Graffiti Update

Many thanks to the graffiti removal squad, who made a visit to the Green this week to clear away the tags that appeared over the weekend.

These tags have been recorded and the police are reviewing CCTV footage from the cameras in the Green and elsewhere. Taggers have been prosecuted, but I'd much rather whoever did this just stopped doing it.

So many people have invested so much of their time voluntarily to try to improve the Green, we really don't need this sort of vandalism. Clearing it away isn't cheap and I'm indebted to our Fleet and Waste team who called in some favours to get it cleared rapidly, after I requested their help.

There is one remaining tag which will be painted over by the BID team, as it is on private land. There is also a tag on a fence, which I understand that the local residents have agreed to paint over.

Planning Applications to 6 July 2013

This week's crop. Mostly it is all happening in Botteville Road

2013/04273/PA - 27 Botteville Road, B27 7YE
Erection of single storey front, side and rear extensions

2013/04742/PA - 436 Fox Hollies Road, B28 8RN
Erection of single storey front extension

2013/04718/PA - 12 Botteville Road, B27 7YE
Application for certificate of lawfulness for an existing use as 2 self contained flats and 6 bed sits for in excess of 10 years

This is a form of approval for a use where planning permission was not sought at the time and the applicant claims that - in this case - the change of use has been carried on continuously for a period of ten years or more. 

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 Carnival

The weather delivered with industrial quantities of bright sunlight, a complete reversal of last year's carnival-wrecking downpour. The carnival was really well attended and the parade managed to make its way from Victoria Road to the site without any injuries. There's not a lot more you can ask for, but spare a thought for those people who give up their time throughout the year to keep the carnival running - they meet again in September to start planning next year's event. I was lending a hand this time, trying to marshal the parade and helping to get vehicles onto the site first thing.

We ended the weekend on Sunday night with the traditional Civic Service, arranged by the Acocks Green Churches Together and this year, we went to the Christian Centre on Westley Road, where we had the pleasure of the company of the new Lord Mayor, Mike Leddy, who spoke about the health of carnival being indicative of the health of the community.

Sunday morning saw the Acocks Green in Bloom team out again and I joined them for an hour's weeding on the central reservation.  Judging is only a couple of weeks away and Fran and her band of helpers are pulling out all the stops to try to do better than last year's bronze. If anyone can, they can.

Sadly, not everybody shares that community spirit. Along the Warwick Road, Shirley Road and into Botteville Road, somebody has decided to tag a number of walls, fences and other items. I've been liaising with the Business Improvement District, our anti-graffiti team and the police and we'll get this cleared as soon as possible. This is a real kick in the teeth for those who have worked so hard to clean up the Green.

Carnival hits the Green

Only a few days now until the Acocks Green carnival. As always, it is up on the Recreation Ground on Broad Road, with the street procession leaving Victoria Road at 1pm and reaching the show ground at 1:30 after travelling along the Warwick Road and Westley Road.

There's a packed programme of events in the arena and a whole load of stalls from local groups and others - do get along.

The whole thing kicks off at 10am with a Five a Side football tournament and there will be a dog show, caged bird show as well as a children's flower show.

Just hoping that the weather holds off - we don't want a repeat of last year's deluge.

Yardley Road Resurfacing

For over a year, Stewart and I have been chasing our highways contractors, Amey, to repair the one remaining un-resurfaced stretch of Yardley Road between the rail bridge and Francis Road. I've been out with their planning manager and their local manager to walk the road and point out the problems with the potholed and cracked road surface and we've lobbied for it at every opportunity.

Well, the good news is that the road is now scheduled to be resurfaced between December 2013 and May 2014.

Since Amey took over the highway repairs function of the city council, they decide on the roads to be resurfaced and lights to be renewed. Councillors have some influence and can put forward arguments, but Amey's drive is to deliver against their contractual target on a city-wide basis.

Planning Applications to the 29 June 2013

And another couple.

2013/04485/PA - 118 Yardley Road, B27 6LD
Erection of single storey rear extension and stairs to existing flat above retail shop

2013/02796/PA - 12 Grayland Close, B27 7NE
Erection of two storey side, first floor rear, single storey side/rear extension and rear conservatory

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.

Tree growth to be tackled

The trees have been busy and along a number of roads in the ward, the "epicormic growth" has been sprouting at a tremendous rate, so that it is now obstructing some of the footpaths (Elmdon Road is shown to the left).

I've been in touch with Amey and their contractors will be dealing with this by the end of July.

Biking to Birmingham

As the 19th July gets closer and the tunnel closures start to loom larger ahead of drivers, why not think about biking into the city from Acocks Green?

