Date: 19 December 2022

Reference Number: 5984

Urgent safety alert issued for baby self-feeding products

Cheshire West and Chester Council wants to make residents aware of an urgent warning against the use of baby self-feeding products.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has issued a Product Safety Alert for baby self-feeding products and has asked local authority trading standards officers to take action to remove them from the market.  

The products may not be available to buy in mainstream retailers in the UK, but there are a number of online retailers selling these products that ship to the UK, as well as listings on online marketplaces and some Instagram-based sellers

Baby self-feeding products are designed to enable babies to bottle feed with little or no assistance from a caregiver holding the bottle and controlling the feed.  However, this creates risk of serious harm, or even death from choking or aspiration pneumonia.

The warning follows on from a previous safety alert regarding self-feeding pillows and prop feeders last month and now applies to all baby self-feeding products.

The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “The most common reason for babies to choke on feed is because the liquid is being dispensed faster than the baby can swallow.

“Babies do not have the ability to control the flow of a bottle feed, or to know when to stop feeding, or to act to raise the alarm if something is going wrong. 

“If you have purchased one of these products, please stop using it immediately and dispose of it safely.”

Local authority trading standards teams will take action against businesses that sell baby self-feeding products as they do not comply with the safety requirements set down in the General Product Safety Regulations, 2005.

Date: 20 December 2022

Reference Number: 5988

Waste and recycling collections this Christmas

Kerbside waste and recycling collections will take place on the usual days this Christmas season for most residents in Cheshire and Chester.

Residents who usually expect a collection on Monday 26 December should put their bins out two days earlier by 7am on Saturday 24 December as there are no collections on Boxing Day.

Calendars for 2023 are being delivered via Royal Mail and are taking longer than usual.

Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

On the other days during the holiday period, HWRCs in Winsford, Chester, Ellesmere Port Neston, Tattenhall, Frodsham and Northwich will be open at their usual times. Site opening times at: https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news-and-views/recurring-events/christmas-and-new-year/changes-to-household-waste-recycling-centre-hours-christmas

Real Christmas trees can be taken for reuse to the following sites any time in January 2023:

Hooton Golf Club Chester Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 1QF; Whitby Park Stanney Lance Ellesmere Port, CH65 9 AQ; Stanney Fields Park Hinderton Road, Neston, CH64 9PE; Westminster Park Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JW; Marbury Park, Marbury Lane, CW9 6AP; Castle Park Fountain Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6SA; Knights Grange Sports Complex Winsford, CW7 2PT.

Signage will advise where to place the trees, which will be chipped and used as mulch on existing shrub-beds in the borough by the Council’s StreetCare Service.

Decorations and lights should be removed from the trees. Just Helping is also raising money for local hospices by collecting and recycling real trees. To find the nearest hospice to arrange a collection: Register Tree (just-helping.org.uk)

The Council’s Customer Service Centre will be closed from 7pm on 23 December 2022, reopening on 28 December 2022. It will also be closed on 2 January 2023, reopening on 3 January 2023.

Garden waste collections ended on 5 December and will resume on 27 February 2023. Subscriptions can now be made for 2023 garden waste collections. To subscribe: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/gardenwastecollection

The Council-run Warm, Welcoming Spaces are affected by Christmas and New Year opening times.  You can find all the details on this webpage:

https://cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/news-and-views/recurring-events/christmas-and-new-year/warm-welcoming-spaces-christmas-and-new-year-opening-hours

More information on the Warm, Welcoming Spaces and what they can offer communities can be found here:Warm, Welcoming Spaces | Cheshire West and Chester Council

Christmas collection changes
                                                              

The Waste Management service continues to work closely with its partners to improve service quality and minimise the disruption to our residents as much as possible. Collections over the festive period can be challenging because of several factors.

This year there will only be one collection day change to the normal recycling and waste collection service. If you receive a collection of waste or recycling on a Monday, please be aware that collections on Monday, 26 December 2022 are moving to Saturday, 24 December 2022. All other collection dates remain the same.

Garden Waste collections

As you will be aware from previous member briefs this year garden waste collections will be suspended for 12 weeks commencing Monday 5 December 2022 and resuming on Monday 27 February 2023. Subscriptions can now be made for 2023 garden waste collections.

Real Christmas trees

Residents will still be able to dispose of their real Christmas trees using the following below methods:

Christmas trees can be taken for reuse to the following sites any time during January 2023:

• Hooton Golf Club Chester Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, CH66 1QF
• Whitby Park Stanney Lance Ellesmere Port, CH65 9 AQ
• Stanney Fields Park Hinderton Road, Neston, CH64 9PE
• Westminster Park Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JW
• Marbury Park, Marbury Lane, CW9 6AP
• Castle Park Fountain Lane, Frodsham, WA6 6SA
• Knights Grange Sports Complex Winsford, CW7 2PT

Signage will be at all sites to advise where to place the Christmas trees, which will be chipped and used as mulch on existing shrub-beds throughout the borough by the Council’s StreetCare Service. The trees will need to be delivered with no decorations or lights on them.

Charity collections

Just Helping raise money for local hospices by collecting and recycling real trees. Residents can use the link below to find their nearest hospice to arrange a collection.

