The end of local government as we know it. And I don't feel fine.

"I'm the first to say we should have lower taxes and smaller government. And I'm the Chancellor who is cutting the size of Government faster than anyone in modern times. We're reducing the size of government, from almost 50% of our national income to 40%, in just five years"

George Osborne, 8 October 2012

Sir Albert Bore dominated the local and regional news headlines yesterday with a blunt and sobering message - thanks to decisions taken by the current national government and inaction by the previous council administration, the Labour council in Birmingham will be forced to cut back on services. Not slicing off bits and pieces here and there, but making fundamental decisions about which services we do - or do not - provide to our citizens. This is the reality of Osborne's ideological plans to cut the size of the state - it comes at a cost of services that we provide to you. 

Cllr Tim Cheetham (Lab, Barnsley MBC) wrote about this situation in an excellent article here, where he reminded us of the Barnet 'Graph of Doom' - a chastening piece of work which was done for that London borough, but seems to apply to virtually every council across the country. What it effectively means is that, given the path that this government has set, by around 2020/23, local governments will be funded to cover the costs only of adult and child social care. Nothing else will be affordable. As Tim writes,

The plain fact is that we have no fewer roads to mend, no fewer bins to empty, no fewer vulnerable adults to care for and no fewer children to safeguard. We have no less responsibility for any of the things the public have come to rely on the council to provide. In most cases we have more of these things

This massive shift will also mean that local authorities will be providing services for a minority of their residents and their voters. While just under half of the country uses a library and over a quarter use leisure services,only just over 10% of us use adult or children's services. This can't help but marginalise further these service users and reduce the value that others attach to the provision of that service. The government is, intentionally, trying to make local government less relevant to those that we represent. 

It has become apparent that this government will be imposing further cuts on Birmingham - more even than were known about by the last admininstration and some that are still to be confirmed, but are at the whim of Eric Pickles, the secretary of state at the Department of Communities and Local Government. There may be a further £50m of cuts to come - we don't know. We won't even be clear on the final settlement for 2013/14 until December or January.

Even the plan set out by the last administration, which assumed a 1.9% council tax rise in 2013, has been blown out of the water by their own Coalition government. Eric has effectively capped council tax rises at 1.66% next year, requiring a referendum for any increase greater than that. That move alone leaves a shortfall of £600,000 in next year's budget. The government are likely to fund an amount equivalent to 1% in council tax next year - as they did this year - but unlike 2011/12, the government 1% will be a one-off payment, with no lasting increase in the grant. 

Mike Whitby popped up on BBC Midlands Today to make his point that Albert was scaremongering and that this 'displays political cowardice and weak leadership.' Albert and the Cabinet, along with other Labour colleagues will be at the public consultations, unlike the previous administration, who shoved council officers out to defend their political decisions. 

Whatever people say about Sir Albert - and people say plenty of things - he knows how local government works more than perhaps anyone else I have ever met. He's been a councillor in Birmingham for 30 years, through the hard years when the chill winds of Thatcherism blew through council corridors. So, when he says that this is the worst he has ever known, you sit up and you listen. 

We have choices to make over the coming weeks and months and many of them will be unpleasant. I can promise you that Labour in Birmingham will work to protect the most vulnerable - we will throw our increasingly dented shield over them, as one of my colleagues put it. 

Planning Applications to 20 October 2012

Again, no planning applications to note last week, but one this week.

2012/07043/PA - Karen's Estate Agents, 1073 Warwick Road

Change of use of first and second floor from dwelling use (C3) to beauty salon (B1).


You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Streetworks - Elton Grove - footway repairs

The length of Elton Grove from Fox Green Crescent to the end. Patch repairs will be carried out using asphalt as part of the 5 year upgrade of Birmingham's highways. This is expected to start during the week commencing 12 November and is expected to last for up to two weeks, being carried out between 7:30am and 5pm weekdays, with the possibility of Saturday work as well.

Access will be maintained to homes, but there may be times when it is temporarily restricted. When they are working on your stretch of footpath, please make sure that cars aren't parked alongside.

If you have any further queries, you can let me know or contact Amey directly on 0121 303 6644.

Halloween

If you - or a vulnerable neighbour - doesn't want to take part in Trick or Treating, why not put this in the window? Thanks to West Midlands Police for the image.

Action....

Work underway at the moment from my desk:

Knights Road
Street light column 1 damaged
This was hit by a vehicle on the 1 October and was cut down and replaced by the 3 October. It still needs to be connected up underground and this is scheduled to be done in the fortnight from the 29 October.

Briarfield Road
Street light column 1 failed
This repair should be completed within the next 8 days.

Shirley Road
Street light columns 40 and 40A failed
These are both near the junction with Oakhurst Road and opposite the shops beside the leisure centre. Again, this should be completed within the next 8 days.

Diary Date - Full Council

Full Council
Tuesday 16 October 2012 2pm
Chamber, Council House and live streamed here (with a link to the full agenda).

Key items from the agenda:

• Question time from the public & councillors
• Review of City Council constitution 
• Statement of Licensing Committee
• New ways of working within Overview & Scrutiny
• Motions for debate - one on Council Tax Benefit and one on proposals for tenant consultation

Planning Applications to 12 October 2012

No new applications, but this might be worth a look. 

2012/06960/PA - 8 Botteville Road (and rear of 4-6 and 8-12 Botteville Road)
This is a proposal to vary an application that has already been approved (2010/06541/PA), but the developer wants to build larger properties on this site 

Thoughts?

Report - Acocks Green Ward Committee

A slightly chilly meeting on Wednesday evening...

