Engage hosted a Public Meeting for residents of South Ferry Island whose apartments are situated on land owned by Canal and River Trust on Monday 25th September at 6.00pm in the Marina and Yacht Club. Below is the full report of the event. Scroll down to find our regular updates on actions.

We invited everyone we thought were stakeholders in the area and would contribute positively to the discussion. The Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell readily agreed to take part and attended on the night. Newly elected Cllr Rebecca Turner was also invited and agree to attend but on the night apologised for being unavailable. The Interim NorthWest Director of Canal and River Trust John Horsfall also agreed to attend and was present. Liverpool City Council Highways Department were also invited and though unable to attend sent a statement that was read out on the night on their behalf.

About 70 residents attended and it was a respectful gathering where residents were listened to and then their concerns were responded to by those on the panel. The meeting was chaired by Engage, who were very grateful to the venue for allowing us to meet there. They were very welcoming and accommodating.

Below is the agreed account of residents concerns as noted on the night by the Chair of Engage and Andy Goudie Canal and River Trust Harbour Manager:

• Installation of speed humps either side of Queens/Coburg Bridge (Mariners Wharf)
• Impact of above on Merseytravel bus services to the area.
• Beer Bike-trading on the estate roads are causing a noise nuisance.
• Speeding vehicles on all estate roads
• Road Markings on all estate roads in poor condition, as are some of the speed ‘cushions’
• Parking Meters recently removed (on South Ferry Quay), larger vehicles including camper-vans, lorries and coaches now parking in this area.
• Illegal Quad/Scrambler bikes on the estate roads and Riverside Walkway
• Speeding electric bikes and scooters are also a problem on the estate.
• Anti-social behaviour. Now that the South Ferry Quay turning circle has been closed some of this activity is now displaced to the CRT car park on South Ferry Quay (next to Lock House).
• Some Females do not feel safe in the public spaces on the estate.
• Coburg Wharf Car Park – now there is parking enforcement on this car park when originally it was free to park.
• Sefton Street (not CRT property) graffiti, litter and generally looks unsightly (due to end of wildflower season)
• Comment about FOA request in relation to speed humps and Queens Coburg Bridge maintenance
  • Concern that should work be carried out on this bridge would access be blocked?
  • This would affect residents and commercial businesses.
• Question about MARO development (on land east of Brunswick Lock) (not owned by CRT).
• History of poor communication from CRT in relation to issues raised.
• Liverpool Marina Car Park – street lighting is switched off at night.
• Question about the road adoption process.
• South Ferry Quay – unsightly concrete bollards used to close off turning circle, what is their future?
  • Red plastic bollards frequently knocked over by cyclists.
  • Unsightly skip permanently on CRT car park and visible from nearby residences.
• Comment about South Ferry Quay gutters being cleared recently – why are they not done more often?
• CRT Funding – covenanted sum of money payable to CRT annually from each property, some of these amounts have not been collected – how is this money spent? Who collects it? (Must be used for South Ferry Quay improvements)

Some Notes from the Discussions that followed:

• Emily Spurrell, Police and Crime Commissioner
  • Electronic signage for speeding may be an option. (many young offenders might not take any notice). Funds are available.
  • There is a Road Safety Partnership, possible resident involvement in a community watch-type programme
  • Youth diversion activities have taken place.
  • Street Safe App-users able to ‘drop pins’ on a map in the app to highlight problem areas, Merseyside Police regularly review this. RECOMMENDATION Street Safe App for further information and download.
  • Explained reporting methods for antisocial behaviour, 999, 111, website, Tw, Fb.
  • Speed Camera installation not possible as roads are privately owned.
  • No Police powers as roads are privately owned.
  • General comments back to Emily about large gaps between speed humps (Coburg Wharf), faded road markings on Mariners Wharf and drivers thinking the area is one-way, poor road surface conditions in some places.

• Jon Horsfall, CRT Northwest Interim Director
  • Speed Humps there appears to be a national Highways Specification and a local LCC specification, CRT appeared to have installed the humps based on the national highway’s specification.
    • Comment from audience about lack of consultation with bus company.
    • Jon was asked if CRT had budgeted for adoption costs/are funds available?
    • At present CRT do not know what the cost will be, so cannot budget.
    • Can covenanted monies from apartment developments be used to cover adoption and other costs?
    • Comment from resident that No4 bus has been seen on the estate but not down South Ferry Quay.
  • Jon introduced Chris Blamey from RGP. CRT have engaged RGP to look at the road adoption process.

• Chris Blamey, RGP, South Ferry Island estate roads are very unusual as they are a private road with a recognised bus route. RGP have started a conversation with LCC about road adoption, CRT been looking at adoption since 2021. RGP have carried out an initial site inspection and will report on how to bring roads to a standard that LCC would be happy with, any remedial works would be in line with Section 38 of the Highways Act. There is a meeting with LCC Highways tomorrow Tuesday September 26^th.    
  • Comment from a resident about a previous Merseytravel and CRT bus test journey.

• Gerry Proctor, Chair of Engage Liverpool
  • Read statement from LCC Highways to meeting attendees. (Attached below)
  • Aspiration of CRT to get all estate roads adopted. LCC are open to the process being completed satisfactorily.
  • CRT may need to retain ownership of Queens/Coburg Bridge.
  • Gerry thanked CRT for their honest and sincere approach and suggested it was a good start for residents to expect CRT to communicate better with them in the future.

Action updates:

• Red plastic barriers at the turning circle: removed and new barriers to be installed to slow cyclists. Taking place week starting 23rd Oct.
• Unsightly skip on CRT car park: now removed and placed inside the Lock House compound out of sight.
• White Lines on road network: quotation received for works by CRT and was completed on 8th November including repainting the SLOW road markings as well as the white lines.
• No4 bus absence is down to the Speed Humps being the wrong size. A meeting was held between CRT and officers of Merseytravel on Monday 6th November and steps were taken to put in place a newly designed and appropriate ramp or ‘pillow’. Designs are being drawn up and then they will be costed by CRT, who meanwhile are starting the search for funding streams that can be applied to so the project can be financed and executed promptly.
• Liverpool Marina Car Park lighting switched off: Marina emailed with residents concerns but no response as yet.
• Road Network Adoption discussions the following statement has been released by Canal and River Trust: The Trust’s Highway Consultants RPG had a further site meeting with Highways Engineers from Liverpool City Council on Tues 26 September.  Discussions were constructive and included more details of what works would be required and the likely cost estimates. 
• PCC responded with actions: there has been contact with the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office and the names of contacts have now been shared. The name of the police person in road safety is Adam Bostock:  Adambostock@merseyside.police.uk, and also Amie Parsonage: amie.parsonage@merseysidepcc.info who leads on road safety for the PCC. Residents are invited to make direct contact with their concerns.

Further actions are required and a meeting was requested by residents in about 5-6 months time which was agreed by CRT and Engage.

Please click on the link to read the statement provided by Liverpool City Council Highways Department to the meeting: LCC South Ferry Island RM Statement

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Below is the flyer announcing the meeting that was delivered to every apartment in the neighbourhood affected by being on the road network which is unadopted and owned by Canal and River Trust: