things we have at our disposal – words and pictures…

Which brings us to this particular item. Which we’ll leave here for you to ponder on for a few moments :

There’s not much more we need to say other than no wonder our source titled their email to us :

The email read : Feeding Birkenhead no expense spared lol

Further information that was sent made us question as to whether our source was winding us up.

Wilfred Owen Choir are serenading and receiving goodie bags . Bet you the Cammell Laird bosses were there.

Along with the ‘Sold Out’ banner this was now getting simply beyond parody – but we’ll give it a go anyway :

Hello , everyone. My name is Si Coffant and I’ll be your host tonight at this glittering occasion. Firstly, I’d like to welcome all you ladies and gentleman and particularly the ‘Right Honourable Gentleman’ himself and star of the show, Mr Frank Field (applause). Tonight at ‘The Lauries’ we’re keeping it classy. After all , ‘Frank is in da house ‘ so it’ll be more House of Commons than House of Commoners . So, sorry they’ll be no ‘Agadoo’, bingo and throwing up behind the bins tonight (laughter). Instead ,ladies and gentlemen ,we’ve got the Wilfred Owen choir who are going to serenade you with some of ‘Our Wilf’s’ greatest hits – ‘Futility ‘, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, and that catchy little number ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ (applause). So as you tuck into a nice bit of scran please feel free to join in with the choir as they sing about slaughter on the battlefields of Europe . Yes, it’s a bit like Brexit set to music! (laughter) . But seriously ladies and gentlemen – let’s not forget the real reason we’re here tonight. Yes,that’s right – tonight is about all of us who have personally benefitted from ‘Frank Field’s Forty Glorious Years’ as the MP for Birkenhead…Oh and charidee, let’s not forget to mention it’s all about charidee for the starving mites. So raise your glasses and be grateful for the fact that if you didn’t have Frank’s patronage you too could be destitute and cast aside on the mean streets of Birkenhead. Make mine a treble !!!

Our source put it more succinctly but no less sarcastically :

The Lauries is celebrating 40 years of the great Frank Field  lol

His legacy – a starving community

For those with the stomach for it you can read more on the Frank Field’s Birkenhead Community News Facebook page which is promoted and published by Anna McLaughlin, who as we all know is the daughter of dedicated Frank Field fan Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin. Needless to say Matron was there along with fellow ‘Independent’ Cllr Chris Meaden.

As the poor loves don’t seem get out as much as they used to we wonder if the Wirral council taxpayers are still picking up Matron’s taxi fares or whether they were both chauffeur driven to Feeding Birkenhead’s Fundraising Dinner? After all it was in the name of  charity and they did raise a mighty 3 grand… 

Matron takes her place at the top table. She’s to the left of Field. But then again who isn’t?

It’s always best experiencing poverty vicariously. Preferably viewed  through the window sipping a bit of fizz…

 

 

Save the Davies

This week’s very minor political news is that Rock Ferry residents now find themselves without a Labour councillor as Cllr Bill Davies is the latest local politician to claim to be ‘Independent’ and yet paradoxically recite the same script of those councillors who’ve gone before him. “Hard left”, ” I can’t continue to support something I no longer believe in.” etc;etc;

No mention of mention of bullying/anti-semitism so far. But then we suspect that Billyboy wouldn’t understand what either meant. After all his main claim to fame for Wirral Leaks readers came when he somehow found himself chairing the Standards and Constitutional Committee and where we observed:

Now if your idea of fun is watching someone picking their teeth, gurning and looking generally befuddled for 40 minutes we recommend you keep your eye on Committee chair  Cllr Bill Davies – “standards”  don’t even come into it !

Her Ladyship turned her head away from the screen and cried despairingly :  “Oh for goodness sake get that man a toothpick and some lessons in etiquette.What is it with local councillors called Davies ? –  they appear to be social disgraces unacquainted with the social graces

Read full story : Low Standards, High Fives

So now with Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies taking the coward’s route out before either the Greens or the Reds forced him out and Cllr Bill Davies joining Cllrs McLaughlin,  Meaden and Sullivan and their vainglorious ‘Independent’ venture Labour councillors called Davies are a threatened species. No wonder local Labour activists are throwing everything at the local election campaign to enable Labour Cabinet member Cllr Angie ‘Excited’ Davies to remain in the Prenton ward. This is a ward in which the Green Party made huge gains at the last local elections and will be hotly contested this time round (see above).

