IN PICTURES - SPOONBILLS AT MARSHSIDE

Spoonbills created some interest for local nature-lovers recently at Marshside in Southport. 

They bred regularly in England up until the 17th century. However, they became absent as breeders for over 350 years. Nevertheless, the increasing regularity of sightings at Marshside echoes the growing UK population of this beautiful species.

EVERYONE'S CHUM, NO ONE'S ALLY: THE PLASTIC POLITICS OF THE TERMINAL PEOPLE-PLEASERS

There is a specific psychological trait plaguing modern British politics, and it explains exactly why so many voters feel completely politically alienated today. Look closely at Andy Burnham’s recent positioning, and you see a textbook example of the "People-Pleaser" complex in action.

Burnham famously built his brand as the "King of the North", the compassionate local champion standing up for ordinary working-class struggles. Yet, the moment the national political landscape shifts, the camouflage suit comes off.

In a disturbingly familiar move, Burnham has proven he is built from the exact same political cloth as Keir Starmer. Starmer decisively showed he was no friend to the old, the needy, or the disabled when he stripped away the Winter Fuel Payments and tried to ram through devastating cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIP).  Now, Burnham is stepping into the spotlight and following the exact same blueprint.

Burnham openly declared in the media that he would aggressively reduce the welfare bill specifically to redirect that cash into boosting UK defence and military spending.  To make matters worse, he has hired James Purnell as his Chief of Staff, the very man who notoriously labelled vital welfare payments as "little freebies”, a callous and patronising quip that denigrates millions of pensioners. The Express reported that - Burnham’s expected top adviser was branded "cruel" after it emerged that he called for the abolition of “little freebies” for pensioners such as winter fuel payments and bus passes. James Purnell, a former Labour Cabinet minister who is poised to become Mr Burnham's chief of staff, said in 2011 that most OAP benefits should simply be included in the state pension.

Burnham is packaging these impending slashes under the vague guise of "supporting people into work," a line we all know entirely ignores the brutal realities that disabled and vulnerable people face every day. 

Fit to Run a Country?

This brings us to the fundamental question that the mainstream click – bait – hunting media completely disregards: 

Are leaders who rely on this psychological blueprint truly fit to run a country?

When a politician's core strategy is to dodge conflict, strip wealth from the vulnerable, and continuously U-turn to avoid right-wing media backlash, they lack the foundational backbone required for true leadership. Their main agenda is flawed due to their desire to gain political points, via making all the right sounds at the right time. 

Running a nation demanding difficult, principle-focused choices cannot be achieved by a perpetual fence-sitter. It requires absolute conviction.

By prioritising personal self-seeking ambition and establishment validation over the long-term well-being of the public, both Burnham and Starmer prove they are 100% fundamentally unfit for the job. 

They are boiler room mechanics of the political machine, not genuine statesmen.

The Fabian Connection: History Repeating Itself

One is an elite Fabian, Keir Starmer, so it is no surprise to see the other soft-left politician eagerly following suit. 

As I exposed previously in ‘How the PM Failed to Properly Read His Fabian Guide Book’, Starmer's entire political strategy relies on a duplicitous, top-down Fabian method that favours gradual institutional compromise and elite decree over ordinary democracy. 

Now, Burnham is stepping up to run the UK by exactly the same playbook. 

He masquerades as a gritty, regional radical to keep the good old working-class voter base sweet, yet he quietly uses the Fabian Society platform to test his national leadership ambitions. 

True to form, the second power comes within their grasp, these soft-left sentimentalities evaporate. Just as Starmer dropped his baseline pledges to prove his loyalty to the establishment, Burnham’s eager pivot to cutting the welfare budget to fund defence proves he is cut from the exact same institutional cloth.

This desperate tightrope act is driven by a deep psychological weakness: an absolute obsession with external validation and being loved by the establishment. When leaders are driven entirely by a desperate need for pats on the head / good boy approval rather than deep-rooted conviction, they create a predictable, destructive pattern:

• High empathy in public, zero follow-through in policy.

• Strategic fence-sitting to avoid initial conflict.

• Throwing the vulnerable under the bus the second a hard choice must be made.

• One U-turn after another as the public catch onto their diversive game plan. 

