WHERE IS OUR £1million THEN?

Over the past eighteen months The Government has handed over £1million in Grants to The Council, which was ONLY to be spent on doing work HERE in Brandwood Ward.
So what has this £1million been spent on?
To date I haven’t seen the results of spending a single penny of this money; our money. So what has the Council done with it, where has it gone? I want answers’.
So I have called on The Council to explain where YOUR money has gone.


 Are our roads & pavements any better? NO


 Are our verges & open spaces any better? NO


 Are our roads any cleaner & litter free? NO


 Are our refuse & green waste services better? NO


So where has OUR £1million gone?

Where were the Grit Bins?

With all of the recent bad weather, many residents contacted me, wanting to know where the grit bins were, that used to be in their areas. The removal of grit bins is another cut in services by The Council

Most residents just wanted to be able to walk down the pavement, without fear of falling over in the snow, or drive their car, without the fear of losing control.
The next time a Tory knocks on your door, ask them about the cut they are making, like the full time nursery places, older people services and in youth clubs and services.

Cadbury's Demise

Well it now seems quite clear that yet another American company will take over another Brummagem Icon.

The board of Cadbury’s have recommended to shareholders the Kraft takeover offer.
Well the battle may be over, but it’s up to all of us to show these Americans what Cadbury’s means to all of us, the ethos that George built in to not only his business but that of the village and whole community of Bournville.


One local Tory councillor went on record that the Cadbury plant and Bournville were like Siamese twins and both will fail if the takeover went ahead. In my opinion, he was very wrong. They are two complete entities, independent of each other yet will always be inexplicitly linked, through George and the other Cadbury family members, by the Bournville Trust set up by George and more importantly, all of the people who have worked there.

Baverstock School & Kings Norton High School

Well the cat is out of the bag and it’s official, Birmingham Council wants to amalgamate Baverstock School and Kings Norton High School.

Whilst in principle I have no objections to the amalgamation going ahead, I do feel that Baverstock School should be the ‘Senior Partner’.
I say senior partner as KNHS is a failing school in so much as the number of pupils starting there this coming September, will result in that school being unable to forfil its obligation to a full curriculum.
That all said, what worries me is the proposed location of the New Build School in Monyhull Hall Road on the site of the present Lindsworth South School site.
To say that this road, well it’s not a road, given the width of it, it’s more like a lane with very narrow pavements could cope with such additional traffic both pedestrian and motoring, without endangering either of these groups is farcical. The need for a new build school goes without saying, but the proposed site is yet another argument I will be taking up with the powers that be.

Cadbury & Manufacturing

At this month’s Full Council Meeting, there was a full debate on the threatened takeover of Cadbury’s by Kraft.

What was most annoying was the fact that throughout the whole debate, only two speakers had ANY experience of working in a manufacturing environment and I was one of them.
The wannabe MP’s from both The Conservative Party and The Lib-Dems rambled on and on about the demise of manufacturing, the current economic downturn and so on.
What no one mentioned was that when Mrs Thatcher took charge of this country in 1979, manufacturing accounted for 22% of GDP, when Tony Blair took on the reins, it had dropped to 10% and last year EVEN after the downturn, was still at 11% GDP.
That is Good Fiscal Management.

I Really Love Christmas

I really do love Christmas and all that it means, giving, sharing and enjoying. I will admit to not being a practicing Christian, but almost my entire family are and do, nonetheless I haven’t forgotten what it means either as a Christian or as a decent member of society.

During this month, I have involved myself in as many local activities as I can possibly do in Brandwood.
Earlier in the month at The Brandwood Centre, I waited on tables for their Christmas Dinner and it was fantastic, everyone I spoke to enjoyed their meal and entertainment, congratulations to the team at the centre for all of their hard work, not just for the meal, but for the hard work they put in, week in week out.
Just over a week ago, I was with a large group of youngsters from The Den Youth Centre, who along with Santa’s sleigh went door to door collecting for the wounded solders at Selly Oak Hospital. I think almost every youngster who uses The Den turned out, what we had planned to take two and a half hours was done in an hour and a half.
The behaviour of the youngsters was admirable; they were a credit to Liz Wood The centre manager and to all of their parents. If anyone says to me that youngsters are just noisy and anti-social then they had better watch out, some youngsters are, but they are a small minority, most youngsters are decent and above all else caring.
Then it was off to the Bells Farm centre, where Syd and Dot along with a number of volunteers had built a Father Christmas grotto and on the Friday invited pre-school and reception class children to see Father Christmas. The hours spent decorating the outside of the farm house was nothing compared to Santa’s grotto, getting a present from him and being able to watch some cartoons.
Later on Friday evening Father Christmas was around Druids Heath again on his sleigh, meeting up with children, making sure that they had written letters to him and handing out sweets to those children who had been good or promised to be good up to Christmas Day.

Can I wish you all a Happy, Joyous and Peaceful Christmas.

Lindsworth Post Office Wrangle

Here is really a tale to tell, which will, if something isn't sorted out soon, close a Post Office, all because Birmingham Council can't get its act in to order.

Over the past few years, Lindsworth Post Office has been subjected to robberies, so much so that Post Office Security have forbidden it’s staff to walk no more than a few yards to gain access to Post Office buildings.
Well that’s all well and good, but when Birmingham Council, then arrive one Sunday morning, without any bye or leave to local shop owners and erect metal railings, preventing vehicle access on to the frontage of the shops in Lindsworth Approach, what happens? Post Office security vehicles are unable to park close enough on most occasions and end up driving away, leaving the Post Office without any money, stamps or postal orders.
If there is no money to serve customers, what happens? Customers go elsewhere.
Now I’ve been working with Mandy, the post mistress for some months now to try to resolve matters, without much success and Birmingham Councils attitude hasn’t been at all helpful. I’ve had to call upon help from Steve McCabe MP to see if he can exert some pressure and as a last resort I’ve written to Birmingham’s Chief Executive, who in a recent meeting I had with him over post office closure agreed that they are a vital community resource that everything should be done to support them.
I now await a response to my letter from The Chief Executive.
Read more about it through the link.
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/12/29/brandwood-end-traders-begin-to-feel-parking-pinch-97319-25485657/