Storm breaks over council
bin collection policy
by David Skentelbery
A FURIOUS political row has flared over claims that Warrington Borough Council is to reduce refuse collections to fortnightly.
The claims came from Labour following a debate at the council?s executive board meeting on the borough?s waste management strategy.
Coun Mike Hannon, deputy leader of the Labour group claimed the Liberal Democrat-Conservative administration had admitted fortnightly collections were ?inevitable.? But Liberal Democrat Coun Brian Axcell , executive member for environment services hit back: ?Weekly collections will be maintained ? but they will alternate between clean, recyclable refuse one week and residual, non-recyclable refuse the next week.
?However, the real point to make here is that Labour are criticising their own policy ? they had signed up to the same system in March last year.?
The row follows an earlier one over the ?flat bin lid? policy, under which bins are not collected if the lid is not properly closed.
Labour say this has caused chaos across the town ? but the Liberal Democrats again claim the policy was in fact drawn up while Labour were still in control of the council.
Coun Hannon said: ?Coun Axcell’s announcement will cause dismay across the town. If they cannot empty a bin on a weekly basis how do they expect a fortnightly collection to improve the situation?
“The ‘flat lid’ policy was introduced without any public input and here we go again. They are not listening to the public and they are repeating the same mistake. In a few short months we face chaos as a local council with a once flagship service now descending into farce.”
Coun Hannon said he feared the binmen would be at the frontline of the public’s anger and frustration.
Warrington North MP Helen Jones added her voice to the Labour chorus.
She said: ?This latest announcement adds to the mounting chaos surrounding refuse collection services. Already bins are being left unemptied and rats have been sighted in a number of areas due to the build up of uncollected rubbish. Maggots have even been reported in some bins. The environmental and health implications are obvious.
“Lib Dem councillors say that they are not to blame but frankly the bins were collected without any of the current problems before they took control.
“Instead of admitting that the policy is not working the new council leadership is talking about reducing the service to fortnightly collections. The rats and maggots must be rejoicing at this madness.”
Coun Axcell said if the council did not meet recycling targets set by the government they would have to pay penalties of ?150 per tonne for all waste that went to landfill.
The idea was to collect clean recyclable refuse one week and residual waste the next. The existing blue bins, currently used only for paper, would be used with the paper being kept in a plastic bag inside the bin to separate it from the other waste.
?This will mean the paper is collected every fortnight instead of once every five weeks as at present,? he said.
?It would be great to be able to collect all refuse weekly, but it would cost a fortune.
?Labour are making mischief ? deliberately trying to mislead the public. But in fact they had agreed to implement the same working practices themselves before losing control of the council.?
He added that the ?flat lid? policy was necessary to reduce the risk of refuse collectors being injured.
Last year, six men were injured as a result of handling overfull bins.
Movie-makers celebrate
seventy years filming
WARRINGTON Cine and Video Society celebrates 70 years of film making this year ? and is planning to mark the anniversary with a special archive night.
The event will be at Appleton Parish Hall, and past members and friends of the society will be invited.
Outstanding films and videos made over the years will be screened ? many of which won awards.
The society was formed in 1936 by George Kirkham and Percy Hughes. They formed a club for amateur film-makers and held their first meeting in the cellar below George Kirkham?s film hire shop, in Winwick Road. Six people attended.
Ukulele king and comedian George Formby, a friend of Percy Hughes, became the society?s first president.
Over the years, society members filmed local events and Royal visits as well as producing society films. They continued to meet regularly until July 1939, when because of the impending war, all meetings were suspended.
Meetings resumed in 1947 due to the efforts of present president Geoff Scotson who got the original five members together and found eight new ones.
One of the original members was John Langdale, who served as secretary for 54 years.
In 1974 the society moved to its present headquarters at the Silver Band Hall in Loushers Lane where they meet every Monday at 8pm. In 1982, the name was changed to the Warrington Cine and Video Society.
Charity golf to aid
breast cancer
by Lesley Wilkinson
A CHARITY event to raise funds for a new centre to treat breast cancer is being held at Lymm Golf Club on Wednesday September 27.
Each year the Lady Captain nominates a charity and this year’s captain, Sue Anderton, has chosen The Genesis Appeal, which is for Europe’s first Breast Cancer Prevention Centre being built at Wythenshawe Hospital.
More than 160 women, from throughout the North West, are expected to take part in the day and there will be a series of activities including fund raising stalls, a golf putting competition, raffle, tombola and cake and chutney stalls.
There will be presentations to the winners and a cheque will be donated to a representative from The Genesis Appeal.
Wolfing up gum shields
at the Dental Academy
by Gary Skentelbery
THE Daresbury based Dental Academy are ensuring Warrington Wolves players are never down in the mouth – by sponsoring their gum shields.
As sponsors of the Warrington Wolves Coach, Paul Cullen, the Dental Academy, provides on-going dental care to the team in the event of injury and has recently been fitting the first team with gum shields.
The shields carry the Warrington Wolves colours and logo so look good as well as giving excellent protection to the players? teeth. They are produced to the highest standards by SmileGuard ? the world?s largest supplier of mouth guards.
Jan Dobbs at the Dental Academy said, “Through our connection with the Warrington Wolves we hope to promote the importance of wearing gum shields. We hope that by seeing rugby heroes such as Michael Sullivan (pictured), those who play contact sports will be encouraged to wear a shield in order to prevent costly and painful dental surgery.?
Michael Sullivan, Wolves halfback/hooker said; ?Rugby League is a tough game and we are rightly taught from an early age how to protect ourselves from injury. There?s probably no better way of protecting your teeth than with a gum shield but some can be uncomfortable and irritating. The ones professionally fitted by the Dental Academy are a perfect fit and are comfortable to wear, they also have the Warrington Wolves logo which is a good way to support our club.?
“Its good that the Dental Academy is encouraging us to wear gum shields not only by fitting and supplying them but also by offering dental trauma support, of course providing we are wearing our shields!”
Gum shields are ideal for most contact sports and can minimise trauma to bones, teeth, roots and skull. Both experts at the Dental Academy and Warrington Wolves agree that dental injuries and their consequences caused in contact sports could be almost totally prevented by the use of mouth guards.
Village steps back in
time for ancient festival
by Gary Skentelbery
LYMM village stepped back in time for its ancient rushbearing festival.
The village is now only one of o
nly a small number of places to continue with the festival ? a piece of living history.
The tradition grew out of the need in medieval times to replace the reeds which were used as a carpet on the earthen floor of buildings including the church.
The community joined together to gather the new reeds (rushes) and remove the old. They combined work with pleasure carpet laying at church with a procession, music and dancing.
Organisers continue with the combination although the laying of rushes at church is only symbolic rather than functional! The spirit of communal life is real and organisers are anxious for local people to join in.
Although there may have been some breaks the tradition seems to have continued from the medieval era until about the time of the first world war and was revived in the 1970s.
In 1869 it was reported that there were various village sports on a Monday in connection with the rushbearing but the actual procession had been on Saturday when ?the rush cart was drawn through the streets of the township by four grey horses, decorated with flags, and bells.
The cart was preceded by a man and a band playing popular tunes. A great crowd collected round the cart at different parts of the district. The usual collection of shows, rifle galleries, standings and other things requisite for a country fair were located in the vicinity of The Cross. A fire occurred at one of the ?peep shows? but was speedily extinguished by the bystanders?!
The procession started from Pepper Street car park and processed via The Cross up Eagle Brow, left into Brookfield Road and left into Church Road arring at St Mary?s Church for a special service.
The procession then moved down Rectory Lane to the Village Hall where there were light refreshments.