We had an officer from Trading Standards attend to talk about No Cold Calling Zones. We've had three areas designated across the city - in Sheldon, Sparkhill/Hall Green and Stechford. The law doesn't allow the City Council to actually ban traders from calling door to door, but this is aimed at tackling rogue traders and reducing distraction burglary. Typically, this is where a caller at the door keeps the homeowner occupied while an accomplice steals from elsewhere in the property and the typical victim profile is an 82 year old woman living on her own. Far too often, rogue doorstep tradespeople are checking out the house for a later visit. Even buying something with cash at the door can reveal that you keep cash in the house, roughly where you keep it and - something I didn't know - that you have a large quantity of cash in one place. Apparently, the notes take on a particular smell if kept together. These zones are targetted on areas where a high number of distraction burglaries are reported and they act as a deterrent. Initially, Trading Standards officers provide a response to individual incidents and ask doorstep callers to stay away - and most comply - but after a while, experience shows that the zones become self-enforcing as residents themselves get the confidence to turn callers away and 95% feel safer with a zone in place. With budget cuts, there are no plans at this stage to bring a zone to Acocks Green, but we'll keep an eye on the situation.

The meetings were agreed for the remainder of the coming year:

• 5 December 2012 - 7:30pm - Lakey Lane Primary School (time accommodates police meeting at 7pm)
• 20 Feb 2013 - 7pm - Severne JI School
• 17 Apr 2013 - 7pm - The Oaklands Primary School
• 29 May 2013 - 7pm - Venue TBC

Community Chest spending continues. We agreed funding for:

Acocks Green Means Business - £4500

This is a project to help 250 local people to develop self-employment opportunities and, hopefully, deliver about 20 business starts with 2-3 months of workshops and one-to-one advice. This has been an effective scheme in the past and has actually been able to draw down further funding from elsewhere, reducing the commitment from the ward.

Acocks Green Library temporary provision - £26,000

We've used some unspent money allocated to the library earlier in the year, a little new revenue spending and a chunk of capital spending to deliver on this - Labour weren't prepared to see the library close temporarily without alternative provision. 

Project Worker, Gospel Oak Community Centre - £3408

Youth Group - Gospel Oak Community Centre - £2817.50

We're supporting this scheme jointly with Hall Green. Although the centre is just outside our boundary, it serves a large community within the Gospel estate and I've been down to visit the team there and meet some of the young people in the youth group and I was impressed by what the team are trying to do. 

We do still have some funding remaining for the year, but there is an alternative source of support through the Acocks Green Community First funding stream, which provides match funding for sums between £250 and £2500. Have a look at the website here. 

We've also agreed to continue funding for the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum.

Most of the planning applications mentioned in the agenda had already been decided, but we have an application for the land adjacent to the end of Grattidge Road at the Solihull side of the ward. This waste land is between the end of Grattidge Road and the back of what used to be a furniture store, but is now an indoor play area. There is already an existing planning approval on that entire site for redevelopment, but with the play area now in use, that looks unlikely to move to fruition, so the developer wants to build five detached houses on it. The councillors have heard different views on the matter - some residents are in favour, others opposed - if you have views, let me know. We also briefly discussed the flurry of applications for solid wall insulation on council property on the Yarnfield estate.

That largely wrapped up the meeting, although I will be writing a letter to express the community's concern about the ticket office closures that the government have now approved for many stations within London Midland's area, including all the stations that serve Acocks Green. The decision has been made, despite widespread opposition locally, but I will still express our dismay at this. I was also asked about progress on the Yardley Road issue.

With that all done and dusted, the meeting was closed and we'll reconvene in December. 

Street trees on Olton Boulevard East

Following complaints from residents about the tree growth in Olton Boulevard East, I arranged a site meeting  this week with Amey's trees officer and the local highway steward to discuss what has been done and what needs to be done. They have confirmed that pruning is urgently required to the street trees along the length from Victoria Road down to the junction with the Warwick Road/Gospel Lane. This should have been done, but was reported as complete thanks to an administrative error. It should be completed over the next four weeks or so - weather permitting. We also checked on a bush on the corner of Anson Grove, which has been reported as obstructing the view of drivers - this bush was actually the remains of a tree which should have been properly removed some time ago. It has now been hacked back and the stump will be removed in due course.

The trees along here will be pruned up to a height of about 6m and will have basal growth removed.

It was a particularly interesting meeting from the point of view of somebody whose gardening knowledge is limited, to say the least. The old policy of pollarding trees of a certain age has now been replaced by one where the overall tree shape will be maintained, but this is only carried out as required - probably every 15 years or so. Pollarding actually leads to more aggressive growth and leaf fall and attracts more aphids. More regular maintenance involves controlling the basal growth - the sprouting around the base of the trunk - and lifting the crown (which will be done to the trees on Olton Boulevard). This removes the lower levels of branches and twigs to give improved ground clearance. Trees will also be dealt with where they are threatening to damage property, but they are not pruned for light reasons or to improve television reception for properties behind the trees.

The Amey contract has also led to considerably greater clarity about what species of trees can be used on the highway and where they can be planted. Large central reservations will be planted with a range of trees, but traditional street trees will be restricted to a small number of species that are suitable. As it is contractual, it is also binding on developers, so trees that exhibit 'antisocial behaviour' in terms of other residents or road users can be properly controlled.

Yardley Road Repairs Update

Following complaints from residents about the condition of the road, I arranged a site meeting with a team from Amey on Yardley Road. This has been partly resurfaced, but the central section of the road (roughly from the rail bridge down to Cottesbrook Junior School entrance) has not yet been done. I walked the road length with the design and plans officer, the highway steward and an inspector to discuss what needs to be done. Again, the condition of the road has been raised by residents (and I'm only too well aware of it myself).

It was originally scheduled for repair under the rolling five year plan, but when I checked the new edition of this constantly updating document, Yardley Road had fallen out of the plan. This wasn't satisfactory, so I arranged to meet the team on-site.

The inspector has logged a number of urgent faults that will be rectified rapidly - they now do this with a handheld GPS device that instantly records what and where the fault is so that it can be scheduled with the repairs team. I did point out that some of the surface damage is actually quite a hazard to cyclists.

There is also a need to carry out more in-depth repairs to the road surface, to match the other two sections which have already been dealt with. Roads are prioritised for repair and surfacing works to ensure that the worst sections of carriageway are dealt with first and damage may not always be apparent to the naked eye. The photos indicate some obvious problems, but detailed inspection, including specialist testing equipment can reveal deeper problems. Fortunately, most of the problems with Yardley Road are actually surface-related.