Ultimately, trying to be everything to everyone means you stand for absolutely nothing.

 These politicians want to be everyone's chum in the moment to score quick points, but when the pressure rises and people actually need a protector, they prove they are no one's real ally. 

I've always seen through this desperate need to be loved and it will always be their fatal flaw.

More: 

https://pat-regan.blogspot.com/2025/09/how-pm-failed-to-properly-read-his.html 

ALDI WOODVALE - CORPORATE SILENCE ‘STILL’ REIGNS SUPREME

 

Above: Pictured today (23/6/2026) is the wonderful Sandbrook Way Lime tree.

CORPORATE SILENCE ‘STILL’ REIGNS SUPREME

We've presented video proof of protected bats. We've shown evidence of endangered Red Squirrels. Sefton's own Tree Officer says felling this healthy Lime tree is "neither justified nor necessary". Yet, all we get is a wall of silence. But Ainsdale is not alone, and Aldi has form for this. 

In Silsden, the local community successfully fought a battle to stop Aldi from chopping down a magnificent, historic Lime tree on a supermarket development site. They forced them to respect the environment there, and we can do it here.

The report stated - 'No-one from Aldi was available to comment.

Clearly some British communities still 'care' about nature on their doorstep…

 https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/11389136.eco-workers-battle-to-save-historic-tree-on-supermarket-development-site/

The main thing is that Aldi's £7 million Woodvale development can easily adjust a few car park spaces. Why won't anyone answer the community? The silence speaks volumes. We are still watching, and we are not going away.

We 'CAN' have both the welcomed new store and our precious natural resources. All Aldi bosses have to do is THE RIGHT THING! 

Our natural green Ainsdale heritage must never be sacrificed due to corporate laziness or political indifference. 

More... 

 https://pat-regan.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-aldi-lime-tree-silence-reigns.html

THE ALDI LIME TREE: Silence Reigns Supreme, But The Truth Will Out

 

Following several news articles on the ALDI Woodvale situation, the local community has been greeted with a wall of conspicuous silence from ‘all’ official quarters.

But let’s be absolutely clear: silence does not change the facts.

Is Sefton Council set to listen to its own Tree Officer, who rightly stated that felling this majestic tree is “neither justified nor necessary”? Even though the council’s own experts agree that Aldi is flagrantly breaking Local Plan Policy EQ9, will the council stand silent while corporate idleness wins, the chainsaws move in, and Ainsdale loses a piece of its precious green heritage forever?

Floating It Upstairs: The Accountability Test

Since local channels seem to have gone completely mute, this issue must now be floated higher up the political ladder. The public deserves answers from those at the top:

• To Bill Esterson MP: As our local Labour Member of Parliament, you represent a party that heavily champions green spaces, environmental protections, and biodiversity on a national stage. If those words mean anything, why the radio silence here? Local resident monitoring has proved that native Red Squirrels - a nationally protected conservation species - and local bats actively use this canopy as a vital urban wildlife corridor. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Will you stand up for our local wildlife, or let a multi-billion-pound retailer roll right over it?

• To the Sefton Liberal Democrat Leadership: The Lib Dems have a long, proud track record of championing green credentials and local environmental protection. The community looks to this leadership to work constructively with corporate designers, ensuring that Sefton's environmental policies are upheld while still delivering the fantastic investment Ainsdale deserves.

• To Sefton Council Executive & Planning: Your own professional tree expert has joined this fight. Will you allow a lazy corporate blueprint to override the council's own formal environmental guidelines?

A Colossal "Biodiversity Deficit"

Felling this tree leaves Ainsdale with a colossal, irreversible “biodiversity deficit” that harms local wildlife.

WE ARE NOT ANTI-DEVELOPMENT. WE DESERVE THE NEW STORE, AND WE DESERVE TO KEEP OUR MATURE TREES. IF OUR POLITICAL REPS, THE COUNCIL, AND ALDI BOSSES ACT IN AN HONOURABLE FASHION, THE RIGHT THING MAY STILL COME THROUGH. ALDI HAS A £7 MILLION BUDGET. THEY CAN DO THE RIGHT THING AND TWEAK THEIR DESIGN RATHER THAN CHOPPING DOWN OUR HERITAGE.

