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.

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.