Spare an hour or two on Saturday? Join the Millennium Green clear up.

If you are feeling inspired to lend a hand clearing up a great community project, you could do worse than pop along to the Millennium Green on Saturday. Kicking off at 10am, volunteers will be helping to clear up the park which provides a welcome green space on the north side of the Warwick Road. There's lots to do, so please come along if you can.

Rookwood Road rail bridge repairs

The coping stones along the wall of the footbridge that links Rookwood Road and Alexander Road were dislodged a few weeks back and pushed over onto the embankment below. The stones on the other wall were similarly vandalised late last year and have already been replaced. The new stones are now secured with rods driven down into the brickwork beneath. British Transport Police will be increasing activity in the area, as a result of the vandalism on this bridge and the risk to trains below. If you know anything about this, please give Crimestoppers a call or you can call BTP directly on 0800 40 50 40.

New fountain for Acocks Green.

Photo from @AftabRahman

OK, so it was a temporary addition to the street scene on Arden Road. A local resident contacted me about this early yesterday evening and I was straight on to Severn Trent to check that they had a response team on the way, who attended within an hour of the first call from another resident and fixed the problem.

By the way, the barriers have been put up because we're using some money from a developer and from local highways project funding to improve the junction layout there and calm traffic speeds.

Diary Date - Transport, Connectivity and Sustainability O&S Committee - Friday 19 April

Transport, Connectivity and Sustainability O&S Committee
Friday 19 April - 10am
Committee Room 6, Council House, Birmingham

Key items on the agenda:

• Cabinet members - 
• Green Safe and Smart City (James McKay)
• Development, Jobs & Skills (Tahir Ali)
• Health and Wellbeing (Steve Bedser)
• Birmingham's Green Commission Vision Statement
• Building a Green City
• Carbon Plan analysis
• Response to consultation - World Class Rail Network for the West Midlands

Sadly, this one isn't webcast, so you'll miss the excitement. You can always come along though....

Fox Hollies Leisure Centre Path

After years of waiting, the footpath from Fox Hollies Road through to the leisure centre should reopen on the 1 May. There is a bit of cleaning up to do first, but things are well on track to see this brought back into use, allowing easy access to the leisure centre from the busy bus routes and meeting a demand from local residents.

We had a couple of options to sort this. One was to reopen the old path closed when the school raised security concerns, but this required some work to deal with problems of subsidence and would also have left us open to dealing with further potential costs further down the line. The solution we have came to a very similar cost, but without the ongoing risk. It has been paid for through the Community Chest money available to Acocks Green Ward Committee.

Yes, this is still about wheelie bins

We've got preliminary results from the wheelie bin consultation survey that is currently ongoing and they make interesting reading.

• 61% of respondents agree that wheelie bins will help to reduce the number of vermin in their neighbourhood (25% disagree and 14% didn't know)
• 58% agree wheelie bins will reduce the amount of rubbish spilt onto the street (31% disagree, 11% unsure)
• 51% think wheelie bins will improve the cleanliness of their neighbourhood (35% disagreed and 14% didn't know)
• 50% think wheelie bins will be good for the city (36% disagree and 14% are unsure)

That seems very reassuring - especially when you remember that apart from a few streets in Selly Oak, wheelie bins aren't even in use. A 2011 survey for YouGov found 77% support for wheelie bins nationally, with just 10% of respondents opposed to them. 

Want to have your say? Then go here. 

I think everybody appreciates that change - especially a change on this scale - makes some people worry. It isn't helped by some scaremongering from the opposition parties, warning people that they will face charges of £90 a month to clean their bins (they won't). There are bound to be problems with the switchover, but at least we have the chance to learn from the experience of the 82% of councils that have already made the switch and we'll have the experience from Brandwood and Harborne to build a Birmingham perspective on transforming our waste collection service. 

