Update on Mersey Gateway Proposal

Above is an announcement from Council Leader Rob Polhill on the progress of the Mersey Gateway Proposal. If you have any comments or messages of support please leave them below and we will pass them on to the council.

Reasons why you back the campaign would be greatly appreciated and may help to gather support for the project.

300 Jobs Secured by Halton Residents

The 3MG Tesco distribution centre in Widnes has created 377 new jobs in total, with at least 75% of jobs being secured by Halton residents.

Halton Employment Partnership deserve credit for their great work with Tesco during the recruitment process. However, the supermarket giant was keen to stress that most of the credit should be given to the people of Halton, Tesco has praised the quality of candidates from Halton, pronouncing itself lucky to have such a talented workforce on the doorstep.

The Labour council would like to express our thanks to those Halton residents who have represented the borough so impressively.

We would also like to express our congratulations and good luck to you in your jobs!

Halton Labour Party is now on Facebook!

The Halton Labour Party now has a page on Facebook! Use your facebook account to communicate with us and stay up to date with all the issues that affect residents and businesses of Halton. Click the link above to visit the page!

Back The Bridge: A message from Rob Polhill

Hello

As we speak the Coalition government is preparing their comprehensive spending review, due in October, and we are looking to keep the new Mersey Crossing uppermost in their minds. The attached link is to a campaign by the Weekly News called ‘Back The Bridge’

Our MP Derek Twigg was ouot with supporters in Widnes on Saturday gathering names and he has already put down a number of questions in the house of commons in order to keep the pressure on.

If you could give your support by adding your name to the list of backers it would certainly help. And if you could encourage your family and friends to do the same it would be really helpful. We are hoping to gather as many signatures as possible.

Add your name by clicking the link below:

www.backthebridge.com

Thank you in advance for your support

Regards

Cllr Rob Polhill. Leader, Halton Borough Council

Rob Polhill on the Mersey Gateway

“I was at a special project briefing session this week where delegates from the private and public sectors from across the north west heard that it costs the region a staggering £160,000 an hour every time the Silver Jubilee Bridge is closed. The actual cost of the recent bridge closure could easily be double this amount. We have only assessed the cost of direct lost time, and extra fuel during the hour of closure, and not the time taken for the network to recover to normal traffic flow or the secondary impacts on businesses and people due to late delivery of goods and delayed travel.

The reaction we have had from across the political spectrum and within both the public and private sectors throughout and beyond the region to our Case for Mersey Gateway campaign has been very positive. We’re working hard to make sure that message gets through to government. Thanks for your help.”

Cllr Rob Polhill

Leader, Halton Borough Council.

Mersey Gateway Executive Board Breakfast briefing.

The Mersey Gateway briefing, which was held this week at the Partnership for Learning Building on Speke Road in Liverpool, attracted delegates from the public and private sectors across the region. They heard how the proposed new bridge is in a strong position to meet the new government’s spending criteria, as it will:

* be over 70% funded by the private sector

* bring benefits four times greater than the cost

* mean an estimated 4,640 new jobs through direct employment, regeneration activity and inward investment

* generate an estimated £61.9 million a year in Gross Value Added from the new jobs by 2030, and

* form the centrepiece of a new and improved high standard link road (9.5km long) connecting the national motorway network in north Cheshire with Merseyside.

Peter Nears, Strategic Planning Director at Peel Holdings Ltd, said ‘Mersey Gateway is of great strategic importance to the economic performance and growth of the Liverpool City Region and the wider north west. It is vital that everyone in the region does everything they can to support this project at this vital time.’ Cost of SJB closure revealed as £160,00 an hour The economic cost to the north west of closing the Silver Jubilee Bridge has been calculated at £160,000 an hour, according to new figures released by Halton Borough Council. The Silver Jubilee Bridge is the only crossing over the Mersey along a 20-mile stretch between the Mersey Tunnels and Warrington. It first opened in 1961, when it was designed to carry less than 10,000 vehicles a day. Today it carries over 80,000 vehicles a day and essential maintenance is only possible during overnight and off-peak periods. The cost estimation, which is for a one-hour closure under current peak period traffic conditions, was carried out at the request of emergency planners following a police incident on Friday 2 July, where the entire bridge was shut for two hours during the busy Friday afternoon rush hour, causing chaos for businesses, commuters and residents.