Just Helping: Christmas tree collection

• Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) via the list of sites below.

Recycling collections                                                                                    

Glitter free Christmas cards, envelopes and non-metallic wrapping paper can all be recycled in the blue lidded recycling bin or green box. Cardboard boxes should be flattened to fit inside with any plastic and polystyrene removed. Any extra recycling, including food waste, can be placed out for collection next to recycling containers in suitable, clearly labelled containers, such as a carrier bag or a plastic storage box. These will be returned after emptying. Larger boxes can either be ripped up into smaller pieces and placed into the blue lidded bin or green recycling box or taken to a local HWRC.

Household waste recycling centres

All HWRCs are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Primary sites at Winsford, Ellesmere Port and Chester will be open 8am to 4pm every day apart from the above three bank holidays.  Neston, Tattenhall, Frodsham and Northwich will be open as  usual throughout the rest of the period. Site opening times are shown in the table below:

Reporting issues

The Council’s Customer Service Centre will be closed from 7pm on Friday, 23 December 2022, reopening on Wednesday, 28 December 2022. It will also be closed on Monday, 2 January 2023, reopening on Tuesday 3 January 2023. Any service issues can be reported on the Council’s online portal during this period.

Adverse weather

Snow and ice over the festive period can make collections difficult. While the majority of major roads often remain accessible, road and footway conditions on minor roads, housing estates and in rural areas can often become poor, making it difficult for large HGV collection vehicles and their crews to carry out work safely.

Although every effort will always be made to access properties on their scheduled collection day, the safety of those collecting and the wider public is always the most important thing. If adverse weather has an impact on collections, householders will be told to:

• continue to place wheel bins, boxes and bags out for collection on the scheduled day
• leave any uncollected containers out where a road, street or property is not collected on its scheduled collection day as every effort will then be made to return and collect these at the earliest opportunity
• look out on social media and the Council website for any updates.

Useful links to web pages are below:

Date: 15 December 2022

Reference Number: 5982

Sports pitch provision across west Cheshire

Cheshire West and Chester Council is reviewing the boroughs Playing Pitch Strategy and pitch provision. 

The review will consider all outdoor sport facilities, including those for football, rugby, cricket, hockey and artificial pitch provision (3G’s), and will provide up to date information on existing and future needs in terms of quality, quantity and location. 

The review is being carried out by the Council and partners from key national governing bodies for sport including Sport England, Active Cheshire, and Brio Leisure. 

The review aims to capture the views of residents, clubs and any other individuals or organisations using a questionnaire. 

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “We would like to hear your views on the draft Strategy over the next 12 weeks. If you have an interest in pitch provision, please complete the questionnaire. This review will ensure all the information we hold is up to date and will be used for future planning and investment in sport and recreation facilities across the borough.” 

The 2021 strategy identifies a total of 368 football pitches across 180 sites in the borough, of these, 287 are available, at some level, for community use. 47 pitches are managed by the Council, 16 by parish/town councils, 131 by schools, colleges, universities and 45 by clubs. The remaining pitches are privately or commercially managed. 

A total of 816 teams were identified as playing within the borough, consisting of 140 men’s teams, nine women’s teams, 292 youth boys’ teams, 74 youth girls’ teams and 301 mini soccer teams (49 of which are girls’ teams).

There are 28 grass cricket squares identified in the borough, of which 26 are available for community use. Plus 11 full size hockey suitable artificial grass pitches in the borough, ten of which are available to the community, as well as 14 smaller size pitches.  There are also pitches that have been used for American Football, Gaelic football, lacrosse and polo. 

Any individual, organisation, sports group or team can complete an online or postal questionnaire on: https://participatenow.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/playing-pitch-strategy-consultation

The formal consultation period runs until 9 March 2023. 

For more information contact the Total Environment Team:  TotalEnvironment@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Date: 15 December 2022

Reference Number: 5983

Council launches new homelessness pledge

Residents, businesses and charities are being asked to sign up to play their part in tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in a new initiative being launched by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Pledge aims to improve the way organisations and individuals work together to tackle homelessness in the borough. Signatories to the Pledge will agree to make a tangible contribution to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping through offering their support and undertaking a number of straightforward actions.

For individuals, this includes committing to contact the forfutures Outreach Support Team if they believe that someone is sleeping on the streets and supporting the many local organisations working to provide assistance on the ground.

Meanwhile, businesses are encouraged to provide training and employment for people recovering from homelessness, and to make preventing homelessness part of their corporate social responsibility. The pledge – which can be signed on the Council’s website at https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/housing/housing-advice-and-homelessness/housing-advice-and-homelessness/rough-sleeping-and-homelessness-pledge

– was launched alongside partners from the homelessness, housing, voluntary and business sectors.

Councillor Matt Bryan, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Climate Emergency, said: “As a Council we are committed to driving down rough sleeping and homelessness, but we do not work in isolation. We are very proud to work alongside a range of partners, including charities, housing associations and businesses.

“This Pledge is about ensuring that everyone knows the best way to offer support and ensure that people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness receive the assistance that they need.

