We feel like we’re living in a war zone
THE early morning sun bounces off the pavements of Kings Road, a tree-lined avenue of Victorian terraces.
All is peaceful – yet an hour in the company of residents and it’s clear this aura of calm hides frustration and anger.
“We feel like we are in a war zone,” said Ronnie Palmer, cofounder of Stockland Green Action Group.
Running 289 metres from top to bottom, the street is at the epicentre of the explosion in HMOs and exempt accommodation in the city. Between a quarter and a third of all homes here – 27 out of around 85 – are now multi-occupied, housing people in need of support and care, or other tenants in single rooms. And at least two more Victorian family homes in Kings Road are about to get transformed into rooms for rent too – and nobody can stop it.
“We just want to see a ban on any more,” said Mr Palmer, speaking on behalf of the group.
“We have had enough, from the dumped rubbish, the drug dropoffs throughout the day and night, people like zombies on our pavements, our kids seeing this every day.”
And he added: “Everyone in authority agrees with us – police, councillors, MP – but in the next breath they say they are powerless.”
Neighbouring Frances Road is in the same situation, an avenue full of homes converted by landlords into rooms for the troubled souls, including recent offenders fresh out of prison, drug addicts, vulnerable care leavers, refugees, the homeless and people suffering mental health issues.
Here too, residents have been plagued with chaotic scenes – including people lying passed out on the pavement, together with drug-taking, fights criminal behaviour.
As a result, more local families are being driven out, blaming the effect of having so many problematic people in such close proximity – with fears the only people keen to buy any homes for sale will be more yet more property landlords eager to make a quick buck.
It’s not just for the sake of the community that residents want to see action. They also worry for the tenants of some of the worst-run properties, amid concerns about safeguarding and the level of care they are getting.
“We know the council is stuck between a rock and a hard place – we don’t want to see people homeless and the council has to keep people safe and not allow them to be homeless – but the council also has a duty to us. We are being sacrificed for this greater good,” said Ronnie.
and
general
AT its height in the 1960s, Longbridge was one of the world’s biggest car factories, employing tens of thousands of people producing ground-breaking vehicles like the Mini.
A steady decline over the 1980s and 90s led to the collapse of MG Rover in 2005.
Since St Modwen acquired the site, the on-going redevelopment of Longbridge has already created over 3,000 permanent jobs, 1,450 new homes and over one million square feet of employment space, delivering a £500 million a year boost to the economy.
Longbridge has also attracted new organisations from across the tech, science, manufacturing, and R&D industries who have taken up space, while the existing innovation centre on site continues to grow.
In addition to the new homes and high-quality Longbridge Busi
ness Park to be built on the West Works site, there will also be 27 acres of green space connected to the nearby Austin Park, increasing
biodiversity and promoting health and wellbeing. A one-mile stretch of the River Rea that had been hid- den by the old car works for dec
ades will also be opened up, linking Rubery to Longbridge town centre via 1.5 miles of new cycle and footpaths.
ORGANISERS of next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham have pledged to make them carbon neutral by planting 72 ‘mini forests’ across the West Midlands.
Plans for the tennis court-sized woods, along with a further 2,022 acres of new woodland, were unveiled by organisers of next year’s Games this week after it teamed up with Severn Trent.
They are part of ambitious plans to deliver the first-ever environmentally friendly Games.
With just 500 days to go until the opening, organisers believe the planting of trees in urban areas will encourage people to reconnect with nature as well as offseting the event’s carbon footprint.
Games chief Ian Reid said the plans – with Severn Trent becoming the Official Nature and Carbon-Neutral Supporter of Birmingham 2022 – represented a significant sustainability pledge.
“We’ve already put a huge amount of work into understanding what our likely carbon footprint is going to be,” he said. “Severn Trent are coming on board into the Games family and they’ll be helping us with a significant and credible local offsetting programme for the carbon that remains, in terms of that footprint.
“They’re already looking into a big Commonwealth forest that will be planted in the West Midlands, as well as what we are calling 72 ‘mini-forests’ – and linking them up to every competing nation within the Commonwealth.
Mr Reid added that “things worth doing are never easy”, but said the strategy was thing to do”.
“These 72 mini-forests will allow us to bring some greenery, some open space... right across the West Midlands,” he said. “That’s part of the real benefit of this – bringing nature into a lot of city centre sites.”
The president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Dame Louise Martin, described the plans as a historic moment for Commonwealth sport.
Dame Louise said: “It reinforces our commitment to ensure that the Games leave a positive social and environmental legacy for generations to come. The creation of 2,022 acres of forest, as well as 72 new urban forests in the West Midlands, is an inspired initiative that will provide numerous benefits for the local community.”
Birmingham 2022’s
“absolutely
the
right
sustainability strategy envisages the use of native species to create the new forests.
Mr Reid added: “Our plan not only outlines how we will continue to support the regionwide economic recovery, but also demonstrates how we will leave a credible piece of social and environmental legacy.”
The Games’ organisers also hope to change the way the region thinks about sustainable travel, and are working with experts on maximising the use of cleaner generators.
The three-site campus village model planned for the Games will see some athletes staying close to their training and competition sites, further reducing travel and carbon emissions.
Severn Trent said the partnership would build on the company’s existing work to create new green urban spaces, enhance biodiversity and promote plastic-free thinking.