This section was inspected during the summer and the planner will be checking that this inspection actually corresponds with the damage that he has seen, as that will affect the priority of the road. If that doesn't help, it will be put forward as part of the 'change programme' for addition to a future work plan. I'm hopeful that this will be dealt with by early 2013 at the latest, but I will keep pushing on this.

Diary Date - Acocks Green Ward Committee

Acocks Green Ward Committee
Wednesday 10 October 2012 7pm
Acocks Green Baptist Church, Alexander Road/Yardley Road

Items for the agenda:

• Trading Standards to attend to discuss no cold calling zones
• Community Chest applications
• Report back on Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum
• Planning Applications

You can find the full details here. 

Planning Applications to 6 October 2012

Again, no planning applications to note last week, but an interesting crop this week.. 

2012/06209/PA - 37 The Avenue
Erection of single storey rear extension

2012/06727/PA - 2, 4, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 34, 41, 49, 52, 61, 72, 88, 97, 99 and 101 Holcombe Road
2012/06726/PA - 320, 352 and 360 Olton Boulevard West
2012/06725/PA - 52, 54, 56, 60, 68, 70, 80, 82, 108, 114, 120, 122, 123, 124, 133, 134, 135, 144, 145, 147, 156, 161, 167 and 169 Sunningdale Road,
2012/06721/PA - 21, 22 and 28 Briarfield Road
2012/06720/PA - 29, 31, 35, 37, 39, 41, 57, 59, 63 and 67 Wetherfield Road,
2012/06724/PA - 24, 26 and 46 Onslow Road
2012/06722/PA - 16-18 Ferndene Road
2012/06723/PA - 8, 23 and 25 Fieldhead Road
Installation of external wall insulation on behalf of Birmingham City Council. 

This is excellent news for these residents. These properties don't have a cavity to be filled with insulation, so they leak heat, wasting their money. With this external wall insulation properly installed, they can expect to save £400 - £500 a year on their heating bills - an investment well worth making. Externally, the houses will look as though they have been covered with a sandy coloured render - it will just be deeper than you would normally expect. The residents will notice the difference rapidly - keeping the houses warmer in winter and cooler in summer. You can find out more information here.  

With the announcement of Carillion as our preferred provider for the Birmingham Energy Savers scheme, I hope we'll see more of this being done to insulate the older properties (typically pre-30s homes) around the ward. For those worried about the change in the street scene, it is also possible to internally insulate street-facing walls and externally insulate the remainder of the property. 

I'll be sure to invite them to a future ward committee meeting to discuss what they plan to offer, so watch this space. 

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Avoiding another Library LibDemLetDown

When I was elected in May and Stewart and I became the Labour majority on the Ward Committee, we were delighted to see that repairs were planned to the leaky roof of our library, long neglected. What shocked us was that no plans had been put in place for alternative facilities while the library was closed - a period of some twelve weeks.

Given that this is one of the most popular libraries in the city and at the heart of our community, we didn't think that this was satisfactory. It doesn't just offer books, it provides a home for the neighbourhood office and crucial access to IT. Yardley has a real problem with a growing digital divide - the uptake of internet access is behind the curve here, so we need the facilities that the library can offer. Under the Lib Dems, Sutton Coldfield and South Yardley library were left closed for months with no alternative facilities other than the nearest library. Stewart and I didn't think that was good enough, so over the past few months, we've been working hard on a temporary alternative site and working through a number of options, negotiating with suppliers and potential landlords to drive a hard bargain with our limited funds.

Once we've finalised the details, we'll be able to announce more, but it is planned to be very close to the library. It won't offer the full range of services that the current building does, but it will offer a limited book borrowing service and also access to IT. The rooms used are accessible for all and should allow a good service to be maintained.

Just another example of how Labour are determined to be different and determined to deliver.

2 wheels good...

Last Friday, a group of councillors joined a team of committed cyclists to have a ride around Birmingham (about 4 miles in total) to see how difficult it is to get around the city by bike. We only rode around the City Centre, but it was genuinely instructive. You can see more pictures here and here on Brownhills Bob's page, who ran across us by chance on Moor Street - a particular disaster area. I can't claim to be anything other than a leisure cyclist and occasional commuter.

While it was an all-party ride, the only non-Labour councillor was Dave Radcliffe, a Lib Dem. We were joined by cabinet members Steve Bedser and James McKay, scrutiny chairs Victoria Quinn and Lisa Trickett and fellow backbencher, Peter Griffiths. Very disappointing not to see any Tories there, but given the state of the roads, that's probably more out of embarrassment than anything else (although a couple did give their apologies...)

We saw some areas where cycling has been thought about, with on-street cycle lanes and reverse flow lanes against one-way traffic, but too many where it has been forgotten - or might yet be forgotten. The Hill Street/Hurst Street cycle lane is very heavily used, but we aren't clear what the future is when the New Street main entrance is relocated. Moor Street is a nightmare for two-wheeled travellers - millions have been spent on the highway, with no consideration at all for cyclists. I found that out when I came to cross it later that afternoon on the way home - navigating the traffic was a nightmare.

Acocks Green isn't well served in terms of great cycling routes to the City - we don't have the Rea Valley route that runs in from the south of the city and the canals aren't suitable for any serious numbers of cyclists. We have an opportunity with the Smarter Route scheme which will be coming to the Warwick Road over the next few years and I'll be making it my mission to get a good deal for all road users - pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and drivers.

Cycling is coming up at a forthcoming scrutiny committee meeting. So, I'd welcome your thoughts on it. :Looking to the future, how can we make Birmingham a cycling city? Do we surrender to the car or push on with making our roads safer? (I think we should encourage cycling for the health and environmental benefits, but I'd be happy to hear alternative arguments too) What would make you want to cycle or cycle more? Do we need more cycle routes? Better signage? Driver & cyclist education?

This link was sent to me and it does seem a pretty sound starting point.

Here are the core questions that we are considering

1. How can we encourage cycling in the city that is efficient and safe, getting people from A to B desirably and sustainably linking urban areas?

2. How can natural green corridors and walkways alongside road networks be best used to create a city cycle and/or pedestrian network? How has this been developed in other cities?