We've also got the figures from those wards on property suitability - 96.7% of low-rise homes in Brandwood and 91.9% of low-rise properties in Harborne have been initially assessed as suitable. Of the 16,000 properties identified as suitable for wheelie bins across both wards, only about 100 have challenged their assessment as suitable and there have also been some challenges raised by householders originally deemed unsuitable for wheelie bins. The assessment considers each property and if it has steep steps or slopes to the roadside, no storage space for wheelie bins or poor access for the wagons, then they will be deemed unsuitable for wheelie bins and red carded. They will continue to get the black bag service. I suspect that there will be wards that will have a higher number of unsuitable properties than either of these two and we've got to handle the switch sensitively. I'll certainly be making sure that properties are correctly assessed in Acocks Green and supporting residents who have been wrongly identified - but we're still a way away from that. 

Meanwhile, figures show that the government's changes to benefits will take over £9 million out of the Birmingham economy thanks to the bedroom tax alone. 

Planning Applications to the 13 April

Only a couple of applications

2013/02474/PA - Highway verge off Fox Hollies Road, B27 7US
Installation of replacement 15m high telecommunications mast with 3 no. antennas, 1 no. equipment cabinet and associated ancillary works

(This is the current site beside Merestones petrol station and is replacing the existing mast that has been there for a number of years.) 

2013/02386/PA - 25 Olton Croft
Installation of step lift to front

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 - Acocks Green Ward Committee - Wednesday 17 April 2013

Acocks Green Ward Committee
Wednesday 17 April 2013 - 7pm
The Oaklands Primary School, Dolphin Lane

Key items on the agenda:

• Community Chest Projects
• Wheelie Bin Consultation
• Environmental Health Update
• Meetings for the year ahead
• Other urgent business

Illuminating Woodcock Lane

Stewart and I have been working very hard on keeping Woodcock Lane at the top of the list for urgent replacement of the streetlighting on the road, pushing Amey to prioritise it, given that it is probably the worst lit street in the ward and has some blocks of accommodation used by our most vulnerable residents.

I'm delighted that we can now announce that this is about to start.

The work is due to start on the 13 May and is scheduled to take about 30 days in total, working between 8am and 6pm on weekdays, with the possibility of some Saturday work. It isn't unusual for there to be a delay between the new columns being installed and for the connection to the power supply to be completed - this part of it is done by electricity operator and not Amey, so has to work to their timetable.

The new lamp posts will be installed towards the back of the pavement so that they cast light across both the road carriageway and the footpath.  This also means that they are less likely to be hit by motorists. The new lamps will be LED types, which save up to 60% on energy bills and because they direct the light downwards - where it is actually used - they reduce light pollution. The difference is striking.

Digging for victory

Out again in Mallard Close at the site of the new orchard to help Fran and her team of volunteers launch Acocks Green in Bloom 2013. This little patch of wasteland beside some garages has been transformed into a small community garden. Trees have been planted and we were preparing the soil and planting box hedges today. My gardening skills aren't great, but I lent a hand moving the soil to be sifted, laying the gravel and even got to plant some sage and rosemary too. There's plenty more to do and there's a bit more good news too as the Ward Committee, of which I'm chair, is helping out the Acocks Green Village Partnership and paying for some more baskets to make the floral display that much brighter in the Village this summer.

By the way, next Saturday sees the spring clean up of the Millennium Green (off The Avenue) - do come along, bring your wellies and some gloves!

Scrutiny Committee Report on Cycling

I didn't get called to speak, but here's the speech I would have given.

It has been a great introduction to the life of this council to have served as part of a group that has shown such cross-party agreement in setting a transformational direction for cycling and other forms of low-carbon transport in our city. In that mood, it seems appropriate today to borrow from the Thatcherite's Thatcherite, Norman Tebbit, as we encourage the people of Birmingham to get on their bikes. Indeed, only last weekend, one of my children went solo on his bike for the first time.

In particular, I welcome the recommendation that specific targets should be set - it was a criticism of the last strategy document that it was long on words, but short on measurable outcomes. This report has not made the same mistake and I welcome the executive commitment to take it through to delivery. We have a chance to build on the legacy of the Olympics, to seize the moment to take this city forward, but it takes commitment at the highest level amongst officers and executives to deliver on the ambitions.

This report is also about road safety - I would particularly encourage the spread of 20mph zones and limits across appropriate roads in the city. These will help make our neighbourhoods better places to live as well as delivering proven benefits in terms of reducing casualties and the severity of injuries. There is safety in numbers - the more people we can encourage to get on their bikes, the safer it becomes for them, as drivers get used to their presence, as Cllr Barnett pointed out.