Somehow Angie is being touted as a future Labour leader (even by local Tories) which makes us want to use an expression using the following words : scraping, bottom and barrel.

The other Davies remaining in the Labour ranks is the infamous Cllr George Davies who by rights he should have been stripped of public office a long time ago. It’s a shame that when Cllr Bill Davies claimed that the Labour Party was not the party he joined and could no longer believe in was because of the corrupt antics of the likes of Cllr George Davies and Cllr Phil Davies . As we presume it’s not – Bill just looks like the latest of local Labour politicians who have benefitted from colluding with a corrupt cabal and are now unhappy with democratic processes which mean that they’re not getting their own way anymore… to which we can only say good riddance and for God’s sake get a decent pair of dentures.

Pip’s Poisoned Chalice : Who will follow the ‘Leader’ ?

Well, it all seems to be a bit of a death wish  – or should that be witch hunt – situation  with the local Labour Party at the moment isn’t it? The local Tory group must be loving it as it follows their time honoured tradition of identifying the problems of others without having to find solutions of their own .

However the big question, not to mention the big challenge for the person who gets passed this particular poisoned chalice , is who will be the next ‘leader’ of the  local Labour Group at Wirral Council when – thank the Lord – Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies,   pops off to pastures new.

We suppose the big question between suspensions, deselections and ‘retirements’ is whether there will be anyone left to choose from? By rights the obvious choice at the moment would be Cllr George Davies,  especially now that his co-Deputy Leader  Cllr Bernie ‘The Bruiser’ Nooney has been rumbled by her local Constituency Labour Party .  But surely even the local Labour Party wouldn’t opt  for a racist liar as their leader?  But then again didn’t they once have Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes as their head honcho so we suppose anything is possible!

Historically,  the selection process and outcome was fairly straightforward. Birkenhead MP Frank Field just made his preference known and it was a done deal. The only criteria would be that the Labour leader at Wallasey Town Hall would bend to Frankenfield’s will. Both Foulksey and Pip fitted the bill perfectly.

Now currently local party members actually get to vote and are apparently being very careful not to upset the  Labour whip who is under the control of the current ruling cabal in case they lose their right to vote in the leadership contest. Well that was Cllr Tony ‘Tight Fit’ Norbury’s feeble excuse as to why he voted for continuing with the Hoylake Golf Resort proposal although he didn’t agree with doing so !

We don’t know whether Cllr Norbury is in the running to be Labour ‘leader’ as we know he wants the ‘top job’ as Labour’s next Parliamentary candidate for Birkenhead. We suppose he’s hedging his bets waiting the result of the Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party selection, which as we know had to be rearranged following the last debacle which we covered in this EXCLUSIVE : And the new Parliamentary Labour candidate for Birkenhead is…

What we do know that current Councillors Chris Meaden, Moira McLaughlin and  Mike Sullivan are out of the running as they’re now ‘Independent’ councillors. ‘Independent’ of what we ask ourselves? ‘Reality’ judging by the comments emanating from the ‘Three Stooges’ . “Be careful what you wish for. Our little group could hold the balance of power come May.” Cllr Sullivan is quoted as saying this week. Yes, Mike whatever you say but then we know you’re prone to a bit of the hyperbolics which nevertheless are always good for a laugh. As you can see below Cllrs McLaughlin / Meaden are already on the local campaign trail but then, as today’s Kingdom Security announcement confirms ,everything a local councillor does at the moment is all about electioneering . ‘ A Concerned Resident’ sends us this letter with the attached comment  :

Hi. This letter is currently being delivered to residents of Rock Ferry, signed by our two ‘independent’ councillors who “think it would be helpful to let people know” what they are up to. Looks like blatant electioneering to me, using taxpayers money to publicise themselves. 

