Tree Lines

There are a variety of subjects that Wirral Leaks has covered over the years that have engaged people on Wirral who have particular interests – be that litter,NHS, the Green Belt, whistleblowing etc; etc;

One subject that regularly strikes a chord with our readers is…trees. So as today (2 December) marks the end of National Tree Week we thought we’d publish some pertinent comments we’ve received on the subject. First of all , a dedicated Wirral tree preservationist has written the following to commemorate the occasion :

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (in NW England) is marking the UK’s National Tree Week by felling 19 healthy, mature trees in Ashton Park, West Kirby……and lopping off branches from another 24 healthy, mature trees. It appears that Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council has quite grasped the true purpose of the National Tree Week.

The tree felling and general usage of chain saws, in Ashton Park, should stop immediately. Tree felling in parks, across the whole borough, is under way. The chipped timber is sent to a bio-fuel plant in Wrexham.

Is the tree felling campaign linked to the roll out of 5G (fifth generation) mobile phone masts?

7,000 mature trees have been felled in Sheffield…..with many more lined up for felling.

Madness.

However this is only half the story. From what we understand Wirral Council thought they were ‘out of the woods’ when it came to a particular tragedy involving neglect of Wirral’s trees but a council insider tells us :

The tree situation is one of the most ridiculous you can imagine . Total mis- management and neglect based on ignorance,  stupidity and lack of competence within every level of the council.

Basically, the council made redundant, some years back, competent tree specialists , hence the situation became dangerous. Trees have fallen in parks, mainly in winds, very very few are diseased, but some are. One fell in Central Park landing on the site hut 18 months ago. That was swept  under the carpet . Another falling on a car with the unfortunate passenger losing her baby. Read here:  Heartbreaking tragedy as mum-to-be loses newborn baby after tree falls   

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have passed the investigation over to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

Basically the contractor Man Coed name a tree for action, cut away and they are not questioned because no one (within Wirral Council) knows what they are looking for. The council are reactive not proactive and are now looking to employ two tree specialists following countless thousands of pounds wasted along with accompanying environmental destruction…

Measure for Leisure

Following on from our Pit of Despair story we first bring you the good news that a contractor has been out measuring up to install much needed safety measures at Woodchurch Leisure Centre . Indeed a letter from Margaret Greenwood to a local resident says : 

Further to your email last month, we have been informed that Wirral Council has made the decision to fit a rail and gates along the wall next to the drop at the side of the small pool. New signage has also been ordered to highlight the drop. 

This action is as a result of yourself and others raising concerns with the HSE and Wirral Council. In taking these steps, you have made the pool safer for other residents. 

Result ! You might saying to yourself. Well , yes and no. Whilst we received a tremendous response to our blog post from pool users who not only commented upon the long term non-compliance they also highlighted further safety issues.

Apparently when swimming sessions come to an end and all swimmers, young and old, move to the changing area shutters are required to be pulled down to stop access back to the pool area to prevent accidents and particularly drowning. Woodchurch Leisure Centre have not got any such measures despite the fact that we understand that this is a legal requirement. Moreover we understand that staff are supposed to stay in the pool area until the building is empty just in case a child or vulnerable person goes back into the pool area. Staff shortages can often mean that this ‘backstop’ safety measure is not possible and so members of the public are left even more unprotected.

We are reliably informed that all other leisure centres have these shutters but because of cost implications it’s not happened at Woodchurch . Once again it is a matter has been raised for a number of years and yet has never been resolved. This must be particularly stressful situation for leisure centre staff.

One can only wonder what were considered to be priorities when there was a 4 week closure of the leisure centre for ‘maintenance work ‘ only last year  . A lick of paint, grout a few tiles and steam clean the bogs and hope nobody notices the deadly drop at the side of the pool and that there are no shutters ?  Maintenance work – Woodchurch Leisure Centre

As one of our many sources said : “Cost of protection a few grand. It’s fine for the people of West Kirby and Bebington. Woodchurch gets no protection. And the council treat the law with contempt” 

We’re further left wondering what knowledge and involvement members of  Wirral Council’s infamous ‘Golf Club’ have had in all of this especially Health, Safety & Resilience(!) Manager , Mark Camborne  and Head of Recreation Damian Walsh ?

What needs questioning even more is the involvement or non-involvement of local councillors Matthew Patrick aka Matty Patty , Stuart ‘Witless’ Whittingham and Tony ‘Don’t mention Ofsted’ Smith  .

You’d think they’d be up in arms to hear about local residents -and especially children – in their ward being put at risk.  But not a peep ! Shame on them that it was left to concerned citizens to raise (and part- resolve) the long-standing issue. Could it be that Wirral Cabinet members , Cllr Patrick and Cllr Whittingham in particular, are less concerned about the safety of the public and causing their own staff stress than promoting the Wirral Growth Company – which was launched yesterday with the usual stage-managed dreary fanfare of backslapping BS – in the hope that this Joint Venture will pick up the tab not just at Woodchurch but at all the other leisure centres at a later date ?