3. What are the resource implications of adapting current cycle routes and joining them up?

4. Which partners can help us to do this and what resources do we need?

5. Who is currently cycling? Who could be most easily encouraged into cycling? What are the barriers and opportunities to uptake by more people and between more places?

If you would like to comment directly, you can send your views to Baseema Begum in the Scrutiny Office at Birmingham City Council by phone on 0121 303 1668 or by email to baseema.begum@birmingham.gov.uk by the 5th October (or to me, if you want). There will be a public evidence gathering session 1300-1500 Friday 19th October in the Council House. 

Woodcock Lane and Yarnfield Road improvements well under way

Both of these important projects are now well under way. The Woodcock Lane improvements are designed to help slow traffic heading towards the bridge and to improve crossing facilities for residents in the flats, so that they can have easier and level access across the road using the new build-outs.

Yarnfield Road is now one-way from Walden Road to the junction with Briarfield and works are well under way to calm that short stretch of road and make it safer for children attending Yarnfield School.

Diary Date - Yardley District Committee

Yardley District Committee
Thursday 27 September 2012
2:30pm - Council Chamber, Council House

Key items of interest (check the agenda below for full list):

• Revenue budget monitoring to August 2012
• Report on devolution of housing services
• District committee performance framework
• District convention

This is a public meeting and the chair has the option to allow members of the public to speak. 

Full agenda and paperwork here.

Resurfacing work on Oakhill Crescent - 19 Oct

Oakhill Crescent is due to be resurfaced during the week of October 19th. Contractors will be planing off the existing road and resurfacing it. The work will be carried out between 8am and 6pm during that week and is expected to last for up to five days.

Please be aware that the road will be closed while surfacing operations are being carried out.

As this road is a link between Oakhurst Road and Gospel Farm Road, please be aware that this will prevent through traffic as well. Pedestrian and emergency services access will be maintained, but cars cannot be parked on the road while the work is being carried out. Any cars left there may be removed by the City Council and this may incur a charge to the owner. If you have any specific queries about this, please contact Amey on 0121 303 6644.

Public Protection Committee

Just to update readers. Following a decision by the cross-party Acocks Green Ward Committee, I attended Wednesday's session of the Public Protection committee to oppose proposals put forward by the police to designate the whole of Acocks Green ward as an area where they have the power to insist that people stop drinking alcohol in the street. The members felt that we would support these proposals on a targeted area where problems had been identified - such as the existing zone Shirley Road by the park, so it is not opposition to the idea, but to the breadth of the proposal.

I can report back that the police report has been deferred, as they failed to meet the standards of evidence required under the Act and their consultation was also not supported by evidence. There's a handy guide to Designated Public Place Orders here. I'd certainly be interested in any other views on this proposal - for or against.

Additionally, there was an interesting report from Trading Standards, who have led the fight against cowboy clampers in the city centre and have been imaginatively using their legal powers to prosecute, securing convictions and prison sentences for offenders and even seizing a ticket machine that was able to accept £2 coins, but would not register them. The officer present read a letter from a young mother, who returned with a young baby and a trolley full of shopping to her car to find it about to be lifted onto a truck just because she had parked with her bumper two inches across a poorly marked white line. It cost £350 for her to get the car back - an amount she had to pay in cash through the fence of a remote yard before they would release her vehicle. The good news is that from the 1st October, it will be illegal to clamp a vehicle on private land.

Alexander Road Paper Recycling Collection

Apologies to residents on Alexander Road - the paper doorstep recycling collection was unavoidably left incomplete last Friday. Two trucks broke down and despite the best efforts of the crews, this was the only road that they couldn't complete on Friday. Boxes were cleared yesterday.

Confirmed - ticket office opening hours to be halved at Acocks Green

Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker has approved a swathe of cuts to ticket office opening hours at a number of stations in the area. Apparently, he is 'protecting passenger interests' by taking away the ticket office staff, who also play a valuable role in reassuring passengers about safety on these stations. Instead, more machines will be installed, the sort that 'baffle passengers', according to Which magazine

The consumer watchdog Which? says that almost one in seven train passengers buys tickets from machines. In a survey, its researchers found that some ticket machines displayed unhelpful or meaningless information and others failed to show the price of different tickets. Several machines required researchers to choose between different routes, but then failed to show how much the different routes cost. Researchers saw “any permitted route” often displayed on screen, but this does not mean that any route is permitted. Rather, that you can travel by any route permitted by the train company.The Which? researchers were very rarely told what that permitted route was, so unless passengers carried a detailed rail map in their head, the route allowed would remain a puzzle.

I understand that from early 2013, when new ticket machines are installed, the opening hours for the ticket office at Acocks Green (a very busy station on the network) will be as follows:
Mon - Thu:   0700 - 1600
Fri:               0700 - 1800
Sat:              0800 - 1600
Sun:             CLOSED

This is a poor decision, especially with the plans in place to encourage more usage of the station by installing lifts and improved access.

Spring Road will also be slashed, with staffing hours reduced to just 4 hours a day Monday to Friday and five hours on Saturday, with a closure on Sundays.
Mon-Fri:     0700 - 1100
Sat:             0900 - 1400
Sun:            CLOSED

Tyseley will also face a hefty reduction in staffing hours, down to just 2 hours a day Monday to Friday, with no ticket office service at all at weekends.
Mon - Fri:   0700 - 0900
Sat/Sun:       CLOSED

You can find full details here.

This is unrelated to any decisions that may yet arise from the McNulty report which proposed a swathe of office closures across the national network, but it doesn't look good for either Spring Road or Tyseley.

All this is despite objections from disability groups and 18,000 passengers across the Midlands. As the chairman of CENTRO said, "London Midland recently said that reducing staff will not save them any money,,, we fail to see what possible benefits there are to London Midland, the Department for Transport or, most importantly, the passengers in driving through these changes."

