Crop-Up Catie and Her FRAG Fibs Versus FRAG Facts.

Frag Lies Cate LIES march 2021.

Here are a selection of the latest and the FRAG Facts in reply:

FRAG voted to give Parish Council money to a Company Run by Maria Bennett........completely untrue, the Parish Council has never given money to a company run by Maria Bennett.  The Parish Council have supported the Love Food Hate Waste drive to teach children about healthy eating, and supported the Formby Schools Choir Competition with a contribution to trophies and staging. As these two events were held at the Formby Festival, FRAG Councillors declared an interest and did not vote for these donations.  They were approved by Labour and Conservative Councillors on the Parish Council.

FRAG tried to block flood protection measures..... Labour say because FRAG voted against the building 1100 homes in Formby, on land that floods annually and the drainage schemes proposed by the developers, FRAG have blocked flood protection measures.  This is in particular relation to FRAG's opposition and Labour's whole hearted support for 286 Homes on Brackenway.  Labour voted in favour of Taylor Wimpy's flood basins and land raising.   A report commissioned by Formby Parish Council, shows that this scheme supported by Labour was unfeasible and would not significantly reduce the flood risk to existing homes. The report also raises concerns about the current scheme. Click here to view the report! 

FRAG spent £30,000 on a toothless Neighbourhood Plan.... FRAG have spent about £12,000 on the Neighburhood Plan.  Most of this money was provided by central government grants.  The same grants were available to, and used by Labour run Maghull Town Council.  There are 30 policies in FRAG's Neighbourhood Plan, five specifically relating to flooding, compared to just 6 in whole of Labour run Maghull's Neighbourhood Plan! FRAG's 'toothless' neighbourhood plan has put a halt to the Development at Brackenway as Taylor Wimpey have failed to meet it's policies and has forced the matter back to planning!  It is also being used to oppose the new proposed foul pumping station on Liverpool Rd.

FRAG vote with the Tories.......FRAG have a Councillor on the Planning Committee. On planning FRAG have consistently vote against building on Formby's green belt, occasionally the Tories vote with us and against Labour who have supported all of Formby's green belt release. 

FRAG refused to support Formby Village Businesses..... FRAG have increased the planting in Formby Village, stopped the village trees being removed, improved the tree pits, renovated and replaced the benches, introduced a village market, upgraded the CCTV in the village to combat theft, paid for new signage directing visitors to the village shops, opposed the parking charges in Sumner Road Carpark (charges supported by the Labour Party), opposed an out of town shopping area on the green belt, despite the planning inspector saying that this development would harm the shops in the village and harm the greenbelt, Labour supported these proposals.  Gave funding for improvements to the Memorial Garden. Organised a VE day Commemoration in Formby Village that had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Stepped in to provide the Christmas Lights, after the previous organising committee ran out of funds, and we have put in place a budget for next years Christmas Lights.  More will be needed to help recover from the pandemic, we will continue to offer support to our Village.

FRAG Oppose affordable homes.... Labour argue that because we don't support large developments on the green belt we are opposed to affordable homes.  The building of all these new houses actually saw an increase in the average value of homes in Formby because of the inflated prices new-builds command.  FRAG's Neighbourhood Plan ensures that if houses are given the go ahead more smaller homes 3 bedrooms or under and fewer larger homes 4 beds and over are built and requires developers to build more starter homes (policy H3). Unfortunately Sefton do not have the money to adopt new green space often containing expensive drainage schemes, so maintenance fees on these new sites are often very high and are not capped.  This makes it very difficult for new home owners and older people on fixed income to afford property on these schemes even when the homes are marketed as affordable. Despite destroying our green belt these developments offer little new hope for house buyers.

FRAG's Cllr Maria Bennetts attendance record.... Maria has worked very hard for us ever since she was elected and is FRAG's longest serving councillor, most recently she has suffered from a few minor health set-backs culminating in a dose of Covid-19, this has seen her attendance dip.  She hasn't lost any of her enthusiasm or fight.  