Whilst we’re at it we’d like to raise the complicity of the utterly useless unions in all of this . Seemingly pacified by a small pay-rise for their members whilst oblivious to the gathering shitstorm . With early retirement being denied for some whilst others are told they’re going on less favourable terms there’s a lot of disgruntled Wirral Council staff around at the moment. But as always it’s the lowest paid and least powerful who are in the firing line.

As ever with Wirral Council there’s a bigger story which is not just about shutters and covers – it’s a case of shut ups and cover ups with staff too afraid to open their mouths , managers too busy covering their backsides…….. and politicians turning a blind eye.

Pit of Despair

After all this week’s talk of Wirral Council’s ambitious plans we thought it be a good time to bring them down from their ivory towers/skyscrapers/ drug-fuelled (?)hallucinations and remind them they need to walk before they can run (up a big bill to be paid for by us).

We say this as we publish this salutary tale about what it’s like to try and report safety concerns about a Council run facility and ask the question as to how, as a society, did we reach the point where someone who wants to raise genuine concerns about the health and safety of children is afraid to do so in case there are repercussions for their family and reprisals for Wirral Council staff? Not for the first time – we despair!

The specific concerns are as follows were originally reported to the local press and local MP ( Margaret Greenwood) :

As a concerned parent of a two year old girl I would like to bring to your attention a concern I have had for a number of weeks now.

I use the swimming facility with my family at Woodchurch, have done for many years. I sometimes, like most parents lift my daughter out of the water and on a count of 3 she jumps into my arms.

On the occasion in question, I was stopped by the lifeguard, he came over to me, asked not to allow my daughter to stand on the side, on the grounds of Health and Safety I initially thought he was stopping me , ridiculously having my daughter jump into my arms and I took issue with the person.

He then pointed out a large drop that runs the length of the pool, highlighting that if she fell she would be seriously hurt. My stomach churned and I felt physically sick. I thanked him.On leaving we highlighted the concern to a staff member, who just stated  : ” Yes I know, its terrible isn’t it? Living local we often see staff out and about and we always exchange pleasantries. On this occasion my husband took it upon himself to further discuss the large drop at the back of the pool. The staff member confirmed it’s a problem , further offered up information that staff on duty are terrified of it also and have been complaining about it for years,also that there have been numerous incidents and accidents and still management will not do anything about it. We asked why, the reply was ” They are all D heads” and also that it will get sorted one day, but it will be too late then.Could you please warn the public of this, as it terrible, It’s just a case of finding the right vehicle to channel a public safety concern , whilst protecting yourself and we have done enough now. Hopefully something will get done.

It’s a sobering thought to think that we’re considered a right vehicle for such concerns – but it would appear we are. For obvious reasons we’re not confident that this issue will be resolved as it has now been raised by a third party as a ‘safeguarding’ concern with Wirral Council social services . However we are reassured that the external agency the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are now involved.

When we asked our source how they wanted to cover this story they replied :

It’s up to you.It’s all true and don’t want to get staff in trouble by giving too much information as they have already started asking who said what.However everyone is talking about it know . HSE have been out I am informed and condemned it also. So that’s all I can tell you really. Do it if it helps to get it sorted – run it. It’s cost I am told. Cost to protect people just by a cover. Ridiculous!.

When we asked about about our sources thoughts about how difficult it is to raise genuine concerns in the public interest they replied :

Sad society we live in I am afraid .

And so it would appear that giving a damn about children’s safety remains a problem and especially the case if you live or work on Wirral !

 

 

How Not To Treat A Sick Employee Part 57 – The Wirral Way.

Nothing too sensational here, just what some could be interpret as a basic failure to provide a duty of care to a disabled employee by Wirral Council. The employee has shown us a large number of emails in which he repeatedly asked for some FOUR months to be referred to Occupational Health. Sadly his managers failed to act upon these requests, maybe because, hey it’s not gonna look good if all your employees are so stressed out that they are virtually BEGGING to be referred to Occupational Health is it ? Not when possibly your telling the Directors just how fabulously well the section is performing and that staff morale is as high as the proverbial elephants eye. 

“ No, no, no Paul isn’t crying because he’s stressed out due to an impossible work load, heavens no!  They are tears of undiluted joy because he’s hit another Performance Indicator target !  That’s how much this guy LOVES his work – I’m recommending him for a golden cone award “

The employee was finally told over 3 months after asking for the referral, in November that the required paperwork had been duly filled in and he had been referred to Occupational Health. And so  he decided to chase up the matter with the OH department ( see email below)

… The ‘can barely be arsed,’ style response is quite staggering given that they are dealing with sick employees, many who could be at their wits end.  OH is ostensibly there for the benefit of employees surely ? With the aim of keeping them supported and in work wherever possible when suffering from ill health ?  I’m pretty sure that’s how the H&SE would view the OH role, one of proactive, supportive intervention.  I mean you wouldn’t use OH as a punitive tool now would you, to threaten staff ?

Said employee went off on-long term sick in the December just before an OH appointment was suddenly and rather miraculously arranged. Stable door anybody ?

NB – News of the Golden Cone Awards is travelling fast – See Here