Gardeners Weekend Kings Heath Park

It really is a shame, but it seems that ‘The Gardeners Weekend’ event at Kings Heath Park, each September, won’t be happening this year. This well established NATIONAL show has had its funding stopped by Birmingham Conservative controlled Council, who feel that it’s not worth doing. What annoyed many of us is the way the news has got out, many keen gardeners still aren’t aware.
What people have been made aware of, are the cuts being made with Park Rangers and their teams. The council want to move them to Cannon Hill Park and cut almost half the numbers, but who will then teach us and our children about wildlife, plants and archeologically history in our area?
I've put an e-petition on the Council's website if anyone wants to sign it.
http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=81

Early Spring Clean-up For Brandwood Ward

I mentioned in my  December blog, what a difference removing detritus (that's the dust and debris which builds up over YEARS) and the overgrowing grass from verges on to pavements made to the appearance of the area.
Well the past few weeks has seen street cleaning crews sprucing up the area, removing grass, overgrowing from the verges and piles of dirt from gutters and parts of the pavements, other crews have been out removing or painting over graffiti and clearing away rubbish dumped around the area, along with litter picking. This work has really made a difference to the way our area looks and after talking to a large number of residents, very pleasing to everyone.

Brandwood's Community Chest Fund Grants

Your three local councillors along with the Ward Advisory Board have been looking at applications from local groups and schemes to spend the areas allocation of ‘Community Chest Funds’. It’s not a great deal of money, but enough to help small groups who have difficulty accessing funds. What surprised me and the other members of the board was that the two Conservative Councillors wanted to take 25% of this money to support council cuts being made centrally, there was a little revolt and they soon came back in to line. That is not what this funding is about.
However, the last word will and does remain with your three local councillors who will be meeting in late March at a Ward Committee, to consider the agreed funding proposals, so let’s all hope the two conservative councillors listened to the resident’s views and not have their own agenda.

Howard Rd - Alcester Road South Consultations, but nothing for Taylor Road & Alcester Lanes End junction

The council has started to consult residents on proposed changes it wishes to make around the Howard Road and Alcester Road South traffic junction, to make matters better for pedestrians. Whilst I can see some merit in doing this, I’m unable to get them to reconsider their decision NOT to do anything for the Taylor Road – Woodthorpe Road junction at Alcester Lanes End, which is ludicrous, with many motorists taking their life in their own hands, particularly at peak times

156 Woodthorpe Road Planning Approval

A retrospective planning application to create a hot food take-away at 156 Woodthorpe Road, which I have made an objection to, was approved at this weeks Planning Committee.
Whilst I fully understand the concerns of a couple of residents who wanted this application to get approval. My objections were that their had already been approval given some years ago, but never carried through by the landlord, leaving the site looking a right mess.
If permission had failed, then perhaps another type of business would have taken on the premises and worked to partially regenerate this small shopping parade.

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.