I mentioned the timetable for blowing up the two towers on the Bromford now awaits the departure of the nesting Peregrine falcons…if all goes according to plan, this is the time-table I’ve been given…
It’s a 4 step plan.
- 2 July: tenders for appointment of demolition contractor
- August: appoint demolition contractor
- End August/ beginning September: start removal internal soft stripping
- April 2011: blocks finally destroyed
There are two issues;
1. Peregrine falcons are nesting in the blocks. The blocks can’t be destroyed until they’re gone
2. We need Central Networks to remove and re-site existing sub-stations. The latest date for this is end of October 2010.
I’ll keep you posted on news.
Liam Byrne MP today thanked the Big Lottery Team for awarding the Bromford & Firs over £1 million in long term funding for good causes on the estates.
The MP met Lottery chief executive Peter Wanless at the Commons last month and was briefed on the final details at his Hodge Hill office last Friday.
The money is part of a new scheme called ‘Big Local’ and is the only award in Birmingham. The money is available for investment in ideas nominated by local residents over 5-10 years.
Liam said;
‘This is a fantastic lottery win for the Bromford & Firs. We’ve been building up the strength of residents’ groups with our meetings and surveys for 5 years and today we got our reward. This is one more victory for people power. The Big Lottery Fund could see the Bromford and Firs needed investment and recognised we have the strength to use the money wisely.
“We’ve been fighting hard for the investment the Bromford needs. We’ve won £10 million for a new health centre, over £1 million to blow up the old tower blocks, and today we’ve £1 million for transforming the quality of life on the estate. It is nothing less than the local residents deserve.”
Byrne has been building up a network of social entrepreneurs in Hodge Hill dedicated to transforming the community through his Hodge Hill 2020 plan. Today’s news follows an award of £85,000 last month from the Heritage Lottery Fund to begin work transforming Ward End.
Liam Byrne also announced today the date for his next ‘Community Funders Conference’ bringing together charitable funders like UnLtd and Big Lottery Fund with local groups.
The conference will be held on 8th October at the Beaufort Sports & Social Club, Coleshill Road.
Tuesday morning is going to see a major announcement for the Bromford and the Firs! It’s a real testament to the work that’s gone on over the last few years pulling together residents through our surveys and residents’ meetings. I was briefed on the final arrangements at my Fox & Goose headquarters on Friday.
After the £10 million new health centre on the Firs, and our final victory getting new cash to blow up the Towers, this next piece of investment is going to be a bit a of hat-trick.
Stand-by for a bit of good news!
A month of two ago, I dispatched this letter to Bromford Residents who came along to my residents meeting…here it is electronically for those who missed it…
Dear Friend
Thank you for coming to meet with me last week, I just wanted to remind you what we agreed, and what I’m going to do next.
Bayley and Stoneycroft Towers
You told me that antisocial behaviour is still a problem around the towers. I’ve asked the police to give me an incident log which I will then pass to the council to find out how long this is going to go on for before the decision to demolish the towers is finally taken. I’ve also written to the Chief Executive of Birmingham city council to find out if security personnel have been removed since the fencing has been put up. If this is true, I want to know why this decision was taken.
I’ve also sent a Freedom of Information request to make sure that residents were only paid to move once, I’ll let you know what I find out.
Drugs and antisocial behaviour
You told me that taxi drivers are selling drugs on the Bromford estate at numerous bus stops, I have reported this to the police and asked for an action plan about how they’re going to deal with this problem. I’ve also asked for action on quadbikes, particularly on Chillinghome Road.
Meanwhile it’s really important that you ring the police every single time you suspect dealing, the more calls they have, even if you think it’s pointless as they don’t come out immediately. The more phonecalls and complaints the police have, the more resources they can allocate to deal with the problem. We need to be the eyes and ears of the police to win the war on drugs.
Policing
You told me that you still don’t see enough police on the estate. Around 40% of people at the meeting told me they hadn’t seen a Constable in the past 6 months. I have asked for the police to provide me with their beat rotas and to tell me what they are doing to increase visibility and prevent crime.
I’ve also forwarded your complaints about lack of police enforcement of parking restrictions on Washwood Heath Road and Alum Rock Road, I’ve asked for an action plan. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Buses
I’m meeting with Centro to find out how plans to re-route the 26 bus service are going. After I told them it needed to change earlier this year.
I’ll write back in three months to let you know how I’ve got on. In the meantime, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call on 0121 789 7287.
