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Hoylake Village Life
Make Hoylake Better! Get involved by emailing us
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Welcome to our fifth e-Newsletter!
As we move into the final months of 2011 there is a real sense of anticipation in Hoylake. Shop vacancy rates have dropped significantly during 2011. We have welcomed some exciting, innovative new businesses... with more coming in 2012, including the opening of the King's Gap Holiday Inn Hotel with a Marco Pierre White restaurant, and the (currently delayed) Royal Hilbre Hotel and 'La Mouette' restaurant run by Claire Lara. These are undoubtedly important and positive additions to Hoylake but are only part of a much bigger transformation that is under way. HVL want the 'new' Hoylake to be sustainable... to build on and improve Hoylake's existing cultural and built heritage. Quality is key. We want the wider community to be much more involved in decision-making processes. So that is why we are engaging the community, supporting businesses and promoting Hoylake.
All these things take time and effort from volunteers who give their skills and time free of charge. But we need your support. With your help, we can achieve more, so why not jump on board and get involved? If you could spare a bit of time and have some fun, or just want to share your thoughts, please email us and check out our website. To read previous e-newsletters click here.
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 Ghouls just wanna have fun!
We're looking forward to a 'spook-tacular' evening this weekend! It's our third Halloween Scare Festival this Saturday 29 October, from 5pm to 8pm at The Parade, Hoylake Community Centre, Hoyle Road. Bring along the kids in their Halloween costumes, and bring your homemade pumpkin lanterns, for lots of family fun including disco, pumpkin lantern competition, scary fancy dress parade, raffle and lots more!
Tickets are only £1 per child (for children up to and including 12 years old), available on our website or from Hoylake Community Centre or Supersaver on Market Street, or pay on the door.
Can you spare an hour on Saturday to help set up the Community Centre? Email us
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Successful film night at The Parade inspires annual film season launch...
In September we screened Nowhere Boy, a story about the early life of John Lennon, at The Parade, Hoylake Community Centre to an eager audience of just over 80 people. The licensed bar was packed before and after the film, and everyone had a great time. One happy customer summed up the views of eveyone else...'The viewing experience was great, high-quality... great sound and picture quality. When the lights went down it felt like a "proper" cinema.' Such was the success that we will be running a full-year season of monthly films under the name 'Hoylake Community Cinema'. The project has already received personal messages of support from Glenda Jackson MP and Daniel Craig.
And do look out for our forthcoming Saturday Matinees for children, where kids can be left with HVL's professional childcare service while parents go shopping in Hoylake or just have a couple of hours peace at home!
Click here to find out what we will be screening, including the powerful film Regeneration on Remembrance Day 11.11.11, where members of the Wilfred Owen Story will be present with artefacts and more, and a Christmas Special screening of It's a Wonderful Life on 18 December. Remember, you can book online on our website using our events bookings system.
Come along and make the most of this great new facility in Hoylake, with quirky independent and classic films as the overarching theme.
Love film? Can you help us put these events on? Email us
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HVX
Young and bored in Hoylake? Sick of being sidelined? HVX is a new youth group initiated by Hoylake Village Life, but will be run entirely by young people for young people aged 13-19. They will be responsible for managing their own facilities, events and activities, and HVL and others will provide support, networking and advice when it is needed. Check out the hvx website at hvx.hoylakevillage.org.uk. If you know someone aged 13-19 who would like to be involved in setting up and being a part of this new group, please email hvx@hoylakevillage.org.uk and we will get back to you straight away.
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 Wetland and wildfowl/eco-Golf Resort
In June we presented to the Council our idea of incorporating a Wetland Centre into the existing Golf Resort plans for Hoylake. Our proposals were received with interest and have been considered by council officers. The Council is continuing to seek developers who may be interested in the original proposals for a 'standard' five-star Resort; nevertheless we remain hopeful that our ideas will be taken into consideration should a developer show interest. We have been in conversation with the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and RSPB, among others, all of whom are supportive of our aims.
Whilst we recognise that golf courses can enhance the local environment and ecosystem, we believe that an eco-build hotel and Wetland Centre would attract many more eco-tourists to the area ... one of the fastest growing tourism sectors... as well as golfers. By creating a unique, combined development the project is more likely to attract greater investment and will be more sustainable over the longer term. Could our suggested approach have public support? Download our proposal here and let us know what you think.
Want to know more? Email us
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Food Fair returns in October
Foodie alert! Give the supermarkets a miss on 30 October.... The finest local produce and ingredients will be on offer in one awesome display in Hoylake!
The last two Food Fairs have seen over 4,000 people in total visit The Parade, Hoylake Community Centre to sample the best of local produce. Meet the producers, distributors and growers at this unmissable event. Enjoy live cookery demonstrations, sample taster dishes, meet friends. You won't go away empty handed and you'll enjoy a revival of your taste buds. Organised by The Parade, Hoylake Community Centre.
Do you have any ideas about supporting local food producers? Are you involved in food production? Email us
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 Railway crossing
Hoylake Village Life have been meeting with Network Rail and the Managing Director of Eddie Stobart Rail Infrastructure since 2010 to discuss options for a railway crossing in Hoylake. We believe we now have the framework for a viable solution... a bridge crossing via the Station Gateway approach. The project is achievable within a reasonable budget, and Network Rail are keen to deliver the project as part of their plans to remove level crossings where possible. The footbridge would remain and be adapted for disabled access.