To see Pop-Up Bill and his Fibs about FRAG Click here

Please share this on facebook and twitter.  If you find any more fibs about FRAG or have and questions about what our opponents are saying about us contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published & Promoted by FRAGOFF 25 St Annes Rd Formby L37 7AS On behalf of Formby Residents Action Group 49 Hawksworth Drive, Formby, L37 7EY

Pop-UP Bill and His FRAG Fibs vs FRAG Facts

FRAG Fibs PopUp

 

Most People expect their MP's and local politicians to be economical with the truth, many seasoned followers of politics are familiar with spin.  However the current claims about FRAG being presented by our opponents simply have no basis in fact.

Here are a selection of the latest and the FRAG Facts in reply:

FRAG vote against road Improvements....Labour says that because FRAG opposed 400 homes on the farmers field at Liverpool Rd and the new junction that will see 800 cars in front of existing residents queuing to get to work in the morning, this means we are against road improvements.  Developers only ever claimed the new road layout would not make traffic worse, not improve queues.  Residents will have plenty of time to consider if this is true as they join even longer queues to exit Formby in the morning.  

FRAG voted against better drainage.....similar to above, Labour say because FRAG voted against the building 1100 homes in Formby, on land that floods annually and the drainage schemes proposed by the developers, FRAG are against improved drainage.  John Williams former Senior Assistant Land Drainage Engineer for Sefton, says that none of the Formby Local Plan development sites should have been brought forward for building. The drainage schemes proposed do not identify or address many of the problems on each site. None of the schemes consider the full impacts of climate change. None of the schemes consider the impact of a future rise in ground water levels.  His conclusion was that these new schemes are likely to make flooding in Formby worse.

FRAG vote with the Tories.......FRAG have a Councillor on the Planning Committee. On planning FRAG have consistently vote against building on Formby's green belt, occasionally the Tories vote with us and against Labour who have supported all of Formby's green belt release. 

FRAG gave the green light to fracking..... Labour usually justify this statement by saying FRAG are in league with the Tories (see explanation above), the Tories support fracking, so FRAG are tacitly supporting fracking. Did you know FRAG was the first group to host FRACKOFF the original protest group against fracking at the Gild Hall.  FRAG paid for the hall in a joint meeting allowing FRACKOFF to address our supporters.

FRAG support School cuts.... this is usually presented as "a vote for FRAG is a vote for cuts". and again suggest that FRAG vote with the Tories, the Tories favour cuts therefore FRAG support cuts.  FRAG do not have any control over Sefton Council's budget and cannot cut Sefton Council spending.  FRAG control Formby Parish Council budget and have increased spending on community projects, not cut them.

FRAG's Neighbourhood Plan Includes Housing Schemes.... This is simply untrue and FRAG have lodged a complaint with the Returning Officer.  We invite you to read our Neighbourhood Plan click here, it does not support allocating land for housing, and contains no housing schemes.

FRAG support building executive homes on the green belt....Labour claim that FRAG don't want a Local Plan, and a no Local Plan means developers are free to build houses all over the green belt.  FRAG was the first local group to petition Sefton Council to get a Local Plan in place. Our Labour Council left us without a Local Plan for 5 yrs. During the consultations, FRAG supported Local Plan option 1 'urban containment' (no green belt release).  Labour supported maximum house building, a developers charter.  For each home built Sefton Council get a new homes bonus from the government. 

NEW JUST IN

The latest porkies, fabrications and fibs in Labour's latest leaflet.

FRAG voted to give Parish Council money to a Company Run by Maria Bennett........completely untrue, the Parish Council has never given money to a company run by Maria Bennett.  The Parish Council have supported the Love Food Hate Waste drive to teach children about healthy eating, and supported the Formby Schools Choir Competition with a contribution to trophies and staging. As these two events were held at the Formby Festival, FRAG Councillors declared an interest and did not vote for these donations.  They were approved by Labour and Conservative Councillors on the Parish Council.

FRAG are so ashamed of our Candidate that we haven't put him/her on our Leaflets..... you should have received a leaflet with Maria Bennett and Dave Irving on the front cover.  All at FRAG are grateful to them for standing and their hard work and tireless efforts for the people of Formby.  We send out thanks to them we a very proud of them.

The latest fibs are slurs on our candidates, Pop-Up Bill is going to need a much longer nose, how will we get it through your letterboxes!