Policing Update

We've had a couple of local policing meetings with residents in the past few weeks - one over at Lakey Lane and one at the Baptist Church on Yardley Road. The news remains broadly good and crime remains low. We've had a statistical spike in robberies, but because we have very few across the ward, just one more makes a difference - although every robbery has a victim and a crime behind the number. We had eight burglaries from homes and two thefts from sheds. There has been another small spike in thefts from motor vehicles, predominantly from VW models along the Shirley Road corridor. Overall, though, crime remains low and generally down on last year. We've also had a problem with thefts of lead overnight - do please report any suspicious activity, although it only takes a few minutes to take the lead from an accessible domestic roof.

Residents over in Lakey Lane continue to report being disturbed by anti-social use of quad bikes and motorbikes. The police have been listening - they've been targetting the users and have issued warning notices to some of the riders.

Let me know of other problems in the area.

Planning Applications to 15 September 2012

No planning applications to note last week, but a crop of three this week. 

2012/05569/PA - Land adjacent 4 Grattidge Road
Erection of 5 no. four bedroom detached houses with garages and proposed landscaping works. 
This has come back again, so I'm very interested in views from local residents. Initial responses seem to be broadly positive in principle. This is actually the waste ground behind the new indoor play area on the Warwick Road, but would effectively form an addition to the Grattidge/Harrier/Osprey development.  

2012/06169/PA - 17 Cottesbrook Road 
Erection of two storey side & rear extension and single storey rear & forward extensions


2012/05760/PA - 4 Pool Farm Road
Erection of first floor side extension


You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Bronze for Acocks Green in Bloom

I'm really pleased that Acocks Green in Bloom has picked up a bronze award. The BID and the volunteers (including your local councillors) worked really hard on this and to be rewarded this way at the first attempt is a real testament to how hard they worked.

Full marks and onwards towards gold!

Streetworks Update

A couple of projects kicking off at the moment.

The most important one is the works down on Yarnfield Road around the school. To improve road safety for pupils and local residents, the road is to be made one way and traffic calming added from Walden Road to Briarfield Road. This is long overdue and I have been pushing on this with Highways since I won back in May. This was due to start on Wednesday, but the contractor has been delayed and will now be starting work on Monday.

Secondly, work is about to start around the Woodcock Lane junction, installing raised paving to provide level access for residents in Needwood House and hopefully act as something of a deterrent to drivers speeding towards the narrow, one-way bridge over the railway. This was due to start today, but has been delayed for about a week as a temporary traffic order will be required to close the road during working hours. I'll be following this up with the Highways team, as access will be difficult to properties in the road if this is the case.

Planning Applications to 3 September 2012

2012/05505/PA - 464 Fox Hollies Road
Installation of footway crossing 

2012/05855/PA - 34 Flint Green Road
Erection of single storey rear extensions

2012/05806/PA - 24 Westfield Road
Erection of single storey side and rear extension

2012/05719/PA - 22 Bretton Road

Erection of two storey side and single storey rear extension



You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Planning Applications to 18 August 2012

2012/04751/PA - 61 Fox Hollies Road
Extension of existing footway crossing

2012/05335/PA - 8 Netley Grove
Erection of two storey side and rear extension

2012/05291/PA - 44 Flint Green Road
Conversion of 4 no. flats into 1 no. single dwelling house

2012/05097/PA - 55 Woodford Green Road

Erection of single storey front, side and rear extension

2012/04814/PA - 1144 Warwick Road (Greggs)

Installation of new shop front

2012/04815/PA - 1144 Warwick Road (Greggs)
Display of 1 no. internally illuminated fascia sign, 1 no. internally illuminated projecting sign and 2 no.

window display graphics

2012/04775/PA - 194 Lakey Lane
Erection of single storey rear detached building

2012/05203/PA - 170 Alexander Road
Erection of single storey rear and side extensions

2012/05198/PA - 172 Alexander Road
Erection of single storey side extension

2012/05385/PA - BT Kiosk, Junction of School Road/Studland Road
Within the School Road Conservation Area
Display of non-illuminated vinyl advertisement

2012/05660/PA - 86 Hazelwood Road
Erection of single storey rear extension



You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

A wheelie good idea?

Martin Mullaney - recently rejected as a Lib Dem councillor by the good people of  Moseley and Kings Heath - claims to have got the details of a bid to the Department of Communities and Local Government from Birmingham City Council for a share of Pickles' Bin Giveaway and he's spinning it that every household in Birmingham will be forced to have three bins of particular sizes.

This is a partial view of a proposal about which more will be known during August and that partiality is a problem. Martin clearly hasn't had the full details, so he's scaremongering about what he thinks he knows. Wheeled bins are in there certainly, but that's not the full extent of the bid. There's a very good reason why we're not going into the details at this stage.

The fund only amounts to £250 million nationally - well below the £500 million estimated to reintroduce weekly collections across the country - and this pot is to be shared out amongst competitive bids. To this end, given that other large authorities are watching Birmingham closely, the details of it need to be kept confidential until the bid submission process closes in just over a fortnight. After that point, despite what Martin says, the City Council will consult on the details of the proposal with the people of Birmingham, in advance of any decision by the DCLG. Once Comrade Eric announces his decision, expected coincidentally around the time of the Tory conference in Birmingham, then the proposal will come back to Cabinet.

In the interests of the people that I represent, I have no wish to compromise Birmingham's bid for some extra money to improve our services, although Martin seems less reticent and has concluded - with only partial information at his disposal - that

There was an outline bid prepared by the previous administration, which had food waste collection at the centre. There are a number of problems with this. Firstly, the bid documents only mention food waste in conjunction with fortnightly collections (p8-9) - which Birmingham doesn't have.

"Set out the collection pattern(s) that the bid is proposing to commit to over the future (minimum) five year period, whether this is retaining or reinstating a weekly collection of residual household waste, adding a recycling element to a weekly residual collection, or adding a weekly food waste (or organic) collection to an existing fortnightly collection of weekly residual household waste." [emphasis added]

So already, the LibDem/Tory proposal was outside the parameters set by DCLG. That isn't to say it couldn't have been submitted, but we know that Eric Pickles is not a fan of adding further recycling containers and also that he will be taking a personal interest in these bids. You would reasonably expect that a bid from Birmingham - the largest local authority in the country - would receive attention from the Secretary of State and I would suggest that the bid as proposed by the last administration would not have succeeded.