Yours sincerely
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP
Birmingham Hodge Hill
July 7, 2010
in Bordesley Green, Bromford & Firs, Buckland End, HH2020, Hodge Hill, Kitts Green, Lea Village, Local campaigns, Shard End, Small Heath, Tile Cross, Ward End, Washwood Heath, glebe farm
With fears about jobs in the news I thought I would set out where things are with the fight to get more people back in work in Hodge Hill.
The principal programme set up by the Labour government was the Working Neighbourhood Fund, a multi-million fund for Hodge Hill – as well as other parts of the country – to get people back to work.
Last week, I met with Stephen Hughes, the Council’s chief executive to review the plans in place to get people back to work across the £7.4 million of funding in place for the Hodge Hill constituency.
After lots of pressure, there are now five contracts in place to develop help for a range of people, including lone parents, and young people, and those with disabilities (amongst others).
Initially, the city was targeting a 3% fall in worklessness in priority wards – that should be our target in Hodge Hill. The target is to get over 1,000 people into work, and to connect nearly 4,000 people (3,870 to be exact) with services they need to help them get towards work. This is across the programme’s life which runs for another year or two.
To date, I am told, 1,477 residents have now been engaged – but only 60 have actually been helped into work.
This tells me that the agencies running the services need to radically step up the pace. I’ll be keeping the pressure on – and publishing regular updates.
July 6, 2010
in Bordesley Green, Bromford & Firs, Buckland End, Hodge Hill, Kitts Green, Lea Village, Local campaigns, Shard End, Small Heath, Sports Village, Ward End, Washwood Heath, Young people, glebe farm, schools
I’ve had confirmation today of huge cuts in funding for our young peoples’ future today as in a chaotic announcement, the Tory-Lib Dem council announced the cancellation of plans to rebuild Hodge Hill Mixed and Washwood Heath Technology College.
Over £30 million of funding has been slashed – while the Tory-Lib Dem Council in Birmingham did not raise of finger of protest.
One of our greatest breakthroughs in the last Parliament was getting in place over £63 million pounds to rebuild our secondary schools. We want to see these are real hubs for the community, open not only to help our youngsters get a world-class education, but there to serve and enrich our quality of life all year round. One of the ideas I am working on is how a ‘Sports Village Trust’ run by the community could run some of these new buildings at weekends and in holidays.
The new Tory-Liberal government has now reviewed whether to actually write the cheques for the money agreed. We need these new schools – our kids deserve the best too. Just so you know what’s at stake, here is the list of how much many – and where – we got agreed.
| School |
Value |
Start dates |
| Saltley |
£11,743,409 |
November 2010 |
| Park View |
£8,960,867 |
November 2010 |
| International |
£11,552,051 |
November 2010 |
| Washwood Heath Technology College |
£16,852,066 |
August 2011 |
| Hodge Hill Mixed |
£13,837,014 |
September 2011 |
| Hodge Hill Girls |
Awaiting feasibility |
November 2012 |
| Grand Total |
£63,945,097 |
|
And here is the cold announcement I had from the Department for Education today;
Hodge Hill Stopped
Washwood Heath Stopped
International School Unaffected
Park View Unaffected
Saltley Unaffected
Waverley Unaffected PFI
The news comes five days after the Government sneaked out a report showing under Labour’s management last year, department’s came in £5 billion under budget.
We’ll be fighting this crass decision. Look out for our campaign in your area soon.
One of my priorities for action from my resident meeting on the Bromford & Firs was to improve the service on the number 26 bus which runs through the Bromford & Firs.
I wrote to Centro to ask about Kickstart Funding to improve the bus service. They’ve written to me to say that all six bids received were rejected. However, there is hope. The Bus Network Review is now under way over the next 12-18 months and Centro will be considering the enhancements to the service that we are campaigning for. I’ll be pushing for a better 26 bus route!
Bromford residents will have been following closely our campaign to blow up Bayley and Stoneycroft Towers. Together with local residents, Councillors Gill Beddows, Anita Ward and now Tim Evans and finally succeeded in getting the Homes and Communities Agency to provid the funds for the Towers to be demolished. I have now written to Birmingham City Council Chief Executive Stephen Hughes asking for a timetable for these towers to be demolished, as the council seems to have a bit too quiet on the subject for my liking…
One of the campaigns I’ve been pursuing is the need for a much better bus service on the Bromford. The Bromford Estate in Hodge Hill has a very poor bus service – and lots of residents have raised it with me, during the campaign, and in my regular Resident Meetings. In July 2009 I wrote to Centro and was told that a bid for Kickstart Funding had been submitted. Then they went a bit quiet. We’re on their case now demanding a few answers to what’s going on. Watch this space for an update.
Liam is the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, and Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary. 