“We know that this issue matters deeply to lots of people across Cheshire West and Chester. I’d encourage as many people as possible to visit our website, sign the pledge and support the work that we are doing alongside charities and other partners.”

The initiative is part of the Council’s commitment to reducing homelessness and ending rough sleeping in the borough.

The includes providing new supported accommodation schemes so that people have a safe place to stay while they are helped to find a new home. The support provided includes help with finding long term housing, employment, access to health and personal finance advice.

Providing accommodation is only one small part of the work that the Council does. In many cases, homelessness can be prevented by intervening early when people are at risk. This work is critical and turns lives around.

Councillor Bryan added: “We often speak with people who want to help to tackle these extremely challenging issues, but don’t know how. By providing the opportunity to sign a pledge, we can start to build a network and can look at different ways to bring people together and ensure that expertise is shared.

“We are hopeful that this work will lead to even more individuals and organisations working together towards a shared goal – driving down homelessness and ending rough sleeping in Cheshire West and Chester.”

Date: 15 December 2022

Reference Number: 5981

Changes to library opening times during the Christmas period

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s libraries will be operating a revised service over the Christmas period.

Libraries will close at 1pm on Saturday 24 December 2022 until Tuesday 27 December.

Ellesmere Port, Frodsham, Neston, Sandiway, Upton and Winsford libraries will open as normal from 28 December to Saturday 31 December, close 2 January and re-open 3 January.

Our other libraries, except for those listed below will close throughout the festive period, re-opening 3 January.

• Storyhouse will close Christmas Day and then open as follows during the festive period:

24 December, 8am-9pm; 26 December, 10.30am-9pm; 27 December 9.30am-11pm; 28-30 December, normal opening hours; 31 December, 8am-9pm; 1 January, 10.30am -9pm; 2 January, 9.30am-11pm.

• Malpas Library, based within a high school, will close at 7pm on 15 December and re-open 3 January.
•  Tarporley Library, based within a high school will close at 7pm on 22 December and re-open January.

• Hoole Library will close at 4pm on Thursday 22 December and re-open 5 January.
• The Mobile Library will not undertake any routes week beginning 26 December through to 2 January.

During opening times libraries are part of the Council’s Warm, Welcoming Spaces network, providing a space for you to stay warm and safe. Come along and join the library for free and take advantage of the wide range of books, eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines eBooks and eAudiobooks | Cheshire West and Chester Council. There are also refreshments and free access to Wi-Fi as well as public computers and everyone is welcome to join in with library events and activities that are taking place.

Find out more and share the details with your friends and neighbours Warm, Welcoming Spaces | Cheshire West and Chester Council

For more information visit www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/libraries.  You can also follow Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Libraries Service on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Date: 08 December 2022

Reference Number: 5972

‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ for a greener Christmas

The Council is urging all Cheshire West and Chester residents to help the environment by choosing to reduce, reuse and recycle their food this Christmas.

Global food waste produces more emissions than all commercial flights put together. In the UK, food waste contributes to 5% of our emissions, the same as one third of all our cars.  

With lots of food being wasted at Christmas time especially, we encourage all residents to help tackle climate change and save themselves money by only cooking what is needed, reusing uneaten food to reduce waste, and then recycling it.

The borough’s kerbside recycling service enables almost every household in Cheshire West and Chester to conveniently recycle their food waste separate from their other recycled waste, and tens of thousands of Cheshire households make use of this weekly service.

At Christmas, the Council collects and recycles more food waste than at any other time of the year, and this season we are ready to collect food waste which has been separated from other recyclables and general waste.

Councillor Karen Shore, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, said: “Trying to waste less food in the first place has the biggest benefit to the environment. Try to only cook what you need but, if you have leftovers, reuse in another meal to reduce waste. Please take the time to separate out food waste from general waste and put it in your food waste bin. It’s better for the environment.

“Last year, we recycled 667 tonnes of food waste over the three-week Christmas period. We would like to thank the many households already recycling food waste every week. You are already making such a big difference.

“We can provide you with the containers and information to start recycling your food over Christmas. Almost every home has been given a food waste bin. Use this Christmas as an opportunity to use the brown food waste bin again. None of us can afford to give up on tackling climate change – and the extra space it saves in the black bin will come in useful this time of year.”

Residents’ black domestic bins are emptied fortnightly so please make use of your weekly food waste collection service.

The Council sends your food waste to an anaerobic digestion treatment facility, which can recycle all different types of food waste: Turkey giblets and carcasses, vegetable peelings, chestnut shells, fish skins, bones, pet food, plate scrapings and cooked food. 

Food waste is turned into green electricity to power peoples’ homes and a fertilizer that puts vital, natural nutrients back into our farmers’ fields.

Residents who no longer have a food waste bin, can order one for free. Cheshire West Recycling has made available 1,000 extra delivery slots this month to help more homes recycle.

Visit Order new or replacement bin | Cheshire West and Chester Council to order a food waste bin if you need one.

Visit Love Food Hate Waste for useful hacks, tips and guidance on how to avoid creating food waste and saving money on your food bills especially over the Christmas period.