The implications for the local economy are enormous... dramatically improving access for Carr Lane businesses, bringing revenue into Hoylake from the provision of upgraded utilities via bridge conduits to Carr Lane and the proposed Golf Resort, improving the quality and extent of housing stock and the Industrial Estate, and the development of a possible Rail Freight spur to enable Carr Lane businesses to feed products by rail to and from the new Wirral Waters project. To find out more, email us.
What do you think? Could you help us take this project forwards? Email us
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 Shopfront Design Guide
Earlier in the year we encouraged discussion on our website about the need for a bespoke, co-ordinated Shopfront Design Guide for Hoylake. Well, we have produced it and it is ready for your comments and thoughts. To see a copy of the draft guide please email us. We have been in discussions with Council Officers as well as the Hoylake Conservation Area Committee about these ideas and are currently exploring ways in which we can afford the document some status above that of an advisory document, in order that the principles within could be adopted and applied to future planning decisions for shopfronts in Hoylake.
We believe a co-ordinated approach is needed to ensure that Hoylake looks better in future in order to attract more shoppers and also to encourage more high-quality independent and niche businesses to relocate to Hoylake. We are also talking to enforcement officers, property owners and agents and businesses to encourage a co-ordinated vision for Market Street, which also includes the adoption of colour pallettes, Victorian-style awnings and a significant reduction in visual clutter, initially by removing unauthorised advertising and signage.
What do you think? We need your feedback, please Email us
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 The windy city
Yet again high winds proved too much for our banners, with four more coming down in early October. We have concluded that the existing post arms are simply not suitable for hanging any banners in our harsh high-wind environment, and so from next year we will invest in a new sprung banner system which uses banner arms that flex in high winds.
The new banners will be slightly shorter but wider, and will fit between the existing 'rigid' banner arms, which have been the main reason why the whole project has been a very difficult, costly and complicated one. But we are determined to stick with it.... The banners add colour and vibrancy to Market Street and complement our ambitions to improve the economic outlook for local businesses.
Can you help us with projects like this? Do you want to have some fun along the way? Do you have other ideas for Hoylake? Email us
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New businesses...
Monte Carlo
A new Mediterranean Bar and Grill has opened in the former Boulevard/Tender Loins building. We wish the proprietors well. This new bar and grill will provide another positive and high-quality boost to Hoylake's night- time economy. An application to serve alcohol without the need for customers to order food has generated some objections in the community. What do you think? Work on other new businesses seems to be 'on hold'... funding in the present climate is difficult but we are hopeful that Hoylake will continue to attract investment and be more successful in future.
If you hear of a business considering locating to Hoylake we can help them settle in. So please Email us
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Facebook and Twitter 400+ 'Likes' (or 'Friends' in old Facebook lingo) at the time of writing. Search 'Hoylake Village Life' on Facebook, or click 'Like' on our website home page, or Tweet us @HoylakeVillage. We are using social networking to the full and see this as one way to keep you in touch but also to spread the word about Hoylake. Help us to do this and see more visitors come to the town. It's not an immediate change, it will take time, but it will happen!
Do you want to help us get more Facebook 'Likes'? Can you tell your friends to 'Like' us? Do you work with computers? Email us
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Accommodation Providers: Enjoy Hoylake campaign! 
Members of HVL met with the Hoylake Accommodation providers group again in September following on from a successful meeting earlier in the year. We agreed to produce a leaflet listing and promoting all of Hoylake's restaurants, bars, pubs and cafés, which can be handed to overnight-stay visitors, making them more likely to spend money in Hoylake and boosting trade for local businesses. This has been a major project which we have now completed at no cost to the accommodation businesses concerned.
The cost of printing the leaflet is being funded by display advertising by the restaurants, bars and cafés, and we are printing and distributing 20,000 of them over the coming months.
This is another good example of HVL in action: co-ordinating an effort on behalf of businesses who would struggle to find the time, money or organisational logistics to deliver such a project on their own.
Do you have any innovative and simple but effective ideas like this? Want to see it happen? Can you help us? Email us
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 Wirral Art
Wirral Art (previously known as Artists in Our Midst) ran a fantastic weekend on 24-25 September... around 3,000 people visited studios in Hoylake as well as Melrose Hall and St Luke's Church to see artists at work. Congratulations to Hoylake artist Micheline Robinson and her team of volunteers and artists who made this such an enjoyable and memorable event... one of many being organised by Wirral Art. We can't wait for next year!
Hoylake seems to be developing a reputation as a 'hub' of the Arts... a critical element in the regeneration of any town. Do try to keep an eye out for such events and get along there. You are not only supporting artists, you are making Hoylake better!
To get involved or to find out more, visit the Wirral Art website
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 Beatles in Hoylake subgroup
Time runs out when you are having fun. We've not been able to pursue this ambition but it is still very much alive. We need more volunteers to step forward to help this subgroup with some great ideas. It will be hard work, but fun and rewarding and we have lots of great contacts just waiting to be followed up.
Even if you're not a Beatles fan, there's a lot in here to get excited about.
Come on board with the HVL Beatles subgroup, email us with your ideas and come to our next meeting.
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© Hoylake Village Life 2011
You have been sent this email as you have had previous contact with the Hoylake Village Life group or website, operate a business in Hoylake, or are a resident involved in community activities If you do not wish to receive this or other emails from Hoylake Village Life in future please click here:
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