Latest news with #Knowsley
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Kirkby house crossbow attack: Man, 43, due to appear in court
A man has been charged after a crossbow was fired at a house in Knowsley, police have front door and a window of the property on Madryn Avenue in Kirkby were hit in the attack, which happened shortly after 09:00 BST on Sunday, said Merseyside Spencer, from Eastfield Walk in Westvale, has been charged with threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place and criminal who said no-one was injured in the incident, confirmed that 43-year-old Mr Spencer was due to appear in court later. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Sky News
5 days ago
- General
- Sky News
Hundreds face imminent eviction as Merseyside tower blocks condemned by firefighters
Hundreds of people are facing imminent homelessness after their Merseyside flat blocks were condemned by the fire service as being unsafe. Residents of Beech Rise and Willow Rise in Kirkby, Merseyside - consisting of 160 flats in total - have been told they need to find somewhere else to live "immediately". Sky News understands a meeting took place this morning involving the government to discuss the situation, although one source described the circumstances as a "waiting game" to see what other parties do next. Due to the worsening condition of the buildings, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service issued a notice saying a round-the-clock "waking watch" - a fire safety system where trained personnel continuously patrol a building - was required as a safety measure. However, the money to pay for the waking watch has run out, and with no money for repairs, the fire service has told inhabitants to leave using a rarely employed power known as a prohibition notice. Among the issues are broken lifts, poorly fitted doors and malfunctioning fire alarms. Knowsley Council says it is funding a short-term extension to the watch - understood to cost thousands of pounds per day - while people search for accommodation, but only has the money to do this "for a short period". Anneliese Midgley, the MP for Knowsley, says she is working with the council and government to support the impacted families. She said the situation is "nothing short of a scandal". But there remains the prospect of an "emergency evacuation" if a watch is not in place. There are allegations of mismanagement against previous owners and management firms, including around finances, made by the buildings' current managers, the Parklands Management, in which residents are shareholders. Dempster Management, the most recent firm appointed to run and maintain the buildings, is understood to be continuing to help with operations as Parklands has run out of money. Graham Morgan, the leader of Knowsley Council, said the residents have been "let down and neglected for years" by private owners of the blocks. 3:10 Vulnerable residents have been contacted by the council, and some could receive emergency rehousing if necessary. Mr Morgan added that the council has asked the government for help with funding - and help potentially going after the private companies "to recover costs". The buildings were previously council properties but were taken over by the private sector in the mid-2000s. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: "MFRS officers have worked tirelessly alongside Knowsley Council for several years to engage with successive management agents to ensure responsible persons fulfil their obligations under fire safety law, including issuing enforcement notices requiring remediation work to be carried out. "A waking watch has been in place in both Beech Rise and Willow Rise to ensure the safety of residents while works are carried out, however, it has become evident that the work required has not progressed and is unlikely to be carried out. "The management company would not fund the waking watch beyond 21 May 2025. The funding of the waking watch has been extended by Knowsley Council for a short period at their cost, despite them not owning the buildings, but this is not sustainable. "This means the buildings will no longer be safe for residents to live in after the current waking watch ends, and MFRS will have no choice but to issue a prohibition notice. When the prohibition notice is served, residents must leave immediately, and they will need to be rehoused. "We understand that this is disruptive and unpleasant for residents, however, all other options have been exhausted and the safety of residents is of paramount importance." Parklands Management told Sky News: "The situation at Parklands has become appalling for all involved. Residents and leaseholders are facing an unprecedented and deeply distressing crisis that stems from years of systemic neglect and mismanagement." They added: "The scale of investment now required to bring Parklands up to standard is in the multi-millions, and yet those bearing the burden are ordinary leaseholders, many with no financial capacity to contribute further." Dempster, who took over the management of the towers in late 2023, told Sky News: "Upon our appointment, we inherited a development that had suffered from years of serious neglect. The scale of disrepair was significant, requiring substantial investment that could only be funded through service charges payable by leaseholders" The statement added: "Despite our brief tenure, we have faced exceptionally difficult circumstances, largely due to the dire financial position and structural issues left behind by previous directors and managing agents." The decision of Dempster to resign in April 2025 was a "commercial" one because conditions were "impossible". "We remain hopeful that the residents and leaseholders of Parklands will find justice and a lasting resolution. In today's society, no one should be left to face the threat of homelessness, especially due to failures beyond their control," the company added. A spokesperson for the head lessor, the Virgin Island registered company Rockwell FC100, said the requirement to keep the buildings safe rested with Parklands Management, and said it was "extremely disappointing that due to a combination of factors including their non-collection of significant essential funding, the buildings have been allowed to deteriorate to the extent which they have". They added they were "investigating how best to move forward". Parklands said they have spent more than £170,000 on safety works and service charge arrears are at more than £700,000, with £250,000 also owed to creditors. They claim that, because post-Grenfell cladding work has not been completed, recovering service charges is "virtually impossible" and, due to disrepair, flats can be worth as little as £10,000.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Hundreds homeless after Kirkby flats ruled unsafe