CENTRO have organised led cycle rides along recommended cycle routes (on road and traffic-free) over the next few weeks:

• Mon 8 July
• Friday 19 July
• Mon 22 July
• Mon 29 July

The rides leave from Acocks Green station car park. Be there at 7:30am for a 7:45am departure, with a planned arrival time of 8:30am at Moor Street Station and covering about 5.5 miles. You'll need to have a roadworthy bike and be able to cycle safely.

If you aren't sure about whether your bike is safe, Dr Bike mechanics will be offering a free safety check on 4 July between 3pm and 6pm in the station car park.

You can get more information by mailing cycling@centro.org or calling 0121 214 7381

I may even have a go myself....

Planning Applications to 22 June 2013

Two from the past fortnight:

2013/04062/PA - 1091 Warwick Road, B27 6QT
Change of use of first floor to dining area in conjunction with existing restaurant use at ground floor, and erection of single storey front extension and two storey rear extension.
This is the former Pasta di Piazza restaurant which already has approval for the building of a conservatory over the existing, low walled forecourt. There are a number of concerns about this proposal. It has currently been pulled back for technical reasons by the planning team, but should resurface shortly. 
2013/04188/PA - 112 Westley Road, B27 7UL
Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for a proposed single storey rear extension

2013/04262/PA - 1173 Warwick Road, B27 6RG
Change of use from dry cleaners (Use Class Sui Generis) to restaurant with hot food take away
ancillary use (Use Classes A3 & A5)

This is the former Johnsons dry cleaning site. 

2013/04196/PA - 133-141 Reddings Lane, Tyseley, B11 3HD
Application for a new planning permission to replace an extant planning permission number 2010/00720/PA for extension of time application in relation to erection of 22 dwellings and associated works including demolition of existing building (outline Application - layout and means of access only to be considered) as approved under 2007/00132/PA

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.

Ward Committee Report

Last night's meeting saw us receive a briefing on Healthwatch Birmingham, a new voice for the patient in all forms of health and social care in the city.

We also agreed Community Chest funding for Fox Hollies Forum's summer programme and Millennium Green's public liability insurance premium. A £200 donation to the BID's defibrillator fund raising scheme is also likely to be approved, but in Cllr Stacey's absence and my declared interest as a director of the BID, Cllr Bowen wasn't able to approve it on the night. We were also told that Acocks Green School will be raising money towards the £1000 required to provide the public defibrillator.

We reviewed current planning applications, with objections to be submitted by the committee to proposals for a takeaway on Yardley Road - a proposal that has been previously rejected because of the lack of parking. We will also be objecting to proposals for a restaurant on the Warwick Road because of the impact on the building line and car parking. In both cases, local residents have made their concerns known to us. April's meeting saw us object to two schemes, one of which has been withdrawn by the applicant and one which has now been refused permission.

In administrative business, I was reappointed as ward committee chair and to the board of the BID and Cllr Stacey to Stockfield Community Association.  We also confirmed dates for meetings for the year ahead.

We should have the Baptist Church attending our next meeting to discuss their proposals for the Glynn Edwards Hall. Conveniently, we'll be meeting on the 4 September at the Baptist Church. Over the next month, we should also see consultation start on the Warwick Road Local Sustainable Transport Funding schemes - watch this space.

Our ward Environmental Health Officer also attended and promised increased focus on the Yardley Road and the Fox Hollies shopping centre, which have been the subject of concerns from residents over the volume of litter. She'll be focussing on making sure that all the businesses have commercial waste contracts and checking that people aren't using the litter bins to dump household waste that should be left for the bin men. She's also been making progress with Enterprise Inns, who have moved their wheeled bin from outside the empty Great Western pub. We've also asked them to remove the other litter bins at the front of the property and the concrete picnic tables. These, they are considering using to block parking on their forecourt, but the advice from the ward committee is that they find another way of doing it, as our view is that the tables will be moved. I've also asked our parking wardens to attend and deal with vehicles on the pavement, which are obstructing pedestrians.

Do you hear the people's bins?

According to yesterday's Birmingham Mail, Cllr Deirdre Alden is shocked that the council have spent £29,000 on communicating with residents about the trial roll out of the wheelie bins in Brandwood and Harborne. I'm not sure if she expected us to just drop the bins off and not tell anybody, but I'm sure she would have had something to say about that if we had.

Given that this is the biggest change in decades to how Birmingham collects rubbish from residents and that there has been some appalling scaremongering from both the opposition parties - leaping aboard the bin wagon as they scent a few votes in 2014's local elections - communication with residents is vital. Last year, the scrutiny committee that monitors waste visited Manchester to see how their system works and one thing was absolutely clear - to make a proper waste management programme work, you need to educate the residents and that means communication for it to pay the dividends that it offers. If we want the changes to Birmingham's bins to be transformative, we have to communicate to people.