Steve O’Connor, Managing Director of Stobart Ports, said: ‘This shows the importance of this vital river crossing in Halton to businesses right across our region. The Silver Jubilee Bridge is a critical infrastructure link for the north west, but it is outdated and under immense pressure on a daily basis. We badly need a new crossing, and I would urge every business that uses the Silver Jubilee Bridge to write to government to show how crucial this new bridge and the associated investment are to our region.’ SJB Closure Back the Bridge update Back the Bridge The Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News has so far had over 500 signatories supporting its Back the Bridge campaign to help highlight the need for the government to approve the Mersey Gateway Project. If you haven’t signed up already, please do so and add your voice to the growing number of people in Halton and the wider north west telling government that this vital project must be given the go ahead.

Comprehensive Spending Review continues

The Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, announced recently that all major local authority transport infrastructure projects would be put on hold pending the outcome of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review in October. However, Mr Hammond clarified: ‘All we have done is suspend the progress of the scheme until after the current spending review is completed.’ David Parr, Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council, said: ‘Although our plans for the new crossing are delayed we remain confident that Mersey Gateway will receive government support in the autumn and that we can go on to deliver this vitally important project for Halton, Cheshire, Merseyside and the wider north west region.’ Phil Hammond Find out more If you would like to find out more about the Mersey Gateway project, then please contact us:

* by phone – call Halton Borough Council 24 hours a day on 0303 333 4300

* By email – email mersey.gateway@halton.gov.uk

* online – log on to www.merseygateway.co.uk

Mersey Gateway Breifing 14th July 2010

A breifing took place this week to discuss the future of the Mersey Gateway project. This video sees Rob Polhill, Leader of the Council, and local businessman Steve O’Connor talk about the strengths of the bid and their optimism for the future.

Let us know your thoughts by commenting on this page.

For rolling updates follow us on Twitter

Respect Week! (Spend £60,000)

The week of 12-17th July 2010 sees the launch of ‘Respect Week’ in the Riverside Ward.

Highlighting the work of the Safer Halton Partnership, Respect Week involves the police and fire service as well as your local authority.

Action days, youth events and advice sessions are all on offer and you will have the chance to help decide where £60,000 should be spent in making Halton a safer place to live.

Keep an eye out for leaflets being delivered in your area!

Free Housing Advice

One unfortunate consequence of living through a recession is the need to tighten the purse strings. If you are struggling to keep up with payments on your mortgage or rent, Halton borough Council has a Housing Advice service available FREE OF CHARGE.

If you are worried about your housing finances, call the Housing Solutions Team on 0303 333 4300.

Housing Solutions can contact your mortgage lender on your behalf and can often negotiate more suitable terms and payments to your agreement,allowing you to keep your home and be free from worry.

Remember, for any advice contact Housing Solutions on 0303 333 4300.

Welcome!

Hello All!

Welcome to the new blog for The Labour Party in Halton.

Firstly, this is a new and developing blog that is designed to help you communicate with us and vice versa. The last thing we want to do is fill it with pointless nonsense that you aren’t interested in so please bear with us if there is a slow-ish start to the activity here at the blog. We will work hard to include posts that you will find useful/entertaining/informative etc.

So what will be incuded here?

Well… We will strive to keep you up to date with everything that is going on at the council. over the coming days and weeks you will see a profile of all your Labour councillors appear and that will give you direct access to them via telephone, email or (hopefully) through Twitter and Facebook. Speaking of Twitter, please find our twitter account at www.twitter.com/haltonlabour

We will also have our Facebook page up and running in the next few days so please keep an eye out for that, there will be more details here soon.

Other than that we will be celebrating everything that is great about Halton, addressing your concerns and hopefully generating some discussions to understand what is most important to the people of Halton.

Please get in touch by commenting on the posts on this blog.

We look forward to getting to know you better.