The community is watching, the facts are out, and corporate silence will 'not' make this go away.

More: 

https://www.otsnews.co.uk/the-sandbrook-way-lime-tree-and-aldi-separating-fact-from-fiction/ 

The Bats of Woodvale

 

Bats hunting over Sandbrook Road/Way

For anyone asking about the local wildlife, I’ve just published the evidence of our local bats hunting over Sandbrook Road/Way. The law protects them, and Aldi cannot ignore this!

https://www.otsnews.co.uk/the-sandbrook-way-lime-tree-and-aldi-separating-fact-from-fiction/ 

The Sandbrook Way Lime Tree and ALDI : Separating Fact from Fiction

 

YES - WE CAN HAVE 'BOTH' THE TREE AND THE STORE

The proposed felling of a historic lime tree for a new £7m Aldi store in Ainsdale is deemed unnecessary by local expert evaluation, highlighting conflict between development and environmental preservation. The situation challenges corporate narratives, citing policy violations in the push to destroy the tree. Nevertheless, a few important points need ironing out for clarification... 

Q: Why don't we just cut it down? I want the new supermarket!

A: You don't have to choose. This isn't an "either/or" situation. Aldi has a £7 million budget for this site. They can easily tweak the car park layout by adjusting just a few parking spaces to save the tree. You can have your new supermarket and keep the tree.

Q: Isn't the tree blocking progress and delaying the demolition of the old eyesore buildings?

A: No. The tree is not delaying anything. The only thing slowing things down is Aldi's refusal to submit a design that respects local planning rules. Saving the tree requires a minor blueprint amendment, which happens all the time in major developments.

Q: It’s just one tree, why does it matter so much?

A: It is a mature, historic grand lime tree. You cannot just plant a sapling to replace it, experts confirm it takes decades for new trees to match the environmental benefits of a mature one. Felling it leaves Ainsdale with a massive "biodiversity deficit" that harms local wildlife.

Q: Aren't activists just being difficult and anti-development?

A: Absolutely not. Sefton Council’s own professional Tree Officer has joined the fight, formally stating that felling this tree is "neither justified nor necessary." Even the council's own experts agree that Aldi is flagrantly breaking Local Plan Policy EQ9.

Q: What happens if the community stays silent?

A: If we stay silent, corporate laziness wins, the chainsaws move in, and Ainsdale loses a piece of its green heritage forever. Don't settle for a lazy design from a multi-billion-pound retailer. We deserve the new store, and we deserve to keep our mature trees.

In a nutshell ...

• The Budget: £7 million. Aldi has the money to do this right.
• The Law: Local Plan Policy EQ9 (Environmental Protection). Aldi's current plan flagrantly breaks it. 
• The Fix: A minor car park tweak and permeable paving. No store changes needed.
• The Goal: have the new store 'and' preserve the tree. Not one or the other.

More: 

https://www.otsnews.co.uk/seftons-own-tree-expert-joins-fight-to-save-ainsdales-lime-tree/

Addendum...

In addition to the Sefton Tree Officer's formal assessment that felling the Woodvale Lime violates Local Plan Policy EQ9, local resident monitoring has confirmed that Native Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) actively utilise this specific mature canopy as an urban wildlife corridor and seasonal foraging buffer connecting to the Ainsdale Sand Dunes National Nature Reserve and Woodvale Woods. The removal of this tree will create a direct "Biodiversity Deficit" and actively fragment the habitat of a nationally protected, priority conservation species. 

This red was filmed in Sandbrook Road on the other Side of the Brookdale Daycare Centre, which is adjacent to the lime. Moreover, plenty of bats also forage around the lime tree as they do around our trees close by. Hence this single tree alone provides many vital benefits for local wildlife...

---

Sefton’s Own Tree Expert Joins Fight to Save Ainsdale’s Lime Tree

 

Above: The mature T1 lime tree on Sandbrook Way, and an excerpt from the official Sefton Council Tree Officer objection report for application DC/2026/00739. 

Aldi’s proposed store in Woodvale is a welcome addition to many, yet it must not come at the expense of sacrificing Ainsdale’s local green heritage.

While Aldi plans to fell '18 trees' on Sandbrook Way, one specific tree is boldly challenging their chainsaws. 

