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.

Acocks Green Police News

Latest news from the police in Acocks Green on recent crime.

We had ten thefts from motor vehicles, down nine month on month and down two year on year. Two were thefts from insecure vehicles, one was the theft of a spare wheel from underneath a van parked on Sainsburys' car park, five were thefts of number plates and one was a case of petrol siphoning.

There were two robberies - the same as last month and this time last year. One was the theft of a mobile phone from a teenager on Alexander Road and the other was robbery from a cigarette delivery van outside a shop on Shirley Road. We also had two cases of theft from the person, one of which was a distraction theft in a pub in Acocks Green. Please be aware that there seems to be a small spate of this sort of non-violent theft across the constituency as it has been reported at more than one meeting. There was also the theft of a mobile phone by a cycling thief on Fox Hollies Park. Please be careful - don't have your mobiles on display and be aware of who is around you.

Last month saw eight burglaries - two down on the previous month, but three up on the same month last year. These were across the ward, including Sorrell Drive, Mayfield Road, Broomhall Crescent, Woodberry Road and Victoria Road. A couple of these were down to insecure front doors and two saw cases of 'lock snapping', where a specialist tool is used to allow the lock to be forced open. Three of the burglaries took place at night, but five happened in the daytime - so do remember to keep doors and windows secure.

Planning Applications to 9 March 2013

Normal service resumed with just a single application

2013/00071/PA - Aldi Foodstore, Warwick Road
Installation of new full height shopfront to front elevation and new rendered finish to existing brickwork panels.

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.

Licensing Applications 14 Feb - 7 Mar

Just one of interest to the ward and that's a premises license application from Fox Hollies News 4 U, 305 Fox Hollies Road to allow sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises during normal opening hours 7:30am to 11pm every day.

Planning Applications to 2 March 2013

Bit of a rush this week (sorry for the lack of posting this earlier in the week - been rather hectic)

2013/00643/PA - 61 Kilmorie Road
Erection of two storey side extension and single storey front and rear extensions

2013/00728/PA - 20 Dudley Park Road
Erection of 3 storey detached block utilising roof space to provide 7 assisted living flats (Use Class C3)

2013/01184/PA - 58 Olton Croft
Erection of single storey rear extension and creation of patio area

2013/00474/PA - 132 Yardley Road
Installation of a footway crossing (dropped kerb)

2013/01198/PA - 93 Hazelwood Road
Erection of two storey rear and single storey side and rear extension, forward porch and new double pitch gable ended roof

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.

Changes in station opening hours

Just to let you know that the station opening hours are due to change from Sunday 31 March 2013.

Acocks Green
Mon - Thu:   0700 - 1600
Fri:               0700 - 1800
Sat:              0800 - 1600
Sun:             CLOSED

Spring Road
Mon-Fri:     0700 - 1100
Sat:             0900 - 1400
Sun:            CLOSED

Tyseley
Mon - Fri:   0700 - 0900
Sat/Sun:       CLOSED

Sorry. 

Your Labour team has backed local residents consistently on this issue, but the Liberal Democrat transport minister didn't listen to us. 

Turning Acocks green

Pictured left is one of the new bollards that forms part of the major refresh of the street furniture - benches, bollards and bins - in the Acocks Green Village. This has been delivered by your Labour team, who had to argue hard with the our own Deputy Leader to ensure that we could deliver this investment in our local town centre. Even in these tough times, we've got to ensure that this remains an attractive place for people to open businesses and for us to shop in.

Don't forget, we've got more improvements coming with £1.7 million to be spent on improving the Warwick Road through the Village over the next couple of years.

Add to that the work to be done on Acocks Green Station - thanks to a decade of hard campaigning by local people desperate to see access to the platforms improved and we've got some good news to come for our area.

Watch this space!

Snaglist

Here's a sample of work scheduled and completed across the ward recently thanks to the intervention of the Labour team. 

Faulty street lights

On the Shirley Road/School Lane roundabout, at the junction of Shirley Road and Dolphin Lane, Oakhill Crescent, Yardley Road (including the belisha beacon), Westley Road, Flint Green Road, Shirley Road.

Damaged bollards repaired

Warwick Road/Westley Road junction (at the Green roundabout), Station Road/Oxford Road/Sherbourne Road junction.

Potholes

A couple of impressive examples of this species appeared - one particularly deep one on the Warwick Road lozenge roundabout opposite Lincoln Road North and another on the junction of Stockfield Road and Warwick Road, both of which were genuine hazards to road users. Both have been fixed. 

Other issues

Elsewhere, Amey will also be repairing the damaged trip rails on Warwick Road opposite Stockfield Road. 

A couple of weeks back, I was walking down Dudley Park Road and noticed that a deep hole had suddenly  opened up in the footpath just by the junction with Station Road. This was quite an urgent risk, given that it was potentially a serious trip hazard for any pedestrian, so I had the Amey hit squad out that same morning to perform a fix. The drainage team will need to have a look, as a void appears to have opened up beneath the footpath, so this might not be a permanent repair. 

A defective road sign on Weston Lane is to be realigned and adjusted to protect cyclists. This isn't part of the patch, but has been raised by a constituent, so I've raised it and Amey will be out to fix it. The sign warns drivers turning into Weston Lane from Battery Way to expect cyclists crossing the junction following the cycle route down into the dead end. Sadly, it was installed too low on the pole and has been turned round so that drivers can't see it. 

We've also got a problem with blocked gullies around the Spring Road station. Amey have been to have a look and the problem is actually with a blocked public sewer, which is maintained by Severn Trent. They've flagged it and I'll chase it myself with a contact with Severn Trent. 

Elsewhere, working with the landlords of the flats on Sherbourne Road, we had the access drive extended slightly to allow our bin wagons to be sure of access to the bin stores, as there was a period of several weeks when we weren't able to clear rubbish. An untaxed vehicle was parked on the private drive and prevented our trucks getting close enough to safely manoeuvre the large wheeled bins - the crews were trying daily at one point. 

Planning Applications to the 23 February 2013

Quiet again on the planning front with a single application - although a decent sized one.

2013/01113/PA - 75 Woodford Green Road, Hall Green
Erection of two storey and single storey extension to rear

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.

Wheelie Bin Consultation Starts

You can find the survey here. Fill it in and let us know YOUR views.

If you are so inclined, you can find my views here.