I DROVE down Longshaw Street in Dallam at the weekend and my attention was drawn to a green fence around a piece of apparently derelict land.

Why would some land in Dallam be fenced off like that I hear you ask.

Turns out it is the site of the much-heralded Bewsey and Dallam Hub.

Oh what a fanfare we had when Warrington Borough Council and LiveWire announced the go-ahead for the £2.4 million hub which is set to contain a gym, a ‘library offer’, a learning and hydrotherapy pool, care services, a playground and allotments.

(I did wonder why all this was needed given LiveWire’s flagship Orford Park Hub is a short walk away but what do I know).

Anyway, I decided to do a little investigation about the Bewsey and Dallam Hub.

The last report on the Guardian’s website at warringtonguardian.co.uk in February reveals ground was broken at the site in March 2016, but little progress has been made since then.

Delays, the report says, were caused by ‘higher than expected’ costs which led to LiveWire putting the construction contract out to tender for a second time to obtain a ‘more competitive price’.

Back in February, the Guardian reported a LiveWire spokesman as saying: “Seven contractors have now submitted an expression of interest to work on the project and a contractor is due to be appointed within the next month.

“Once a contractor has been appointed, work will start onsite soon after with the build taking approximately 12 months – the hub will open to the public in spring 2018.”

Spring 2018? Really?

With no signs of work on the site, 12 months to build it and winter on the way, a 2018 opening now looks wildly optimistic.

It’s strange we haven’t had an update from either the council or LiveWire or do they think we have all simply forgotten about it?

I realise Warrington Borough Council and LiveWire have had a lot on their respective plates over the past 12 months but the silence about this project is truly deafening.

  •  I remember back in 2002 when the plans to introduce police community support officers first became a reality.

I was not happy.

What I wanted to see were fully functioning police constables with all their training, equipment and powers of arrest on the streets of our towns and not ‘imitation’ bobbies – basically members of the public wearing a uniform.

Well, I was wrong and I’m happy to admit it.

In my opinion, PCSOs have been a resounding success.

In the first instance they are on the streets and they are visible – exactly what the public always says it wants.

Secondly, they got to know their patch and built relationships.

And while their limited powers may once have been seen as a weakness, it fact it turned out to be a strength.

Members of the public began to see them as less authoritarian – they are there all the time, not just when something bad has happened.

What a pity that very success is now under threat.

Only this month, Norfolk Police announced radical cost-saving proposals and if they go ahead, Norfolk would become the first force in the country to get rid of all PCSOs.

In Cheshire, Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane has committed to funding one PCSO for each electoral ward.

At the moment, parish councils have the option to part-fund one PCSO in their area but from next year Cheshire Police will ask for the full £33,000 from authorities to cover the total cost of a PCSO.

I’ve got to say £33,000 is an awful lot of money for a parish council to find.

While I accept Mr Keane has a difficult job in balancing his budget let’s hope we don’t throw the PCSO baby out with the austerity bathwater.