A week of action to make Picton a cleaner, safer and healthier area is to take place next week.
A number of agencies, including the city council, Merseyside Police, Alder Hey Hospital , the Department of Work and Pensions and Riverside Housing are joining forces, with residents on February 9 to 13 to focus on the streets between Smithdown Road and Longfellow Street.
The area has been targeted because there are high incidents of dog fouling, fly tipping, litter and the week is intended to help deal with these and issues such as anti –social behaviour.
Local Councillor Tim Beaumont said: “This week of action has been planned in response to concerns raised by residents over many weeks. It’s great that so many people are involved. We hope it will make a lasting difference to the area.”
And Councillor Natalie Nicholas said: “The week of action is one of many that the Picton councillors, along with partners, aim to have throughout the ward during the course of the year. The week of action aims to address concerns raised by residents and foster stronger community spirit.”
Merseyside Police Neighbourhood Inspector Tom Welch, said: “Showing the public we listen to their concerns and respond to them is vital to increase their feelings of safety and to ensure we continue to receive intelligence.
“Anti-social behaviour can have a detrimental effect on people’s quality of life. These crimes also have a detrimental effect on our local businesses particularly in the current economic climate. Our aim in working together is to make the neighbourhood safer and stronger.
“By joining forces with other agencies we are able to tackle problems of a much wider scale and ensure the results are lasting and help to ensure the public across Merseyside feel and remain safe.
“I hope that people are reassured that we are listening to their concerns and that we will act on all information provided to us.”
Community skips will available all week and a crew will remove fly tipping and dog fouling.
A free dog chipping service will be available on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Other events taking place include:
Door to door surveys to obtain residents’ views on their neighbourhood and will be carried out by the council’s newly-established Localities team – who have arranged the week – along with the stronger communities team. They will also distribute a pictorial Good Neighbour Guide as many residents don’t have English as their first language.
A mobile police station will be in Longfellow Street on Monday 9th and Wednesday 11th. PSCOs will do a walk to and from school with pupils highlighting road safety. There will also be high visibility patrols, crime prevention advice, registration of valuables along with vehicle checks and roads policing enforcement.
There will be targeted youth support with a performance of “Black” at Harthill Youth Club on Tuesday evening.
The Healthy Homes Team’s mobile vehicle will be in Cullen Street each afternoon offering advice and health promotions. Staff from Alder Hey Hospital will be on the vehicle on Monday and Tuesday offering advice about asthma. And on Tuesday and Thursday Department of Work and Pensions’ staff will be advising on ESOL courses, work clubs, benefit advice and up to date local vacancies.
St Hugh’s Primary School and Picton Children’s Centre will be carrying out joint home visits on Thursday to raise awareness of services families can access and about completing forms for educational places.
The School Improvement Team will visit families and help identify children in need of school places.
Riverside Housing will carry out door to door surveys and energy analysis following an external insulation programme for their stock in the area.