Regards, A Concerned Resident

 

So who does this leave us with in the Labour Group leadership race? Any suggestions? Now that Cllr Jo Bird has been nobbled (for now anyway)  our ante-post tips would be Cllr Phill ‘Two L and Back’ Brightmore and  Cllr Janette ‘Milly Tant’ Williamson (Gawd ‘elp us) but then again there is former leader Yvonne Nolan waiting in the wings hoping to get elected in Rock Ferry . However the way things are going at the moment we advise ‘doing a Norbury’ and hedge your bets ’til the local election results are in and see what we’re, er, left with…

A Day of Protest at Wallasey Town Hall Part 2 : A scorched earth approach to Wirral’s Green Belt

Many thanks to those who have sent us photos from last night’s extraordinary turnout at the Wirral Council Extraordinary Meeting to discuss Wirral’s Green Belt and specifically Notices of Motion on the Hoylake Golf Resort. There were many pictures to choose from but we’ve tried to keep them as apolitical as possible. We’ll be also be posting a couple of further candid shots later as we think they’re particularly telling and worthy of a post of their own.

When it came to it the Green Belt debate was by the by as the Labour group seemed to want to carry on their ongoing self-immolation in front of a large audience.  Not only do certain sections of the local Labour Party hierarchy seem to have a scorched earth policy when it comes to the Green Belt it also seems to apply to members of their own party.

First up there was Cllr Chris Meaden and a ‘personal statement’  about her recent deselection about which you’d really need to have a heart of stone not to laugh. It was the usual unsubstantiated attacks on other Labour Party members and ‘poor-me’ on parade.The blown kisses to family members in the public gallery was a nice touch to end on.  There was a standing ovation from the Tory benches (yes, the Tory benches) as Meaden had previously warned that the Labour Group ,which she had been a part of for so many years, wouldn’t stand they’d been told they couldn’t ( by the party whip? The party ‘leader’? Sonic rays from outer space?) So does Meaden want us believe that  in all the years she’d been a councillor that she never followed such directions?  A sickening postscript to this show of disloyalty on both sides of the Labour schism was Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes telling Cllr Meaden he would still be her ‘fwend’ ! Not so much BFF but BSF!

Our favourite aspect of the night’s proceedings were the repeated digs from right across the political spectrum pointing to Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ failure of leadership. However it was best evidenced by Wirral’s most prominent political power couple Labour’s Cllr Jo Bird and Cllr Tony Norbury. We couldn’t help thinking that the former would make the better future leader but it was clear that she wanted shut of Pip pronto! Cllr Norbury was more mealymouthed about why he was voting against the Tory Notice of Motion to ditch the Hoylake Golf Resort (which was narrowly lost) claiming that the evening’s proceedings were a political stunt and protesting was a complete waste of time . Norbury thereby managed to alienate the public gallery and further protestors in the overflow Committee rooms.  Way to go, Tone!

Norbury went on to claim that although he agreed with the Notice of Motion a) he wouldn’t side with Tories and b) if he did he would be suspended by the Labour whip. So kudos goes to Labour Cllr Jean Robinson for sticking by her principles and calling time on the Council ‘leader’s expensive ego trip and not kowtowing to political pressure.Whether she’ll be suspended  by the Labour Group for doing so is a moot point but if she isn’t it will make Cllr Norbury’s protestations seem like empty words…

 

Hoylake Golf Resort : Protest and Protect

We confidently predict that next week will be  a challenging one for the ruling administration at Wirral Council.  As we heralded in our  Message from Wirral Green Space Alliance : Extraordinary Wirral Council Meeting 25th February there is a coordinated protest prior to the meeting which is concerned with the long-running  ‘Hoylake Golf Resort’ saga.

There is a growing alliance of protestors against the luxury homes with a golf course proposal and from some unexpected quarters. Who would have believed that having gone independent as a councillor that ex- Labour Cllr Moira ‘Matron’ McLaughlin would suddenly be ‘independent’ of thought ? Now having helped set up an ‘independent group’ at Wirral Council (along with Cllrs  Chris Meaden and Michael Sullivan ) Matron now feels free to express doubts on her former leader Cllr Phil ‘Power Boy Pip’ Davies’ pet project.

