Sefton Council leader Cllr Marion Atkinson has praised the Local Authority's cleansing teams for their hard work during the winter shutdown at a time when demand for household waste disposal is at an annual high.

Anyone who is still being affected by a missed collection should get in touch via this link.

Hot seat

Appearing on BBC Radio Merseyside’s Hot Seat session on Wednesday (14th January 2026), Cllr Atkinson took calls from residents on the subject of winter bin collections, which for some were temporarily disrupted due to demand and staffing.

She said: “We collected 93% of people's bins over the winter shutdown period. This is a time where pressure is high due to an increase in household waste but we still delivered over nine in ten collections on time. 

"Of course we fully acknowledge the frustrations of people who had to wait longer for their bins to be collected than they normally should. Our teams worked very hard to catch up as quickly as they could."

Ready to go on pier

In her BBC interview, Cllr Atkinson also confirmed that Sefton Council has now submitted a formal business case for the refurbishment of Southport Pier.

The Local Authority is hopeful that pending a successful outcome of the business case, works to Southport Pier should be expected to get underway in early 2026.

A full restoration of the unsafe structure, which has sadly been closed since December 2022 for health and safety reasons, will now take place thanks to a £20 million investment from the UK Government’s Growth Mission Fund subject to the business case being approved.

Town Of Culture

Cllr Atkinson confirmed Sefton will put Bootle forward to have a chance to become the UK's first-ever Town of Culture as part of a new competition aimed at boosting local pride.

The contest will run alongside the existing UK City of Culture contest, with three finalists set to be chosen by an expert panel, with the winner awarded a £3m prize and two runners-up receiving £250,000 each.

Overnight Accommodation Levy

The popularity of the Liverpool City Region for tourists from around the world has led to an overnight accommodation levy being planned for the area from 2028. 

The Liverpool City Region welcomes more than 60 million visitors annually, supporting a £6.25 billion visitor economy. A modest overnight accommodation levy would raise many millions of pounds locally each year – funding that would be ring-fenced to support cultural events, enhance infrastructure, and strengthen the region’s global competitiveness.

International examples and pilot schemes in England have shown strong public support, with surveys in Manchester revealing that 70% of tourists are willing to pay a small charge if it visibly improves services.

Sefton Council leader Marion Atkinson, said it would be a "great source of revenue" which would stop councils "having to go to government" for funding. She also lauded the positive effects the levy can have on all six boroughs under the LCR family.

Dunnings Bridge Road

Speaking about the works to improve Dunnings Bridge Road as part of the Maritime Corridor Improvement Scheme, Cllr Atkinson once again talked about the new active travel lane along the route, which would improve conditions for people to walk, cycle and wheel.

Use this link to find out more about the Maritime Corridor Improvement Scheme.

Fly-tipping

Litter and waste was once again a hot topic for callers. Cllr Atkinson told listeners that the council cleared up over 3,500 incidents of fly-tipping in the past year, costing local taxpayers more than £366,000.

Sefton Council is firmly committed to strengthening enforcement against fly-tipping. Significant resources have been allocated to this effort. The environmental enforcement team will double in size; three new officers have started in January and a further two in April

You can listen to the show here (interview starts 2hrs and 2 mins in).