Day of action in Woodlands

Merseyside Police and partners conducted a day of high visibility activity in the Woodlands estate on Friday (18 October 2019).

As well as a range of police activities, pupils from Woodlands Primary School helped plant 50kg of daffodil bulbs in the Woodlands Park and street art created by Zap Art and One Call was unveiled in the park, funded by three ward councillors.

Police were joined by partners across the borough, including local councillors, housing associations, the Selective Licencing team, Birkenhead Constituency Team, the Business Improvement District Team and Wirral’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service tested smoke alarms and provided fire safety advice, while Wirral Council’s Environmental Health Team dealt with contaminated bins, fly tipping and recycling issues. Two skips were filled with two tonnes of waste by the end of the day, road sweepers removed any debris in the streets and Biffa picked up white goods dumped in the area including three fridges. Woodlands Primary School pupils litter picked, while park staff swept the park for discarded needles.

Highways officers for Birkenhead conducted checks on lampposts, escalating any street lighting issues as well as any other problems with carriageways.

The Community Payback team cleared alleyways and cut back vegetation, the Connectors team knocked on doors and offered support to more isolated residents, and Public Health conducted blood pressure tests.

Multiple Occupation Officers knocked on private landlord housing to ensure housing standards and empty properties were legally compliant.

Elsewhere, Energy Project Plus promoted energy saving and efficiency in the home and Wirral Ways to Recovery and YMCA helped vulnerable members of the community.

Community Inspector Georgina Minnery said: “This is a great project that has brought local school children together with a host of partner agencies to improve the environment for everyone living locally.

"The youngsters have come up with great ideas to welcome all residents into the park. The park is a well-loved resource for the community but, unfortunately, there have been incidents of anti-social behaviour there recently.

"The mural’s bright and colourful design has a positive ‘Welcome all’ message and we hope that by enhancing the park in this way, more people will be encouraged to enjoy and respect everything the park has to offer.

"The children planted dozens of daffodils this morning and we can’t wait to see the flowers bloom next Spring!"

Insp Minnery added: "I hope the range of activities carried out on Friday sends a clear message to those people who disrespect our communities by engaging in anti-social behaviour.

"We also want to reassure people that we will not tolerate those people who continue to make life difficult for decent people in our communities, and we are working with partner agencies on activities such as those that took place on Friday to ensure we can ensure Woodlands is a safe place to live.

"We will continue to take action whenever the community tells us there are problems. I would appeal to anyone with information about anti-social behaviour and any criminal behaviour in their area to get in touch with us and I can assure them that we will take action. We will be concentrating on areas where people have told us they are suffering the effects of this behaviour."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC. You can also call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.