Public affection for the graceful mature Lime tree, which has stood proudly outside the old Brook building for decades, is well known.  Aldi bosses have the full capability to make minor alterations to their blueprints and design around this local landmark - if they have the will to do so.

As a former member of the Southport Tree Gang back in the 1970s, I know a rushed landscaping job when I see one. Sefton Council’s official Tree Officer completely agrees. 

In a newly released public report for application DC/2026/00739, the officer has issued a formal objection, stating that axing this high-quality, 40-year-life tree is "neither justified nor necessary" and directly violates Local Plan Policy EQ9. By removing established trees, developers create a "Biodiversity Deficit." 

Under modern Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) regulations, paying to offset this damage off-site will cost Aldi significantly more than simply integrating our existing green canopy into their car park design. Individual lime trees often live for 150 to 500 years, while some ancient specimens can survive for 1,000 to over 2,000 years.

 Off-site mitigation is expensive, legally complex, and logistically difficult. Our Message to the Planning Committee is Simple: We do not need to block the supermarket, but we must force Aldi to redraw its current ecologically - unsound layout. 

TAKE ACTION NOW: Look at the official Council objection report, contact your local ward councillors, and demand they use Policy EQ9 to save the Sandbrook Way Lime tree - or/and any other trees possible!

This is NOT a choice between a new supermarket or a tree(s). Anyone pushing that bogus troll line is displaying total ignorance of modern architecture. This is about asking a multi-billion-pound corporation to move a handful of car parking spaces a few feet to the left. 

Aldi does this across the UK all the time. In places like Walsall, Aldi was forced by local planners to redraw their layout to protect mature frontage trees. 

If Aldi can adapt their blueprints to save trees in the Midlands, they can do it right here on Sandbrook Way. We 'can' have the new store and what's left of our local nature!

How to View and Comment on the Live Application:

Direct links to specific cases on the council website expire quickly and will throw a "Session Timeout" error. To view the official files safely, use these simple steps: 

Click directly onto the main Sefton Council Planning Portal. https://pa.sefton.gov.uk/online-applications/ 

Copy and paste the case reference number DC/2026/00739 straight into the search box at the bottom of that page and hit search.

From there, you can view the full Tree Officer's report under the "Documents" tab or hit "Make a Public Comment" to lodge your own objection!

We don’t need to choose between a modern supermarket and a green environment. A few adjusted parking spaces is a tiny price for a multi-billion-pound giant to pay to keep Ainsdale green.

Say No to the Card-Only Mandate: Fighting the Dehumanisation of Britain’s Financial Grid

 

Silver Voices (SV) are spot on - the bias and sheer gormlessness behind this ‘Digital Only’ farce is alarming.  SV have nailed a few bigger examples of this madness in the video, but so many smaller local issue may seem more important to ‘you’ when life throws you a curved ball.

The ill-consider push toward a cashless society faces criticism for ignoring the practical necessity of physical currency in emergency situations and rural, low-connectivity areas.

If you get stuck out in the mud with your car bogged down at the end of a wet field – a farmer will not be too impressed if you offer him a plastic card when a tenner would see his tractor rope pulling you clear. Same if you get stuck on the shore sands and need that lad for a tug with his 4x4 landy, after being daft enough to take on the tide like a motorised King Canute.

Cash is immediate. It requires no signal, no battery, and no corporate middleman. It is the ultimate tool for vital, human-to-human cooperation.  Cash is about survival, privacy, and community. The push to eliminate it is about total financial surveillance. 

The Real Threat to Personal Liberty and choice

When we allow cash to be eliminated, we surrender a considerable piece of our heritage and freedom. A digital-only financial system poses five severe threats to our daily lives:

• Total Financial Surveillance: Cash allows for private transactions. Digital payments leave a permanent data trail of every single purchase, including exactly where and when you made it. Sounds like ‘Big Brother’ time – well it sure is!
• System Vulnerability: Cyberattacks, IT glitches, and power outages occur relentlessly. When the digital grid goes down, your ability to buy food, fuel, or medicine is instantly frozen. Your beloved plastic card will not feed your family in such instances!
• State and Corporate Control: If all money is digital, financial institutions hold the absolute power to freeze your accounts, block your transactions, or restrict your funds based on your political views or behaviour.
• Marginalisation of the most vulnerable: Masses of elderly, homeless, and low-income individuals rely entirely on physical money. Forcing them into a digital system strips away their independence.
• No Protection from Negative Rates: In a cashless world, you cannot withdraw physical money to protect your hard-earned savings if greedy banks decide to charge you negative interest rates, just to hold your funds.