Hundreds of people in flats in Kirkby are being made homeless after two tower blocks were declared unsafe by the fire Council has told 160 households at Willow Rise and Beech Rise, in Roughwood Drive, they will have to permanently leave their homes within weeks. One resident, Christopher Penfold-Ivany, 53, said it was a "catastrophic situation".The council said a failure by the building's management companies and agents to carry out required works had led to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) issuing an enforcement notice against the buildings' Responsible Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has contacted all relevant parties for comment. A letter from Knowsley Council sent to 160 households at Willow Rise and Beech Rise, seen by the LDRS, confirmed they would have to permanently vacate their homes in a matter of tower blocks home hundreds of residents, both tenants and leaseholders, and are owned by TR Marketing Ltd. The headlessor of both Willow Rise and Beech Rise is Rockwell (FC100) Kirkby Management Company Ltd is the board elected by leaseholders to contract a management company to take care of health and safety issues, general maintenance and service Management Services Ltd took on this contract in 2023 but at the start of this month informed all tenants and leaseholders it had decided to immediately terminate its contract with Beech Rise and Willow has left residents without a contracted management company. Resident Mr Penfold-Ivany, who lives on floor 13 of Willow Rise and is currently undergoing treatment for a serious health issue, said it was a "catastrophic situation" and "should never have been allowed to happen"."We've been plunged into uncertainty and we're all effectively being made homeless."Arunee Leerasiri, who owns a flat and has lived in Willow Rise for the past two-and-a-half years said it had been "very stressful" and that residents had been "living with an increasing sense of fear with no solutions or answers to questions".Resident Denny Walton, 83, described the news as a "bombshell" and said he did not know where he and his wife would go."We would've died here, we love it," he said."Now this bombshell - 'out'. I don't know what we can do". Rockwell (FC100) Ltd, the flats' headlessor or primary landlord, said responsibility for managing the buildings and ensuring they were safe rested with the resident management company, Parklands Kirkby Management Company Ltd.A Rockwell representative said it was "extremely disappointing that the buildings have been allowed to deteriorate to the extent which they have".Adding: "We are now, as a matter of urgency, investigating how best to move forward." A Parklands Kirkby Management Company Ltd representative said the board had been "left with an impossible situation and amounting legacy issues"."We volunteered to be directors of the management company in late 2023, following years' worth of neglect and repeated failings," a representative said."When we became directors there was unfortunately no funds left and a substantial amount of money (£700,000) owed by way of service charges and hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to creditors." 'Emergency housing' Dempster Management Services Ltd has been contacted by the LDRS for LDRS has also made attempts to contact building owners TR Marketing of Knowsley Council Graham Morgan said the local authority was in the process of contacting all residents to ensure they received urgent support, which could include emergency for Knowsley Anneliese Midgley said she had been contacted by concerned residents and was calling for a long-term plan to address the issues. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Shakespeare North seeks naming partner for funding
Shakespeare North Playhouse says it is looking for a naming rights partner in what is believed to be the first deal of its kind for a regional theatre in the venue, a replica Shakespearean theatre that opened in Prescot, Merseyside, in 2022, said it wanted a deal similar to those for many sport grounds to "support the theatre's ambitions over the next decade". It said the partnership could "exceed £300,000 annually" against a "challenging" financial backdrop, after an 18% fall in core funding theatre's chief executive Lisa Allen told BBC Radio Merseyside there was no risk of the theatre closing down "but I would say that we are very reliant on Knowsley Council". "I would like us to be less so - so we should find alternative funding streams," she Allen said that in her 30-year career in the arts, Knowsley Council had "been the most supportive council I have ever worked with"."It would be nice to not have to rely on them for as much support because Knowsley is the second-most deprived area in the country."Prominent actors such as Sue Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson and Stephen Graham have appeared at the theatre, which cost £38m to build and has hosted more than 300,000 visitors - 10% of whom had never visited a theatre before, the venue has said. The venue received £10.5m during its development from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, with mayor Steve Rotheram recently saying: "In a short space of time, it's made an incredible impact on the local community and it's my hope that it will continue to inspire, educate, and bring people together for generations to come."Ms Allen said they hoped to confirm a naming partner in 2026 in what theatre publication The Stage called "a significant shift in arts funding".Prescot is believed to have been the site of the only purpose-built Elizabethan theatre outside London, which is thought to have existed in the original theatre hosted performances of works by William Shakespeare and was made possible by the Earl of Derby, who lived at Knowsley Council leader Graham Morgan said he wanted residents to benefit from "access to culture and the arts".He called the potential naming rights deal a "really innovative project and something that in time we think could also help to support the future of other regional theatres too – which can only be a good thing". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Knowsley extends free school holiday swimming sessions offer
Thousands of children on Merseyside will continue to be offered free swimming sessions during school has the highest childhood obesity rates in England and the free swimming scheme aims to remove the financial barriers faced by many young people and families to participating in regular physical Council confirmed the scheme, launched in 2024, would continue to be funded for the next two leader Graham Morgan said there had so far been a "fantastic take-up" from people in the borough. "It is clear that over the last year the scheme has had a huge impact on the number of children and young people accessing health and wellbeing sessions and taking up swimming in the borough," said Morgan."By removing the financial barrier to these swim sessions, not only are we providing young people with a free fun activity to take part in during the school holidays, but we are also ensuring that they enjoy active and healthy lifestyles."The sessions are provided in partnership with Volair, which runs the borough's leisure August 2024 and February 2025 a total of 8,719 free sessions for under-16s were taken up across Volair's four public health director Dr Sarah McNulty welcomed news of the scheme's said being physically active "is a really important way of combating obesity". Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
