The Heswall Society

Preparing for Christmas

Chairman Steve Anderson with help from committee members Annabel Barton and Roger Lane make the finishes touches to this year's Christmas Tree in the Lower village in readiness for 'Carols around the Christmas Tree' at 7:15 on 12 December lead by Revd Martin Cannam and accompanied by the Port Sunlight Lyceum Brass Band. For details of this and other future events, Click Here.

Your Green Belt - Latest

We have already drawn attention to the Heswall Society's detailed response to the Council’s recent consultation on the Wirral Local Plan - Development Options Review.

During that consultation period, the Office of National Statistics published its updated (2016) figures which, compared with the previous (2014) figures used by the Council in their consultation document, significantly reduced the predicted housing need for Wirral using the standard method. The later figures, if adopted, would help to reduce the pressure on our precious Green Belt.

However,the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), has since launched its own consultation on changing the standard method for calculating housing need, effectively reverting to the ONS 2014 figures. The Heswall Society has now submitted its response.

Click here for further comment and to view the Heswall Society's response to both the Council's and the MHCLG's consultations.

Police Station Update
Update

Some time ago, the Society was alerted to the fact that the Heswall Police Station was being put up for sale by the Police and Crime Commissioner. As this is one of the few distinctive buildings in Heswall, designed by the respected architect Harry Beswick, it was decided that as soon as the building became under threat, the Society would apply for it to be listed.

Earlier this year the building was put up for sale with the option for the whole site (ie building plus car park) to be redeveloped. In consequence the Society submitted an application to Historic England for the building to be listed. The initial response from Historic England was not encouraging and therefore we commissioned an historic building consultant to prepare a report to strengthen our application. This additional information was then sent to Historic England for their additional consideration.

It was with great disappointment that we have recently received word from Historic England that our application has not been successful. While they confirm that the building has high local interest, they do not consider it of sufficient national importance. We have discussed this decision with our consultants and they have advised us that it is not worthwhile challenging this decision.

The only option now left to the Society to protect the police station is to contact the Police and Crime Commissioner and stress the local importance of maintaining the exterior of this building for the future rather than accepting an offer for the redevelopment of the total site which could well be financially more advantageous. The temptation to accept the most lucrative offer will be great however. Hence the building’s fate depends on a difficult decision that the Police and Crime Commissioner is likely to have to make between maximising the return of the sale against maintaining a building of historic local importance and thereby respecting the wishes of a large proportion of the residents of Heswall.

Winter Pansy Time Again!

Thanks to Angie Mounsey and her band of helpers, the summer bedding has now been removed and the Winter Pansies planted out at Castle Buildings. Sadly, it doesn't take long for drivers to do their best to destroy it!

'Best Places to Live 2018'

'The great countryside and lively, friendly community make this fertile territory for the active downsizer and families'

This is just part of how The Sunday Times describes Heswall, listing it fourth in the North West in its 'Best Places to Live 2018' survey.

To access the survey, Click here.

GDPR

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new EU law that came into effect on 25 May 2018 to replace the current Data Protection Act. It’s the biggest overhaul of data protection legislation for over 25 years and will introduce new requirements for how organisations process personal data.

To support this upcoming change to the European data protection law, The Heswall Society has updated its Privacy Notice to explain how we collect, store and handle your personal data.

Please click on the Society's Privacy Notice if you are interested to further understand how your data is collected and used by the Society.

The Church of the Good Shepherd

The Parish of Heswall continues to keep the Heswall Society informed on its developing plans to replace the existing Good Shepherd building and Parish Hall with a new church and community hall (The Lighthouse Church). Information on this including a short video can be found on the Parish of Heswall website.

Join Us!

The Heswall Society is the local amenity society for Heswall and Gayton, formed just over 60 years ago by some far-sighted residents. For more information, click here.

below Heswall
New members who share our aim to retain the quality of Heswall and Gayton, without opposing sensitive change, are very welcome. If you would like to join The Heswall Society please click on the red button below.

Join Us

The Autumn 2018 Newsletter is now available for Members within the Members Area.

Potholes!

The Government has given Wirral an extra £1.4 million to fix pot holes in our roads. Residents are invited to nominate a road for repair. To do so, Click here. Now's your chance!

'The History of the Bibby Line'

At its November open meeting, Christina Spencer gave us a fascinating illustrated talk on the 'The History of the Bibby Line' - a story of love, murder, deceit and everlasting success' - well attended by over a hundred members and guests. For details of future Open Meetings, Click Here.

Lower Village Telephone Kiosk
Officially Unveiled!

The Heswall Society organised a grand unveiling of the newly restored telephone kiosk in Heswall Lower Village on Thursday evening 4th October. The kiosk has been taken into ownership and restored by the Society, to save it as an iconic part of the village heritage. The honours were performed by Caroline Cartwright from the Village Shop and Mark Gorton, owner of the website Heswall.Com, in recognition of the fund raising they conducted to help support the cost of the renovation (both pictured).

The Society was pleased to welcome Paul Grant a local resident who first approached the Society about the possible loss of the kiosk, and Richard Wynne Davies, a local solicitor, who worked with the Landlord, City of Liverpool Investment Company, on whose land the kiosk stands, to draw up a long term lease.

Amongst the Society members present was Nick Ellis who was thanked for helping with plans for the Land Registration of the kiosk. DBK Builders were acknowledged for fitting to a very high standard and free of charge the new parts (including a complete door frame) purchased by the Society. After the event, refreshment was provided by Committee Members and helpers in the St Peter’s Centre, and a short slide show was given capturing the history of the kiosk and recording the step-by-step renovation process.

Trees
The Society now receives notification of all applications for surgery or felling of trees that are subject to Tree Preservation Orders or are within our Conservation Areas.

Friends of Hill House Gardens

For the latest update on the excellent work undertaken by the Friends, Click here to see their Autumn 2018 Newsletter. A noticeboard now erected at the Telegraph Road entrance to Hill House Gardens provides further information about the Friends group. If you would like to know more or you are interested in joining and/or volunteering, please email Margaret at heswallwildlife@aol.com.

Save Dawstone Park

The Heswall Society continues to support the active Friends of Dawstone Park Group. Click here for further details.

Friends of Heswall Dales

For the latest news on what has been happening in the Dales, click here for the Autumn 2018 Newsletter or visit their website at http://www.heswalldalesfriends.co.uk.

Friends of Heswall Dales are looking for someone to help them publicise the Dales and the work of the Friends group. They are very keen to keep the momentum going following on from the success of their open day in September, and spread the word to as wide an audience as possible. If you do know of anyone who has the necessary skills and would be willing to get involved, please contact the Friends group by email at this address - friendsheswalldales@gmail.com. Ideally the person involved would become a member of the committee but this isn't absolutely essential.

If you would like to help protect and enhance the unique character of Heswall please consider joining The Society.

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Did you know that this logo was developed from a design by a pupil of Heswall Primary School in 1996?

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