The Public Protest: Cash (our ancient historical currency) is Fighting Back

Despite the insistent push from self-seeking big tech and banks, the public is actively resisting. People value the money in their pockets, and the latest available data proves it:

• Billions Withdrawn: Landmark data shows that tens of billions of pounds are still withdrawn from UK ATMs annually.
• Budgeting in Hard Times: Major providers like Nationwide have reported years of consecutive growth in ATM cash withdrawals. As household budgets get tighter, millions of people are returning to physical cash because it is the most reliable way to manage a strict weekly budget - without questionable hidden fees.
• The Law is Stepping In: The resistance is so strong that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been forced to enforce strict rules under the Financial Services and Markets Act. Banks are now legally banned from shutting down local ATMs or branches without assessing the community's needs first. When a vital gap is found, they are forced to open shared Banking Hubs.

Support the growing resistance - or stay silent

Every time you accept a 'digital only' mandate without speaking up, you give away another piece of your precious liberty. We must support SV's noble fight against this insanity.

Next time you see a 'Card Only' sign, challenge it. Use cash wherever you can. Support your local high street, tip in cash, and refuse to let the smug suits in power digitise our freedom out of existence. Protect your heritage now—or stay silent and watch it disappear.

The Card Only mind set is all a part of the sterile dehumanisation that the self-seeking political cretins hanging onto power are enforcing on us all now.

It’s good to see the Elders of our Tribe challenging this insanity. Support them now - or stay silent and be happy to give away yet another part of your heritage and precious liberty to the smug grey suits in power!

As SV's Dennis Reid urges, we must get the government to take this issue seriously and legislate a permanent choice.

The time for passive grumbling is over. If you value your privacy, your heritage, and your basic freedom to buy and sell without a corporate tracker watching your every move, you need to stand up today.

Dennis Reed and the team at Silver Voices are doing their part on the national stage, but they need an army behind them. Every single signature shows the smug grey suits in power that we refuse to be digitised out of existence.This is NOT someone else's fight - it's YOURS! 

Don't let them steal your liberty while you stay silent. Click the link below, sign the petition, and share this post with everyone who still believes in a Free Britain.

👉 Sign and Share Alicia’s National Change.org Petition to Save the Cash Economy

 

 

 

In Pictures: Heatons Bridge Car Boot Sale today - in the Sweltering Heat

 

The event today went off very well at Heatons Bridge, as the high temperatures hovered around 30C.

Please surf the following link for news of our forthcoming events...

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/

ALDI’S WOODVALE BUILD AND OUR NATIVE TREES IN THE WAY OF THEIR ‘PROGRESS’ - UPDATED.

Above: a splendid old lime recently pictured this week that has existed along with other mature trees for decades on Sandbrook Way.

 Many residents understandably welcome the removal of the old  eyesore buildings on Sandbrook Road/Way.

For years the rotting buildings have given the entire area a downtrodden feel. Nevertheless, others have become increasingly concerned for the welfare of the lovey mature trees in the Sandbrook Way precinct that ALDI may view not as wildlife sanctuaries and a part of our local green heritage -  but just unwanted obstacles to be removed.

Above: a mature alder tree seen before its leaves appeared, on Sanbrook Way 

WORK 'AROUND' THE TREES AND INCORPORATE THEM INTO THE NEW LANDSCAPING TO BENEFIT THE AREA - INSTEAD OF TAKING THE LAZY 'CHAIN SAW' OPTION! 

Ecological concerns: Construction work will threaten mature trees and wildlife in this peaceful space that is set to become a possible noise - ridden, gridlocked, nightmare for some. Red squirrels (a legally protected species) have been spotted in the area. Foxes also run through the area (travelling from the adjacent Woodvale Woodland into local gardens, as do hedgehogs. 

https://pat-regan.blogspot.com/2026/03/aldi-ainsdale-right-store-wrong-place-or.html 

In summer bats hunt over the trees. Various birds species utilise the trees on Sandbrook Way for nesting and roosting.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a mandatory requirement in England's planning system that ensures new developments leave the natural environment in a measurably 'better' state than before, with a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity.

