It’s set to be a busy 2023 for our part of the world.
We’ve taken a look ahead to some of the big things happening locally over the next 12 months.
The Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Course
Golf’s most prestigious tournament returns to the Royal Liverpool in July, a year later than planned – due to the Covid pandemic.
It will be the third time it has been held at Hoylake since the course was re-selected as a venue in the early part of the millennium.
Thousands of visitors will descend on Hoylake and West Kirby to see the best golfers compete for the Claret Jug for the 151st time
Improvements have been made to the course since the event was last played in 2014, with changes to a number of the holes – including the 18th – as the venue looks to secure its future as a host venue.
Completion of West Kirby flood defence scheme
Work recommences this week on the £10 million flood defence scheme in West Kirby, which includes seating, a performance area, new paving, highway resurfacing and the installation of a cycle lane.
It was due to be completed in November, but the piling work took longer than anticipated.
Wirral Council is remaining tight lipped on an exact completion date, saying only that it will be in “the first part of the year”.
It is fair to say the scheme has attracted a fair amount of controversy, with opposition from some local residents.
Will people learn to love the redesigned South Parade when it is completed?Only time will tell.
New West Kirby Medical Centre to open
Work is well under way on the new Marine Lake Health and Wellbeing Centre, which is set to open in May.
It will be the home for Marine Lake Medical Practice and Estuary Medical Practice, which are currently based in tired and outdated facilities at The Concourse.
There will also be access to specialist health and care services, including community nursing and cardiology, an expanded 0-19 health and wellbeing service for local families, a new community space led by Age UK Wirral and wellbeing gardens and a series of local art installations and exhibitions.
Its completion will take place more than a decade after a consultation was first held about the scheme.
Hoylake beach management plan
Further consultation is set to take place on a new management plan for Hoylake beach in the early part of the year.
The issue of whether to rake the beach or leave it to nature has been the subject of an ongoing debate since the council stopped maintenance in 2020.
Wirral Council is now to start discussions with Natural England over two different options:
1: Allowing the entire beach to develop naturally, but with a focus on greatly improved access for all and the clearance of slipways
2: Removing all vegetation from a strip of the beach from Trinity Road to the RNLI station, and allowing it to develop naturally from Red Rocks to Trinity Road.
They will need to meet with Natural England’s full approval before going through to final public consultation.
Whatever is decided, it is a fair bet that it will not satisfy one side or the other – and perhaps neither.