A public outcry over road safety brought about a massive change in the Netherlands. They made the same mistakes that we did after the war, building cities and towns designed around car ownership. It was only at the start of the 1970s, following a rise in injuries to children, that they took a political decision to change direction and embarked on building the system that we see today. Make no mistake, this is a long term project that will take decades, but we need to make a start and this report is a good point.

As a committee, we have had sterling support from cycling evangelists like CTC and Sustrans, in the gallery today, as well as individual enthusiasts in the city, for which we are grateful, but the are not our target audience. We need to deliver, but not for those hundreds of indefatigable cyclists, who will resort to two wheels no matter how hard we, as a council have made it over the years. We need to deliver for those thousands, or tens of thousands, who will cycle if we make it easier and safer. We need to deliver on this for future generations.

Build it and they will come.

Location:Chamberlain Square,Birmingham,United Kingdom

Acocks Green Policing Update

Recorded crime since the start of April has been exactly the same as it was last year - 37 offences recorded. One was a house burglary and we've had three vehicle crimes, but no robberies. Our local officers are targeted to cut recorded crime by 5% this year, on top of the 10% from last year.

To tackle some of the anti-social behaviour around Lidl and Merestones petrol station on Fox Hollies Road, the retail radio scheme that has proved very effective in the Green will be extended to those stores. This allows retailers to share intelligence and have direct contact with the police officers on duty, helping to speed up response to incidents.

As the days get longer and we head towards summer, the perennial problem of quad bikes and motorbikes being driven irresponsibly is likely to return. The police have removed one in recent weeks and it will be crushed - the owners rarely pay the collection and storage fees. Two other riders have been issued with warning letters and continued breaches will lead to prosecution. To tackle this, they need information on ownership, so please get in touch with them - you can contact them through Crimestoppers anonymously if you wish.

Some good news - money from the proceeds of crime has been awarded to the Acocks Green Village Partnership and has been used to support the Big Dig over on Mallard Road.

Location:Yardley Road,Birmingham,United Kingdom

Diary Date - Full Council - Tuesday 9 April 2013

Full Council
Tuesday 9 April 2013 - 2pm
Council Chamber, Council House
And you can now watch online here.

Key items on the agenda:

• Question Time
• Members of the Public to any Cabinet Member or District Committee Chair
• Any Councillor to Committee Chair or Lead Member
• Councillors other than Cabinet Members to Cabinet Member
• Councillors other than Cabinet Members to Leader or Deputy Leader
• Report of council business management committee
• Reports of Overview & Scrutiny
• Health of Birmingham's Third Sector
• Changing Gear: Transforming Urban Movement Through Cycling & Walking in Birmingham
• Motions for Debate
• Tory motion supporting the alignment of government spending with the priorities of the local business community
• LibDem motion about Pupil Premium

This is a meeting open to the public and we've certainly seen significant use of the online streaming - far more have watched online than have attended these meetings in a year. 

Planning Applications to the 6th April

This covers the couple of weeks over Easter.

2013/02121/PA - 1233-1237 Warwick Road (Olton Tyres)
Continuation of change fo use from retail (Use Class A1 to sale of tyre, tyre changing, storage and installation of new shop front

2013/02052/PA - 177 Shirley Road
Erection of two storey side extension

2013/02229/PA - 165 Tynedale Road
Erection of two storey side extension

2013/02272/PA - 18 Elton Grove
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.

Road resurfacing - Greswolde Park Road

Amey will be resurfacing the full length of Greswolde Park Road during the week beginning April 15th 2013. They expect to take up to five days to complete the work and will be working between 8am and 6pm.

Pedestrian and emergency vehicle access will be maintained, but sections of the road will be closed to other traffic during the work, as it involves laying hot surfacing material to the road bed. Width and speed restrictions will also be in force during the work period. If access is required for emergency or medical reasons, please contact Highways on 0121 303 6644 (option 2) to discuss the problem.

During the work, please don't park your car on the highway, as it will be moved by the City Council and this may incur expense on your part. Note that this might also cause access problems to Orchard Way while the work is being carried out.

Bins and snow update

A quick update on the bins around Acocks Green.