It worth remembering that modern property buyers often prioritise 'green infrastructure.' Removing mature trees lowers the curb appeal and thermal comfort of these units. Thoughtless felling trades long-term property value for a slightly easier construction phase. Trees are a real asset to profit margins rather than a pesky ecological obstacle to tractors.

By removing established trees, developers are creating a 'Biodiversity Deficit' that may cost significantly more to offset off-site under BNG (Biodiversity Net Gain) regulations than it would to simply integrate the existing canopy into the design. Most developers know that Off-site mitigation is expensive and logistically difficult.

In these times of advanced technology would it really be too hard for ALDI to work around our lovely trees and actually incorporate them into the new development landscape - rather than simply destroy them? 

Perhaps our local reps and councillors need to bear this in mind when the hammer finally drops on this new build. 

It is indeed great news that the area is finally being ungraded, yet 'not' at the convenience - driven sacrifice of our old natural Woodvale heritage.

Replacing the old eyesore buildings is a great step forward for Sandbrook Way, but true progress requires intelligent, responsible design.

Aldi has the financial backing and architectural talent to build a fantastic new store around our mature trees; it shouldn't be an either/or choice. We support regeneration, but we demand responsible design that respects our local environment. 

Hopefully, our ward councillors will ensure this application is called before the full Planning Committee so that tree retention and strict Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) measures are made a mandatory condition of the build. 

You can see the decades of care that have gone into preserving our local natural landscape via this following link about the origins of Woodvale Woodland, which is virtually across the road from the proposed ALDI build.

 https://woodvalewp.blogspot.com/2013/07/woodland-woodvale-project-wwp-3-july.html

 

ADDENDUM

ALDI frequently alters store designs to meet local planning conditions, including creating green buffer zones and retaining mature treelines. Here is one good example…

As just one example - the Walsall Store saw…

• Frontage Preservation: Aldi’s final design explicitly protected the existing mature trees along the main High Street frontage. THE COUNCIL FORCED THEM TO IMPLEMENT STRICT PROTECTION ZONES DURING CONSTRUCTION TO PREVENT HEAVY MACHINERY FROM DESTROYING THE ROOT SYSTEMS.

• Visual Screening Buffers: Rather than clear-felling the plot to maximize car parking spaces, Aldi had to maximize the retention of the existing tree cover and hedges along the site boundaries to maintain the area’s local green infrastructure.

• Enhancing the Understory: To satisfy the council's ecological requirements, Aldi integrated a native, species-rich shrub mix (such as Hazel, Holly, and Honeysuckle) underneath the retained tree canopy specifically to protect foraging habitats for local bats and wildlife.

While ALDI does not publish a running national tally of how many times they have altered plans, a review of planning application history reveals DOZENS OF INSTANCES ACROSS THE UK where community pressure, planning officers, or tree preservation groups forced ALDI to buckle and change their layouts to save mature trees.

When a community pushes back strongly enough, ALDI's property directors will reliably alter their plans to avoid costly committee delays or total rejections.

So, you see - they CAN protect mature trees if they really want and if the local COUNCIL do the 'right' thing, rather than allow them to destroy the trees!

Therefore, Woodvale/Ainsdale residents need to speak up NOW!

TELL THEM WHAT YOU THINK........... 

Direct Email Route: you can email your objection straight to the planning officers at planning.department@sefton.gov.uk Make sure to mention 'Sandbrook Way Aldi Application' in the subject line.

Direct to Aldi: You can also drop your layout feedback straight into the developer's inbox via their dedicated regional portal at Aldi Ainsdale Consultation or email them at North@consultation-online.co.uk

 

In Pictures: Early May Day Bank Holiday - Heatons Bridge Car Boot Sale

 


Fortunately, the day stayed dry for both stallholders and buyers during our busy Early May Day Bank Holiday event.

We also had the company of Woodlands Animal Sanctuary and their goats, Elsa and Olaf. 

Our next event at Heatons Bridge is on the Late Bank Holiday Monday, 25th May, weather permitting. 

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/