Each of those wards contains around 10-11,000 properties, most of which would have required information and one of the green or red cards to advise them whether they were selected for bins or bags. The costs of that are included in that top line £29,000 figure - as are the costs of the external supplier involved in supporting the council. That is, by the way, a tiny part of the £29 million winning bid.

A couple of years back, the last administration launched changes to the bin rounds to make them more efficient and kicked off with letters to 20,000 properties in Yardley, plus a telephone hotline and website. This will take a bit more work, thanks to the aforementioned scaremongering and also because the change is that much bigger. My favourite portent of doom is the threat that residents will have to pay £93 a month to have their bins cleaned. Needless to say, that's garbage.

Nobody doubts that this is a big change for the city, nor that some people will be worried about it. There are bound to be teething problems along the way - some will be ironed out during the trial rollouts, but different issues will arise in other wards and we'll fix them. At the end of it, though, we will have a transformed bin collection operation and things will settle down. Just as they have everywhere else.

Perhaps the most interesting story was the one last week, which revealed that wheelie bins have a 14 point approval rating already (50% approve, 36% disapprove), backed up by Birmingham Mail online polls that show 64-70% support. The quiet majority are turning up the volume.

Diary Date - Acocks Green Ward Committee 19 June

Acocks Green Ward Committee
Wednesday 19 June 2013 - 7pm
Scout Hut, behind Scanlon's Club, Spring Road

There's the usual administrative stuff (election of chair, setting out meeting dates for the year ahead, etc) and the key agenda items are:

• Election of chair
• External appointments - Stockfield Community Association and Acocks Green BID
• Dates of meetings for coming municipal year
• Presentation from Healthwatch
• Planning Applications
• Community Chest funding

If you can make it along, this is a chance to discuss key issues in the ward - we want to hear your views. 

Policing Update

We've had a run of meetings with the police team locally and the initial figures for this financial year show that total recorded crime is up 1.5% against the same period last year, which amounts to an increase of five crimes. Percentages aren't always helpful at this level, unfortunately - big percentage shifts often relate to quite a small number of offences at local level and the numbers will move up and down during the year. Overall, last year saw reported crime fall again in Yardley and our police team are targeted to improve on that again this year.

Robbery is down 36% which equates to four offences, burglaries of homes are up 64%, which relates to eleven offences of varying types - including a number of thefts of copper piping and tanks from empty rental properties. Your councillors have supported police initiatives with Community Chest funding providing window and door alarms in roads that have been affected. A number of the burglaries saw thieves enter through open windows or doors, so the police again remind everyone to keep their doors locked, even if you are in the house.

Thefts from vehicles remain a problem and is up 16%, which amounts to seven offences. Around 40% of that is theft of number plates from vehicles and these are generally used to aid in the theft of fuel from garages - particularly the Esso garage on Fox Hollies Road, which has been targetted in the past. One man has been arrested in the Sheldon area in relation to over 40 offences and police have even found vans adapted with extra tanks in the load space and an additional special fuel filler cap - this theft is on an industrial scale. Again, Community Chest funding has funded special retaining screws for officers to hand out when they visit areas that have been targeted and identify vehicles with stick on plates. Officers are also carrying out foot patrols and trying car doors - they wandered down my road the other night and found one of my neighbour's cars insecure, so knocked on the door to remind the owner.

Drivers who flout the ban on right turns out of Station Road onto Warwick Road need to be a little more careful - following a crash there where a pedestrian was seriously injured, police are paying special attention to the junction and will be warning and ticketing offenders.

Diary Date - Partnership, Contract Performance and Third Sector Scrutiny Committee

Partnership, Contract Performance and Third Sector Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Monday 17 June 2013 - 10am
Committee Room 2, Council House.

Another meeting to kick off the new municipal year. The agenda has a number of administrative items, so just a couple of substantive matters:

• Report of Birmingham Audit into procurement and contracts
• Civic catering contract
• Dates of meetings for coming municipal year

Tunnels and Bins - Transport, Connectivity and Sustainability Scrutiny

Friday's scrutiny committee meeting covered a bit of ground - looking at our work plans for the year ahead and at the communications surrounding the planned closure of the St Chad's and Queensway tunnels from the 19 July for six weeks until the 2 September.

These tunnels are 40 years old and are showing their age - aren't we all? They need some in depth structural work that can't be completed without a prolonged programme of closures and have to be done by April 2014. The closures will see structural upgrades, upgrades to the fire protection systems, replacement LED lights and improvements to the general appearance. There will have to be some further closures next year to allow the installation of new emergency, control and communication systems to keep up with legislation.