Please share this on facebook and twitter.  If you find any more fibs about FRAG or have and questions about what our opponents are saying about us contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published & Promoted by FRAGOFF 25 St Annes Rd Formby L37 7AS On behalf of Formby Residents Action Group 49 Hawksworth Drive, Formby, L37 7EY

 

Parish Council Approve Tree Survey

The 'Go ahead' Given for Village Tree Survey

Approved Survey

Formby Parish Council have approved funds for a full tree survey for the 5 trees in Formby Village scheduled for removal by Sefton Council due to health and safety concerns.

A new date has been set by Sefton Council, the 19th of February for the removal of the three large horse chestnut trees with another 2 slated to be removed later this year or next as part of a phased removal.  However the protests in the village has given time for an independent survey to be carried out.  Chief Executive of Sefton Council Margaret Carney has agreed to consider the independent report commissioned tonight Tuesday the 6th of February.

The Parish Council have chosen BHA Trees Ltd Arboricultural consultants, who can list amongst their clients the Royal Household and the Highways Agency.  They are equipped to carry out a full suite of tests on the trees and carry all the necessary qualifications to give a full risk assessment.  The survey will be carried out on the 12th of February, we understand a report can be prepared for the following day to meet the 13th of February deadline set by Sefton Council.

Fingers crossed it will be good news.  Well done to the residents who made this possible.

Report Says All But One Tree Should Stay

Only One Tree Should Be Removed!

Tree Update

The BHA Ltd Report has been submitted to the Parish Council and the recommendation is that all bar one tree can be saved.  Also the report states that none of the trees pose a threat for health and Safety in their current condition, but due to a systemic fungal infection one tree would irreversibly decline and is recommended for felling.

A copy of the Report is available at Formby Library and can be found by clicking here

More news to follow.

Stay of Execution for Trees (Updated)

Trees to Stay, Independent Report Sought By Parish Council

Tree Update

Breaking News

Cheif Executive Margaret Carney has informed Cllr Maria Bennett that there will be no felling of the trees this week.  "She said in an email  this is to enable her to have further conversations on the way forward to ensure that the health and safety risk is mitigated whilst responding to the concerns of residents".

Updated 2/2/18

Letter From Chief Executive Margaret Carney

On Fri, Feb 2, 2018 at 8:01 AM, Margaret Carney <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:

Dear Councillors

 I refer to my previous emails regarding the trees in Formby Village.  Having discussed this matter with Council officers we remain concerned about the health and safety risks associated with these trees. We also want to ensure  the views of local communities are heard and that we take a balanced view whilst always prioritising the safety of pedestrians and road users.  Delaying the removal of the trees obviously increases the risk however having sought internal professional advice I am proposing a way forward that I hope you will be able to support. 

  1. I am minded to agree to an independent inspection of the three worst trees  i.e. those outside (Waterfields, Boots and  Cassidy’s) providing it is commissioned and funded by either the Parish Council or Ward Budgets and includes the requirement to assess the health and safety implications.  Whilst not being bound by the inspection the Council will consider the results and our internal experts will scruitinise the report. The inspection must be carried out by a suitably qualified and experienced person and we would ask that provision be made for a conversation on any report with the Council’s experts if required.  I have to remind councillors that liability remains with the Council and therefore this inspection will need to be completed quickly.  The independent report would need to be received by 13th February  and the intention would be to carry out any work in the week beginning 19th February.
  2. The two other trees will as previously advised be left in situ and we will assess these in Summer when they are in leaf.  It remains our view that these trees are in decline and will need to be removed in the near future.  We currently assess these as needing to be removed next Winter.  However this will be subject to a further consultation with ward and parish councillors nearer time. This complies with the approach outlined in my email of 31st January of a phased approach.

 I understand the Parish Council is considering the proposal to commission an independent survey next week. Obviously the proposals above  is dependent upon that or another funding source being identified.  I would be grateful if you could indicate your support or otherwise for this approach.  If I do not hear from you by 5pm on the 5th February, I will assume you are in support.  I would ideally like to achieve unanimous support for this way forward.

 

Regards

 Margaret

We can confirm that Formby Parish Council has put the issue of the trees on their Agenda for next weeks full Council Meeting and will discuss funding a full and independent report on the Chapel Lane trees. We have also been reassured that should the motion for funding be passed then an independent report can be produced by the 13th of February.