A Fund of Enthusiasm!

More than 50 local projects have benefited from the LA21 Millennium Projects Fund.

The Fund is a council initiative in conjunction with EuroWirral, and is supporting a wide variety of projects across the length and breadth of the peninsular.

The money is funding everything from gardens to galas, play to performances, training to trees - each project hopefully making Wirral that little bit more sustainable for the new century.

Coupled with the grants, more support is available to Local Agenda 21 projects in the shape of Trisha Lawrence. Trish has been brought in from Social Services to work as the council's Local Agneda 21 Projects Officer, working with Caroline Reid in this growing area. She is already well-known for her own project - an LA21 garden at Highcroft Day Centre where she worked before. Her enthusiasm and tireless efforts brought together a range of volunteers who have together created an organic garden which is formal, wild and fruitful. Disabled centre-users grow their own fruit and vegetables from specially-designed raised beds.

"It's really exciting to be working with communities on LA21 millennium projects. " Says Trish. "We'll be working very closely with the LA21 Forum."

Wirral Green Alliance received money from the fund to bring a special display on renewable energy to the Green Fayre and to run a training event in setting up a community garden this autumn. The Local Agenda 21 Forum, too, was successful with its bid for the 'Encouraging Participation' Seminar in June and a community materials exchange event to be held in October.

l If your group has an idea for an environmental and/or sustainable project, contact Clare at the Centre for Sustainable Living for ideas on how to develop your plans or look for funding.

Beach Patrol

Everybody likes to be beside the seaside, but most of us are guilty of taking it for granted. We live in a country surrounded by water and those of us on the Wirral are lucky to never be far from the sea and yet we are often ignorant of our impact on our surroundings.

The implications of marine litter are many-fold; it spoils our beaches, pollutes the sea and kills an estimated one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. It is a health risk to visitors and clean up costs affect the local economy. Plastic counts for more than half of all litter recorded and kills hundreds of thousands of birds and animals which become entangled in or swallow it. We continue to place ourselves and marine life in danger through carelessness - so what can we do about it?


Beachwatch is a campaign organised by the Marine Conservation Society. It has been running successfully since 1993, but results also show that beach litter levels have doubled since it began. Since the largest source of litter is tourists, it is a situation that can be improved but will never be completely resolved. This year Beachwatch runs nationally on September 16th and 17th. Locally, the Adopt-a-Beach project encourages the community to become actively involved in protecting the coast by choosing a beach to monitor for pollution. (For more information about these projects telephone 01989 566017 or check out the web site at www.mcsuk.org)

On a positive note, the River Mersey was recently awarded the International River Prize for Best River Management Initiative in Australia, competing with more than 100 entries world-wide. Formby, Wallasey and West Kirby have also recently won Seaside Award flags by the Tidy Britain Group, which is encouraging. If everybody made a personal effort to reduce litter on the beaches by taking their rubbish home with them or disposing of it properly, we would see a vast improvement. Let's make an effort to make beaches cleaner and safer for animals and humans alike!

Wind power as an alternative energy source

It is important for the UK to develop a more sustainable production and use of energy. Fossil fuels will inevitably run out, so a renewable energy source must be adopted. Offshore wind and wave power seems to be a suitable candidate in the meantime. The offshore wind industry is progressing rapidly but has adopted a collaborative approach by seeking the views of others from the outset. The industry seems eager to keep its impact on the environment to a minimum and although it may sound like a clean and sustainable method, the direct consequences for coastal areas must be taken into consideration.

Offshore wind farms have an impact on marine life due to underwater noise and vibrations, plus the intrusion of cables on the seabed. Water depth must also be considered, as well as access to the national grid. Wind farms can cause changes in tidal flows and also present an unsightly intrusion on the landscape.

However, there are benefits - once it is established, there is a minimal use of chemicals and emissions of carbon dioxide. There is even evidence to suggest that underwater noise may be in the same frequency range as ships, wind and waves and therefore may have a minimal impact on marine life. Unfortunately, renewable energy sources do not offer the perfect long-term solution and cannot replace the energy production which oil and gas provide.

Forum is growing!

Wirral's independent Local Agenda 21 Forum is going from strength to strength:
'Watch this space!' warns Steering Group chair, Dr Sheila Ross. "Since the launch of the Forum in Sept 1999, we have achieved a lot - and like all fledgling organisations who are gaining in confidence, we have great ambitions for the future."

Successful events have been held which have looked at sustainability indicators and community involvement. There has also been a revealing consultation with the 6th Form at Mosslands School and there will also be a strong forum presence at the Green Fayre with plenty of activities and information. Five topic groups have been launched on Waste & Recycling, Natural Environment, Energy, Education and Transport (although the latter is

Future aims include remaining independent from the local authority, securing long term funding and permanent staff, and developing its network of organisations and members.


Agenda 21 is an initiative from the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. It aims to set a more sustainable agenda for the environment, the economy and society across the world but recognises that these changes can only happen at a local level - Local Agenda 21 (LA21) strategies in boroughs around the globe. Although the council are working towards developing a strategy for Wirral, this cannot happen without a great deal of participation by all sorts of people, and it has to be 'owned' by the wider community. Wirral LA21 Forum grew from a Wirral Green Alliance interest group but now has its own independent constitution and its own Steering Group, although it is based at the Centre for Sustainable Living.

"The support of WGA has been vital in providing a home and backup for Forum activities over these formative months," says Sheila. "The Forum is extremely grateful."

The Forum works to raise awareness about LA21 and involve the wider community in developing a more sustainable Wirral for all of us, and for future generations.