The original plan was to close the tunnels for 26 weekends, which would have run into the Christmas period. Having to stop and start the works like that would have added to the delays, as the tunnels would have to be made safe in between work periods, which raised a number of health and safety issues. The alternative was a six-week full closure of the tunnels over the summer holiday period, which also has the advantage of being significantly cheaper - reducing the amount we have to pay to our highway contractor, Amey.. Traffic levels are normally down by about 20% during this period anyway and the highways team believe that diversion routes will be able to reduce the traffic by a further 15% by diverting away the through traffic either around the Birmingham motorway box or using the inner ring road. They are also encouraging people to find other methods of travel into the city during the closure period - train, bus or bike. Finally, we also need to be clear that Birmingham remains open for business during the work period.

The committee heard about the communications around this - getting stories into the local media, using Twitter and social media to spread the word and running a website, as well as working with local partners like the Hippodrome and the local business improvement districts. I did note that it seemed to lack some ambition and Cllr Quinn pointed out that the hoardings over the tunnels weren't being used to advertise the closures, which seems to be an opportunity missed.

The biggest concern, which has made the front page of the Birmingham Mail today, was that as part of the traffic management, Broad Street will be restricted on the inbound side from the Hyatt Hotel to Paradise Circus. It will remain open to buses and bikes, but cars will be prohibited. The logic behind this is correct - Paradise Circus is going to be congested with traffic escaping the tunnels and can do without the additional flow of cars from Broad Street. The problem is that this restriction hasn't been communicated at all - it isn't even mentioned on the Brumtunnels website on the alternative route suggested to Broad Street itself. Cllr Deirdre Alden (I believe there's something in the constitution that insists on us having an Alden on the committee - we had Bobby with us last year) was critical of that, but other members of the committee - including myself - were just as vocal, or "outraged" as Neil Elkes puts it. We should see some changes in the strategy as a result.

We can certainly expect increased congestion on the Inner Ring Road and in the centre of the City around the tunnels over the six week closure period and the Highways team will be carrying out what they term "dynamic traffic management." This isn't just a few blokes in a van with some cones, but includes constant CCTV monitoring of traffic and live changes to traffic signalling to try to keep the city moving as best they can during the delays. The committee will be visiting the control centre once the closures start to see how this is done.

Don't forget - the overnight closures between 10pm and 6am start this Friday 21 June. The tunnels will close completely on the 19 July and reopen on (or hopefully before) 6am on Monday 2 September. Keep an eye on the Brumtunnels website for updates. 

Issues coming up over the next year include wheelie bins, Birmingham Energy Savers and the Green Deal, reviewing progress on the cycling strategy, wheelie bins and completing the work on our scrutiny report "From Waste to Resource" which will help set the strategy for how Birmingham deals with waste after 2018 (that's a major piece of work). I'm also sure that wheelie bins will come up somewhere in there.

Unemployment in Acocks Green and Yardley

A bit of good news as unemployment in Yardley declined by 131 month on month. Youth unemployment dropped by 73, but remains at over 1000 and the number of long term unemployed remained essentially static, increasing by one to 1464.

Acocks Green is behind the Birmingham unemployment claimant rate (11.7%) with a claimant rate of 10.2%, the second lowest in the ward. Sheldon has a claimant rate of just 7.4%, but Stechford is slightly higher than us on 10.6% and South Yardley is up on 11.9%, which translates to 1405 claimants in total.

The map's darker areas show the patches of unemployment by severity. Aston, for example, has an unemployment rate over 30% and the four Sutton Coldfield wards are all under 4%.

Diary Date - Full Council AGM

Full Council
Tuesday 11 June 2013 - 4pm
Council Chamber
And you can now watch online here.

A foreshortened agenda and a late start today. Key items on the agenda will be:

• Report of The Lord Mayor 2012/13
• Election of The Lord Mayor 2013/14
• Dates of meetings for coming municipal year
• Annual constitutional review
• Appointment of cabinet members
• Appointment to council committees and other bodies

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.

We'll be welcoming Cllr Mike Leddy (Lab) as our new Lord Mayor for the coming year. He's a good guy and deserves the job - he will be an excellent first citizen of the city. 

Planning Applications to 8 June 2013

Two this week.

2013/03874/PA - 8 Elton Grove, B27 7SE
Erection of 3.8m deep single storey rear extension. Maximum height 3.7m, eaves height 2.7m

2013/03849/PA - 56 Broom Hall Crescent, B27 7JR
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.

Planning Applications to 1 June 2013

Another quiet week:

2013/03174/PA - 67 Yardley Road, B27 6LL
Change of use from food production (Use Class B2) to a hot food takeaway (Use Class A5) with ancillary
seating

This one might be a little controversial - there was a previous application (2009/01381/PA) that was turned down in 2009. 

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.

Yardley District Committee
Thursday 6 June 2013 - 12 noon
Committee Rooms 3 and 4, Council House
And you can now watch online here.

Items on the agenda will be

• Birmingham Youth Service
• Local Services Performance Report
• Neighbourhood Strategy for Birmingham
• Neighbourhood Advice and Information Service Review
• Work programme 2013/14

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.