Further, while the bid documentation does not require pre-bid consultation generally, according to the frequently asked questions document (p13),  proposals to introduce a food waste collection scheme would need to

"evidence “credible local support” where they plan to introduce a weekly food waste collection"

If the Liberal Democrats or Tories had bothered with a manifesto for the local elections that included a food waste collection - and had retained control - then that would have been sufficient for the purposes of the application. But neither did.

As it happens, I support food waste collection, but that has to go hand in hand with the infrastructure - probably an anaerobic digestion plant, given the size of Birmingham's expected volumes. Currently, we don't have that, so the waste would have to be transported elsewhere, reducing likely carbon savings and increasing costs. Incidentally, Martin holds up Somerset County Council as an example of what can be achieved - although he neglects to point out that the district councils in Somerset, who collect the 'residual' waste (stuff that isn't recycled) do so in wheelie bins.

We'll be able to discuss our plans in a fortnight or so, so watch out for more information then.

Yardley District Committee - 26 July 2012

A largely administrative agenda for this inaugural meeting of the new Yardley district committee, which is still controlled by the Liberal Democrats, but now has four Labour councillors. The range of powers devolved thus far to the district is interesting to the geeks amongst us - I questioned whether we had the new powers to define Dog Control Areas under the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2006, which repealed the Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996, although the existing areas continue until replaced by a new control area. Anybody who knows what s78 of the Public Health Act 1936 says about scavenging in alleyways - without looking it up - deserves a prize. It actually refers to the authority being able to clean up any courtyard or alley that is owned by two or more people and charge them for the privilege, so might actually prove more useful than you think.

There was some cross-party agreement on the need to get localised performance information on housing - Cllr Willis (LD, S Yardley) and I both serve on the Contract Performance Committee and we had the pleasure of the housing contractors attending our last meeting and it is fair to say that the performance indicators need some work as assessments of how well our contractors are performing across the city for our tenants. Cllr Anderson (LD, Sheldon), newly elected as ward chair, agreed to continue as corporate parent champion for the district - a part of the role of councillors is as a 'corporate parent' to all looked after children.

Almost finally, we moved on to the outturn of the 2011/12 financial year, which sees the district ending with an overspend of £741,000 on a controllable budget (outside the fixed service level agreement costs for things like waste collection) of around £4.1 million. This was supposed to be reduced by the inclusion of Community Chest "underspends" from 2011/12 of about £166,000, but that figure did not take into account any commitments made in 11/12 that had not been paid within that financial year. Acocks Green was supposed to have an underspend of £32,000 for last year, but I know that the real figure is closer to about £10,000 - due to some projects not proceeding and some other underspending within projects not requiring the full grant - and I would expect similar figures for the other wards. The Labour group objected to this use of funds, especially as this would reduce any money left in this year's spending and this part of the report was rejected by the committee.

Planning Applications to 28 July 2012

2012/05073/PA - 33 Northanger Road
Erection of single storey rear extension.


2012/05071/PA - 30 Summer Road

Erection of single storey rear extension and conservatory

2012/05060/PA - 17 Edenbridge Road
Erection of single storey rear extension



You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Acocks Green Ward Committee - 25 July 2012

A packed agenda, with one stand-out issue to discuss saw a decent turnout.

Much of the early items were fairly routine at the start of a new year - setting out the terms of reference for the committee, electing me as Ward Committee Chair and sorting out some external appointments - myself to the board of Acocks Green Business Improvement District and Cllr Stacey to the board of Stockfield Community Association. We also discussed the dates already set out for the year ahead, which should put the meeting in the alternate month to the District Committee, but current scheduling means that they are generally the day before. As the District Committee may well need rescheduling following tomorrow's Cabinet meeting, to allow for daytime scheduling in the Council House, then this will need looking at. I am aware that meeting scheduling is a major headache, not helped by the cuts to the Democratic Services team imposed by the budget from the last administration.

We then had a briefing from Les Williams, from Fleet and Waste Manasgement, who looks after this ward and several others, on issues around the collection of domestic and trade waste, recycling and green waste. This is a service that people only notice when it goes wrong and there are still problems resulting from the switch over to new round structures at the start of the year. In particular, the street cleaning rounds on some of the roads leading from Yardley Road (Malvern Road, Florence Road, Francis Road, Cottesbrooke Road and Elmdon Road) which are served by one of the smaller 'alley cat' collection trucks. The street cleaning should be aligned to follow on the day after the normal domestic waste collection, but there may still be occasions where this isn't happening. If it is - let me know.

We then had what was forecast to be the most controversial item of business - the Glynn Edwards Hall. I had this item of business added to the agenda specifically to allow discussion of a very controversial planning application prior to the meeting which happened last week, but it was a full exchange of views involving most of the members of the public present, which is exactly the point of the these meetings. Members of the Church and the Stockfield Community Association addressed the meeting and put their case, which had some very forceful arguments returned against it. This is an issue which understandably arouses strong emotions on both sides (although there are arguably more points of view than just two). 


It is certainly true that a community facility on the Stockfield estate is urgently needed and has been for some years. It is also true that the Arthur Moore Hall is in dire need of a good deal of work - the upstairs is blocked off as it is unsafe and the fabric downstairs has seen better days. The Church also claim that the maintenance costs of the building are becoming excessive and say that within a decade it could be virtually derelict.

