Representing Stirchley Residents
A reminder that Birmingham Pride will be returning to the city centre over the weekend of Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May 2023.
For the Pride parade on Saturday 27 May, there will be road closures in place throughout the day, and this will affect public transport with a number of bus diversions in place. There are no train strikes scheduled for this weekend, so it may be easier to use the Cross City train line from Bournville station.
Whilst the Great Birmingham Run, which takes place on Sunday 7th May, does not pass through Stirchley this year, there will be some road closures that may affect residents moving around the city.
The Great Birmingham Run starts on Broad Street and finishes in Smithfield. The route will visit new parts of the city like Jewellery Quarter and West Side before heading south back out towards Selly Park via Pershore Road, returning through Cannon Hill Park and Edgbaston Cricket Ground and into the finish within Smithfield.
Pershore Road (South of Edgbaston Cricket Ground) to Dog Pool Lane will be closed from 04:00 15:30. The Pershore Road south of the cricket ground and Belgrave Middleway will be closed from 06:00 until 15:30. There are some other more local roads that will be closed in Selly Park, including Kensington Road and Selly Park Road that will be closed between 08:00 and 15:00.
Cannon Hill Park will also be closed between 06:00 and 15:00.
Bus routes into/out of town from Stirchley will be affected, including the 35, 45 and 47 routes. Transport for West Midlands have advised there will be messaging in place at each suspended stop to direct bus users to the alternative temporary stops.
For more information, visit the Great Run website.
Over the last few days there has been reports about a planned ‘Bournville Eco Village’ on the site of the woodlands on Sparrey Drive and behind houses on Oxford Street.
Although this site is not in Stirchley ward, it boarders it and backs on to houses in the ward. So, it felt appropriate to inform Stirchley residents of additional information to clear up some confusion. Most of the information from the article has come from the developers’ website bournvilleecovillage.co.uk and as yet there have been no plans submitted to the council for approval, meaning that this is still very much in the pre-planning stages.
Ian MacLeod, director of planning, transport & sustainability for Birmingham City Council, wrote that he discussed these proposals with the developer in early February. He has also clarified “The site is of local importance to nature conservation and is also subject to a Tree Protection Order. Development on the site would not be supported.”
The article from the Daily Mail quotes the councillor for Stirchley, Councillor Mary Locke, but the woodlands are in fact in the Bournbrook & Selly Park ward.
A petition to save the Bournbrook Historic Woodlands has been set up by local residents who are concerned about the ecological and environmental impact of removing trees and disruption an eco community centre would have on residents, especially with an existing community centre a few meters away.
Since the national interest in the development, Bournville Eco Village’s website has a new notice that reads, in part; “We have not yet decided on the best way to move forward, as we are waiting on various assessments focused on the ecological impact on the woods. We hope you can see that we care about the environment from the people that we have chosen to work with on this project.” They have also said they intend to hold a public meeting to discuss their ideas with local residents in a few months’ time.
There will a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts service this month.
On Sunday 23rd April 2023, the Government will test a new service that is intended to notify people about potential life-threatening events via their mobile phones. The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.
The alert will say:
“This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.
“In an actual emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.
“Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information.
“This is a test. You do not need to take any action.”
In future, emergency alerts will only be sent by the emergency services, or government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies. Alerts could warn of severe flooding, fires or extreme weather and will apply to your current location, rather than where you live or work.
If you do not want to receive these emergency alerts, you can opt out by going into the settings on your mobile phone, locating the emergency alert sections (usually in notifications) and turning whichever alerts you do not want to receive off.
For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/alerts
Although Dogpool Lane is not in Stirchley Ward, a lot of residents use the area and may find this information useful.
The plan shows the deterrent signage wording and locations proposed around the building works on the corner of Dogpool Lane and Pershore Road. The contractor has apologised for this matter being delayed longer than all would have wished. But the signs are likely to be in place by the end of Wednesday.
Resident access signposts will be in place at Kitchener and Hobson roads, at the junctions with Pershore Road. On Dogpool Lane, these ‘resident access only’ signs will also be in place at the junctions with Cecil, Fashoda and Manilla roads as well.
This is to allow for significant redevelopment of the underused former BT brownfield site. In its place is due to be a student accommodation scheme. Overall work is expected to take 86 weeks, including a 16-week demolition phase.