Liverpool Echo reports :

While Cllr McLaughlin would not reveal which she would vote for or against (at the Extraordinary Meeting) , she revealed her “grave concerns” about the huge project, and the “capacity” of officers to carry it through…

Meanwhile we have also received a leaked email sent by Wirral Trades Union Council :

Anticipating the strength of growing opposition Pip and his ever decreasing cohort of cronies have been busily preparing their justifications and prepping the press.

We understand that this preparation for tomorrow included a visit  by Pip , Cllr Angela ‘Excited’ Davies and Wirral Council CEO Eric ‘Feeble’Robinson to Celtic Manor Golf Resort in South Wales on 6th February . Labour councillors were briefed about the visit last week (18th February) giving them a week to rehearse their roles and memorise their lines in time for tomorrow’s meeting. This will no doubt include reference to the news found in the Place North West article  Hoylake’s £200m golf resort ‘ready to go’ as contractor joins team where we find Jim Anderson of developer Nicklaus Joint Venture Group (NJVG) , saying the Hoylake Golf Resort proposal was “fully funded” with an aim to “start work the next day” if planning permission is secured. Anderson goes on to say :

Hopefully we won’t be used as a political item one way or another. It’s important for us to get out to the people to understand what their concerns are; we have a year of planning where we can look at those concerns and hopefully address them, and a lot of that will be when they understand the true nature of the project.

The doors of the golf course are very much open. You don’t have to be a member to come into the clubhouse to have a coffee or have a pint or use the restaurants; it’s there for everyone. It’s a misconception that this is a playground for the rich and only they can use it, and frankly, the business model wouldn’t work if we didn’t get engagement with the local population.

Under the circumstances we would expect Mr Anderson to be at tomorrow’s meeting to help address concerns of protestors and engage with the local population. As for the Hoylake Golf Resort being used as a ‘political item one way or another’ does he know that it’s a) Wirral and b) a local election year ?…

 

 

The ‘Right’ Kind of Labour Politician

Following on from yesterday’s Selection Committee non-event at Birkenhead Constituency Labour Party (CLP) we’ve been musing on the cock up or conspiracy aspects of the debacle.

Now , we’re not usually prone to reaching for a tin foil hat especially when Her Ladyship tells us that they’re ‘so last season’ but there were some worrying signs prior to the meeting that the political establishment both nationally and locally were gearing up for a spoiler.

Needless to say Frank Field ally The Daily Mail (aka Fail) , an ever willing receptacle for his self serving rhetoric, was ready with a less than complimentary article on Wirral Labour councillor Tony Norbury and leading candidate to succeed Frankenfield as the next Labour Parliamentary candidate…the day before the Selection Committee was due to meet. Well, what a coincidence! However and as you read on here yesterday in our EXCLUSIVE : And the new Parliamentary Labour candidate for Birkenhead is… post things didn’t quite go to plan…or did they (for some interested parties at least)?

The Daily Mail article titled Labour hopeful lining up to take on veteran MP Frank Field ‘is a hard-left bully with links to group that dismissed claims of anti-Semitism against party’ details how Cllr Norbury had been disciplined by the Labour Party for bullying and revisited issues of alleged anti-semitism which we’d previously reported here

Needless to say local Tories and Frank Field fans were on hand to add fuel to the fire with former Tory Council leader Cllr Jeff ‘Yellow’ Green retweeting a link to the  Daily Mail article with a typically cryptic and cowardly comment: ‘Well,well,well..’. 

Well,well, well indeed! So tell us Cllr Green do you consider Cllr Norbury to be a worse prospect than Cllr Steve ‘Foulkesy’ Foulkes ? You know the one who considers you ‘kindred’? You know the one who organised a failed smear campaign against you and lied about it in an investigation and then there had to be another investigation because he’d lied during the first one and then continued to lie again in the second one? Or is ‘Foulkesy’ the ‘right’ kind of Labour politician who you can sit alongside on the  Board of Magenta Living , trousering the cheque and pretending to ‘play nice’.

As you can see from further tweets this week in support of Labour councillor Chris Meaden fellow Tory councillors Ian Lewis and Chris Blakeley follow the same path when it comes to Labour politicians . There’s a right sort and a wrong sort .