I think it is fair to say that all three elected members of the Committee, Cllrs Bowen, Stacy and myself, find fairly common ground on the design proposed thus far - it is out of keeping with the rest of the street scene, with inappropriate use of materials, design lines and does not compliment the existing listed buildings. The work to those other buildings - the Church itself and the Arthur Moore Hall - is covered by an ecclesiastical exemption and falls outside the local authority's purview. I find my own views largely covered by a submission from English Heritage (of which I am an ordinary member)

English Heritage’s concerns in this respect relate to the massing, location and materials of the proposal.  While the scale of the proposal in the context of Alexander Road is generally satisfactory, the slate clad wing to Yardley Road appears too large and too close to the church.  Though apparently set further back from the Yardley Road frontage than the single storey entrance of the Edward Glynn Hall, the double height new building is set far enough forward to dominate views of the church and the Arthur Moore Hall.  The scale of the building does not seem to work well with the restrained contemporary domestic flavour of the gable.  This combination appears rather awkward, out-sized and relates poorly to the more decorative architectural aesthetic of the existing buildings on the site and adjacent. The resulting visual dominance of the proposal is compounded by the choice of contrasting materials; slate hanging and roofing on the wings and the large expanse of render on the corner unit.  The buildings in the application site and the vast majority of public and private buildings in the area are of brick under clay tile roofs, English Heritage is not convinced that the contrasting palette chosen for the new building is appropriate in this context.

Then we moved on to the Community Chest approvals, allocating further funding to local projects from our £100,000 of revenue spending:

• Acocks Green Gardening Project - £2000 
• Summer Reading Scheme - £3000
• Stockfield Youth Programme - £1700
• Fox Hollies Christmas Lights - £3000
• Special Street Collections - £3413
• Tyseley & Greet Employment Resource - £2888
• Learning Together - £1000
• Gospel Oak Green People - £975
• Blue Ink Saturday School - £850

The following were notified for information only - projects approved by the councillors through the Ward Advisory Board structure in May, but as the Ward Committee was delayed, I had these fast-tracked through the relevant Cabinet Member to ensure that the money was available urgently. 

• Arden Road Residents Association Jubilee Party - £151
• Acocks Green Carers Activities - £1000
• Acocks Green Crime Prevention - £489
• John Gayle Soccer Coaching - £5040

Finally, there was some more money allocated to local bids under our £25,000 of capital spending. 

• Gating Scheme - £4500
• Homemeadow House CCTV Scheme - £4544
• St Michael's Day Centre Equipment - £2760
• Ninestiles Cycling Project - £2560

A number of recent planning applications were discussed and we then moved on to the proposal from the local policing unit to designate the whole of Yardley constituency as an alcohol-free zone, allowing a police officer to ask anyone to stop consuming alcohol in a public area (not including beer gardens or other open-air areas that form part of currently licensed premises. Cllr Stacey and Cllr Bowen were both concerned about the power that this gives to an over-zealous police officer and it was felt that we would support an order made for more specific areas where problems have been reported, rather than a blanket ban across the entire ward. 

Finally, I had to announce the temporary closure of the library for about 12 weeks this autumn to allow for extensive repairs to the roof and the skylights. The building should be reopened in time for Christmas. 

With that, we closed a little later than the two hours planned - but future meetings should run closer to time. 

City Centre Bus Changes

Just a reminder for those of you who travel into the centre of our city on buses, there have been some fairly wide reaching changes to the stops to allow the construction of the Metro. You can find full details of the changes and a downloadable PDF here, but they do affect services like the 37.

Centro have been working overtime to support these changes - they have had 30 staff out over the last week advising travellers, have handed out over 70,000 maps and have welcomed 2000 people to their exhibition bus to explain the changes. Staff will continue to be on street for the next couple of weeks.

Planning Applications to 22 July 2012

Restarting this - lack of time has simply stopped me posting for weeks.

2012/04915/PA - 9 Netley Grove
Erection of single storey front extension

2012/04900/PA - 55 Yardley Road

Variation of condition 2 attached to 2010/01317/PA to be changed from being used solely as a day
centre to any purpose


2012/04995/PA - 2 Gospel Lane
Erection of first floor side extension and single storey rear extension


2012/04365/PA - 78 Westley Road
Conversion of a single dwelling house into 4 no. one bedroom flats and 1 no. two-bedroom flat, installation of 2 no. dormer windows to rear and erection of two storey rear extension and detached store in rear garden


2012/04458/PA - 2 Denham Road
Erection of two storey side extension


2012/03932/PA - Motorsaver, 800 Warwick Road

Continuation of use for the sale of motor vehicles, part change of use to MOT testing station/car servicing. Installation of 2 no. roller shutters and alterations to workshop roof to increase the height by 1.8 metres


You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Diary Date - Ward Committee - Wed 25 July

Acocks Green Ward Committee
7pm - Acocks Green Library

Key items of interest (check the agenda below for full list):

• General update
• Update on ward refuse service
• Glynne Edwards Hall - Stockfield Community Association Presentation
• Community Chest
• Proposal to ban drinking alcohol in public across Yardley

This is a meeting where you get the chance to have your voice heard - these are key in the dialogue between the council and you. Please do come along. 

Full agenda and paperwork here.

Glynne Edwards Hall - Update

Although I could only make the last 45 minutes of the meeting last night, it is clear that there remains a gulf between the Stockfield Community Association and some other parts of the community. The SCA/Yardley Baptists have put their case in a meeting and will put it again on Wednesday at the Ward Committee at Acocks Green Library - I'd urge those for, against and those undecided to attend and listen to the arguments.

The architects did publicly say that they are open to discussing the detail of the application and making changes - I've undertaken to ensure that they are able to meet with the planning officers to discuss it - but they are firm in the need to demolish and replace the hall as the third phase in a series of works that will revive the semi-derelict Arthur Moore Hall behind it and see work done on the main body of the church. As ecclesiastical exemption applies to both of those parts, they are outside the local authority remit.

We have three broad camps - those in favour of demolition and rebuild as per the current plans, those who oppose demolition and would only accept reconstruction and repair and those who reluctantly accept the need to replace the hall, but have problems with the current designs. That oversimplifies the range of opinion quite massively, but I suspect it covers most people!

I would like to see exactly what the architects are prepared to offer in terms of changes, but they weren't forthcoming on that. They did reveal that there is an alternative plan which sees the black slate monolith clad in clay tiles instead, which might provide a more aesthetically pleasing look, but I'd particularly like to see the asymmetrical roof line changed to be more in keeping with the other roof lines along that stretch, particularly as it is at the outer edge of the proposed conservation area and there is room for the design to better echo and complement surrounding buildings without becoming a pastiche.

