An innovative, eco-friendly, affordable residential and retail premises will be coming to Stirchley next year, with the Stirchley Co-operative Development (SCD) breaking ground on their Pershore Road site.
SCD is a group of local people in housing and worker co-operatives who are developing land on Pershore Road (next to the British Oak) to house local businesses along with 39 apartments where residents will be charged affordable rent. Loaf bakery and cookery school, Birmingham Bike Foundry, and Artefact will all move into the building once it is completed, which is expected to be autumn 2024.
Members of the SCD were joined by Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe, Stirchley councillor Mary Locke, members of the Forum Committee, and a host of other guests to mark the breaking ground.
For more information on the Stirchley Co-operative Development, including registering your interest in joining the coop, visit https://www.stirchley.coop/
A reminder that Birmingham Pride will be returning to the city centre over the weekend of Friday 26th to Sunday 28th May2023.
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.
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