Now don’t get us wrong we’re not taking sides here as nobody’s hands seem to be clean in this political shitshow and as you know we have pored over philosophical treatises ,mulled over manifestoes and read the political rhetoric and concluded :

However to be frank (and not Frank) we’re  beginning to not care if the so called ‘hard-left’ returnees and entryists are hammer and sickle wielding wild-eyed Trots. Anything, ANYTHING that shakes up the moribund puppetshow that passes for political debate on Wirral where it’s all back to the Mayor’s parlour for a handshake , a sly wink and a slap on the back for a part perfectly played in a political pantomime is OK with us…

 

Chariots of Ire : The Oval Upgrade Charade

Earlier this week there was an announcement in the Wirral Globe that there was a Major revamp planned for Bebington’s Oval leisure centre . We were told that plans were to be approved by Wirral Council’s ruling cabinet later this month for the £775,000 upgrade and Cabinet member for leisure, Cllr Phill ‘Two L and Back’ Brightmore, said (no doubt in a press release written by someone else) :

The Oval – which famously was used to film key scenes of the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire – is one of Wirral Leisure’s flagship leisure centres, unique in the borough boasting a 25m competition pool, athletics track, football pitches, and tennis courts.

These improvements form part of a larger investment in Wirral’s leisure services, ensuring that they remain accessible and affordable for all residents, and represents another excellent example of Wirral Council’s careful management of its budget at a time of continuing pressure on local government finances.

Our services are extensive and Wirral Council invests £5 million a year in making sure that statement remains true, in addition to more than £8 million invested in the past few years on making sure our services are of the best possible quality…

So as is our wont we thought we’d bring you the reality behind the pre-election spin and report on events at The Oval from last night and from information we received late last year about a previous £1 million upgrade .

‘A concerned parent of a child who attends The Oval swimming club’ writes :

I think the council needs to be reminded about the cost in lives and not pounds that failure in fire safety can have if a real emergency took place. Remember Grenfell???

There was a power failure in Bebington last night whilst my child was in the pool at the Oval and it was very dark in quite a lot of areas. It was quite a scary experience.. staff to be fair did well, but when we stated it was the dark areas that upset us , and scared the children they quite openly and honestly stated that they have had problems for years with the emergency lights, and that the pool area only came on because staff constantly complained about it and it was only recently repaired otherwise that would have been also in complete darkness .

This is a big shock and I and many other parents are seeking reassurance from the council that the building is safe. Whilst staff were helpful the biggest surprise was their anger. We could hear one staff member say : “ I am *** fed up telling them but they never listen , they never come out, they don’t want to see what we have to put up with, they won’t move from the Concourse *** the lot of them.” When we asked another staff member what that meant , they said it was a reference to senior managers who never visit  and never listen to staffs real issues like emergency lights not working.”

So what happens when there has been upgrades at The Oval in the past ? We were sent this photo and comments last November

The Oval Bebington

Newly built kitchen cafe at least 6 months old. Inc in the fixtures and fittings a £3500 coffee machine, a new oven sat for months unpacked (now possibly missing) value £10,000+

None of this has ever been used and may never be used.

Needless to say we asked ‘How come?’ only to be told:

No idea, it appeared soon after the gym renovations at the Oval. It got built/fitted but has not been used. A lot of wasted cash. Maybe they can’t get anyone to run it within. Or not financially viable to external operators. Either way it’s very expensive and all quality stuff. Likesay the oven was sat there still unpacked for months and I’m not sure if now fitted or disappeared.

Although we understand the above was part of a previous  £1 million upgrade  of The Oval announced in 2016 more recent enquiries of a well placed source suggest the situation remains the same:

The white elephant .They had plans to hire someone. I think there is a tale to tell on that. Badly designed and not fire compliant. Also as asset management don’t seek planning permission to alter a structure because they are a law unto themselves… 

However we’d be quite happy if Cllr Brightmore could reassure us that this is no longer the case and that there are ‘robust’ plans to ensure that in the future £775,000 of public money will not be going down The Oval’s notoriously dodgy drains. Might we suggest it’s time to move on from past glories as Wirral Council are rapidly running out of money as fast as Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams on anabolic steroids…