It must be challenging being a Labour Councillor in Sefton these days. An air of secrecy surrounds decision making at Cabinet, questions are asked at meetings but verbal, unrecorded responses given. Information on ward budgets and monies from Section 106 funding is not available to them. How can you make decisions without basic facts? Hardly surprising that a number of our Local Councillors have left the Labour Party.
The challenges become even more acute when they have to prepare election material. What exactly have they accomplished for their residents, what funding have they secured from our council tax to improve our community and where and with whom have they been photographed for that all-important election photograph?
How economical can they be with the truth? Let us look at a local project completed this year at our local railway subway in Blundellsands? It has been in a dismal state for years. A continually damp and dark walkway and dirty walls have greeted pedestrians and commuters for years.
Thankfully in February a local artist was engaged to complete an artistic mural as part of a revamping project. One of our local councillors was pictured with the artist while work neared conclusion. It made headlines on their election material.
“Councillors agreed funds and commissioned works to clean the subway and cut back vegetation in order to be able to repaint the walls white and the handrails yellow.”
Good! So, at long last the council has used some funding to clean up this miserable walk way one might think. However our local councillor is inferring that the council paid for the artistic mural which now graces the newly painted tiles.
Not so!
This work was in fact funded through National Lottery Heritage Funding through a bid submitted by Valewood Primary School in Crosby. The bid was written by the artist and last August secured £10,000 for the project as part of a coastal community connections project. The criteria for a lot of National Lottery funding requires there to be engagement with the community and enhancement of facilities. Engaging local children through art related projects helps meet this criteria.
The public can access the National Lottery website to view details of schemes submitted by various charities and organisations in our area and details of the funding for this scheme is shown along with the date of approval.
Sefton Coastal Community Connections Project Applicant: Valewood Primary School Project description: To engage students in a local community project highlighting the heritage of the local coastline’s flora and fauna. Decision: Award grant of £10,000 Approved August 2023
National Lottery funding provides scope for all types of organisations to secure additional benefits and facilities which could not be funded from existing resources. Many Local Authorities assist groups in the bidding process and help to enhance projects by completing match funding. Perhaps, this is what has happened here, but, the story does not quite give the full facts. What is important though is that the Lottery funding is not used by political groups to enhance their profile by being economical with the truth and the source of funding.
Lottery funding needs to be identified so that residents can identify the benefits to their community. The National Lottery logo needs to appear alongside projects which have benefited from funding. People use this funding to do extraordinary things, taking the lead to improve their lives and communities. Every time you buy a National Lottery ticket, you help make this happen.
As residents we need to witness truth and transparency in the actions of our local councillors.
As Walter Scott once said
“O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”
Being economical with the truth removes the trust we have in our democracy.
There is still work to be done on our subway which will enhance the work already done.
For years, Sefton Council believed the drains were the responsibility of United Utilities, which highlights that yet again Sefton don’t know what they own. They must be repaired and maintained on a regular basis to prevent the constant flooding especially when there is a high tide.
The wooden fencing around the scrub land has been broken and now lies in the long grass. It needs replacing and the grassland maintained.