All black sack collections are now up to date, although some dry recyclate collections are still outstanding. We'll be catching up with those as soon as possible.

Elsewhere in the city, we've put garden waste and litter crews into helping clear the backlog.

Crews have been issued with specialist foul weather kit, including boot chains, to help keep them working safely.

Diary Date - Yardley District Committee - Thursday 28 March 2013

Yardley District Committee
Thursday 28 March 2013 - 12 noon
Committee Rooms 3 & 4, Council House
And you can now watch online here.

Items on the agenda will be

• Revenue Budget Monitoring 2012/13, period 11
• Revenue Budget 2013/14
• Local Services Performance Report
• Tenant Engagement - Establishing a district housing panel
• Wheelie bin, recycling and refuse collection services - district consultation
• Birmingham Youth Service
• Amey - Highway Trees overview
• Work programme update 2012/13

This is a meeting open to the public and we've certainly seen significant use of the online streaming - far more have watched online than have attended these meetings in a year. 

Future meetings planned in:
6 June 2013; 18 July 2013; 12 September 2013; 21 November 2013; 16 January 2014; 27 March 2014

Planning Applications to 23 March

A couple of weeks to catch up with here and a veritable feast for the planning geeks amongst you. Incidentally - the BBC Two series "The Planners" has been an excellent insight into the trials and tribulations of how planning decisions are made. Well worth catching up with on iPlayer.

2013/01672/PA - 1098 Warwick Road, Lloyds TSB Bank plc
Display of various internally illuminated and non-illuminated signs

2013/01604/PA - Victoria Road, Archbishop Ilsley RC 6th Form College
Removal & replacement of boundary fencing to Warwick Road elevation

2013/01897/PA - 12 Langworth Avenue
Erection of single storey rear extension

2013/01971/PA - 87 Severne Road
Erection of single storey front extension

2013/01521/PA - 10 Botteville Road
Erection of two storey rear extension

2013/01975/PA - 125 Lulworth Road
Erection of a two storey rear & side extension and single storey rear extension

2013/01942/PA - 5 Charles Lane Trust Houses, Adjacent to Fox Hollies Road
Installation of 1 no. telecommunication DSLAM cabinet (BT plc)
(Within School Road Conservation Area)

A typical BT DSLAM cabinet

Note: This is not a mobile phone mast - it relates to providing fibre broadband access to properties in the area. The picture to the left shows an example of a DSLAM cabinet - not the actual site. 

2013/01941/PA - Edenbridge Road, site outside 208 School Road
Prior notification for the installation of 1 no. DSLAM cabinet (BT plc)
(Within School Road Conservation Area)

Note as above.

2013/01640/PA - 62 Yardley Road
Erection of rear detached storage building

2013/01816/PA - site outside 31 Shirley Road
Replacement and upgrade of existing public telephone kiosk with kiosk combining public telephone service and ATM service
(They keep on trying with this one)

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.

Dig for Acocks Green!

With Ged & Fran from AG in Bloom & Noel from Waste

Planting a fruit tree in the community garden

Last weekend, (windswept and rain-soaked) I joined the volunteers from across Acocks Green to plant trees in the community garden on Mallard Close, just by Holy Souls School. This has been created by a hard-working and dedicated community group who led last year on the Acocks Green in Bloom project and have added this to their portfolio. A small patch of grass on the corner behind a row of shops has been dug over, a small path and flower bed has been created with bricks and gravel and it is going to look great. The day before, I joined a small crew that spent time cleaning up the litter dropped daily on the roads and verges around the Green - ably supported by the local management from the City Council's Fleet and Waste depot on Redfern Road, who haven't forgotten their litter collection skills learnt before they took up managing a vital service.

I'm really proud of what these people do and delighted to be able to lend a hand from time to time. We've got some tremendous community activists in Acocks Green - but there's always room for more. It isn't political - this is about making our area that much better a place to live.

Bins and snow update

Just a brief update on where we are with bin collections in Acocks Green. The crews have cleared all black sacks due for collection. There may be some dry recyclate (plastics and paper) out there, but that is mostly on rounds further towards Kings Heath. There are some outstanding patches of green waste bags that need to be collected and those should be done on Monday, weather permitting.

I'll post any more information as I get it.