My key point was that when the architects have packed up their drawing desks and gone home, it will be those of us who have to live by this building that will have to take the consequences and I want it to continue to be something that we welcome in the area, not an eyesore. While I'm very sensitive to the need to conserve the built environment - I've supported the conservation area for years and am at the forefront of the campaign to preserve the police station - we also need to provide for the needs of the community. Reconciling those two aspects remains a huge challenge.

Acocks Green Farmers Market Today

Pictures from the last one - on a less than sunny day. This Saturday looks to be rather brighter and warmer, so there's no excuse not to pop down and sample the range of produce on offer.

9am - 3pm on the slip road directly opposite Holy Souls Church on the Warwick Road.

Unemployment - up in Yardley & women worst affected

Despite the headlines showing some improvement in the unemployment figures, there's still a lot of devils hiding in the detail. Birmingham has a small increase in JSA claimants year on year, up 0.2%. While that is statistically insignificant, that still means that 179 more men and 1402 more women are out of work than in June 2012 - a fact that is very significant to those people and their families. In Yardley, the overall figure was up by 0.2%, with an increase in women's unemployment of 0.5% set against a drop in male unemployment of 0.2% - that's a net 108 more people out of work in our constituency.

Nationally, it is worth noting that the figures also show a year on year drop of 120,000 in the number of full time employees, continuing the trend towards part time work. At the same time, the number of self-employed people rose by 132,000, accounting for a decent chunk of the change.

These figures are hardly a measure of confidence and - much like the other economic indicators - show no signs of a sustained recovery. With more bad news expected next week with the growth figures likely to show a continued recession, we're still bouncing along the bottom - pretty much as I predicted, sadly.

Glynn Edwards Hall

This is probably the biggest planning issue in the ward at the moment and I'm keen that all sides of the argument get to discuss it as fully as possible. Accordingly, I've asked the Stockfield Community Association and others on that side of the issue to attend the next Ward Committee meeting on Wednesday 25 July at Acocks Green Library.

Acocks Green Focus Group have strong views on the matter, but I do think that Stockfield Community Association and the Baptist Church need to put their views in a public forum and I've confirmed that they will be attending. They are also organising a public meeting this Friday - the 20th July - at 7pm in the Glynn Edwards Hall and all are welcome to hear from the Association and the architects.

For those of you not up to speed on this, the SCA and the Yardley Baptist Church have submitted joint plans to demolish the locally listed Glynn Edwards Hall on the corner of Yardley Road and Alexander Road and build a new building adjoining the church, the use of which would allow them to fund repairs to the other statutorily listed buildings on the site. There is vocal opposition to this proposal, but there is also a considerable chunk of local support.

Local listing is a way for the community to mark out buildings with historic significance, but it does not carry the same weight as the statutory listing grades.

If you want to review the current plans, you can find details here.

As always - your thoughts are welcomed.

UPDATE: Also worth a look is the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum website, where the last meeting showed opposition to the demolition plans.

Good news for Acocks Green

It has been a busy few weeks, but there is some excellent news about projects in the pipeline for Acocks Green.

Firstly, after discussions with the Deputy Leader of the Council, we've secured funding to refresh some of the street furniture around the Green itself - replacing the range of bollards with a single type, repainting in new colours and generally sprucing the place up. There were plans to repaint the lamp posts as well, but this has been scrapped, as the posts are due for replacement over the next two years or so and we can put that money to work elsewhere. That work will be done over the next few months.

Secondly, there's £3.4 million to be spent on the Warwick Road from the junction with the Stratford Road through to Solihull and half of that will be spent reworking the stretch between Station Road and Woodcock Lane right here in Acocks Green. We'll be consulting in detail over autumn 2012 with various local groups and also at the Ward Committee in September, so do make sure you get along to that.

Essentially, the plan is to de-dual the carriageway at this point, widening pavements, decluttering, reducing road speeds and increasing parking facilities along the road here. We'll also be looking at making the slip road in front of the KFC (on the stretch between Mallard Road and Oxford Road) much more of a public space to support the farmers' market or any other events that might occur. To improve access to the car park, we're also looking at improving traffic flows along Station Road and the junction with Sherbourne Road/Oxford Road/Dudley Park Road - but this will be done in full consultation with residents in that area.

Expect more details over the coming months - we'll make sure that you are kept up to date with progress, but the intention is to consult this autumn, finalise the designs and tender the work out in 2013 with the aim of work being carried out and completed for the Christmas season in 2014.

Finally, we're also hoping to see some exciting work done to tidy up the junction of Olton Boulevard East with Summer Road, Shaftmoor Lane and Spring Road as part of the Morrisons building programme, as well as improvements along Spring Road and the addition of pedestrian crossings. Watch out for more on that over the next few weeks. That work is on the books for completion within the next twelve months.

Aside from that, we've got a number of smaller projects much further advanced - the Shirley Road/School Road island is installed, we've got raised crossings being installed along Pemberly Road over the summer and there will also be some major work done this summer on Yarnfield Road in front of the school to make that safe for children and parents. Also, we're still pressing forward with work to calm traffic along Arden Road - we'll be discussing that with Highways over the coming weeks.

So that's a number of major investments in your ward over the next couple of years - we really are working to make things better.

The Oaklands School to expand

To cope with an increased number of pupils coming into the school system, we'll be expanding The Oaklands School in Acocks Green from September 2013.

Also planned for expansion are Yardley Fields School and the Meadows School in Northfield.

Yardley Gardening Competition

If you are a Birmingham City Council tenant or leaseholder, you could win yourself £100 in gardening vouchers and you don't need to have a garden to enter!

Categories include:

• Best front garden
• Best back garden
• Best communal garden
• Best balcony, window box, hanging basket or pots
• NEW! Best vegetable patch grown in the ground (including raised beds)
• NEW! Best vegetables in containers (pots, hanging baskets, growbags or tubs)
• NEW! Best overall new entry.

You can nominate yourself or a friend, so long as they are a tenant or leaseholder by calling Andy Sheppard on 0121 464 1615 or emailing andy.sheppard@birmingham.gov.uk before Friday 20 July.