Hand-over Of New Mini Bus At Harborne Hill

Childcare issues are of great importance to working mums, hence the need for and the popularity of after school clubs. The Edgbaston Councillors have, in the past, supported both the breakfast club at Woodview School and the after school provision which used to be provided in a pod on the Chad Vale site.

This provision has now moved across to much bigger facilities at Harborne Hill School. Chad Vale and Harborne Hill (whilst both being in Edgbaston Ward) are part of the Harborne Schools cluster - a grouping of 5 primary and 3 secondary schools in the constituency. Some of the primary schools don't have any after school provision on site, others do but it is full and can't take any more children.

The Harborne Schools cluster therefore has arranged extra after school provision (under the name kidz.comm) at Harborne Hill School, and it's open to any children from the 5 primary schools in the cluster whose parents want to use the facility. They are registered to take up to 104 under eight year olds.

Transport is needed of course to transfer the children from the various schools to the club at Harborne Hill, and yesterday I was asked to officially hand over the cluster's new mini bus which will be used for this purpose. The picture shows me with the manager of kidz.comm Leanne Fanning (at the wheel of the bus), and the co-ordinator of the Harborne Cluster, Jane Lewis.

Harborne Pool Rebuild - Latest News

A packed meeting of Harborne Ward Committee last night heard that the residents' preferred option of rebuilding Harborne's swimming pool on its present site was supported by an independent business case.

The report, carried out by Capita Symonds and commissioned by the Edgbaston constituency, had explored a number of options but named the current Lordswood Road site as the most viable as it is capable of providing enough space along with a central location and good public transport links.

The plan presented last night is to provide a six lane pool (one more lane than at present) along with a fitness centre comprising eighty stations and a dance studio. The fitness centre is an important part of the package to make sure the new building is viable.

Edgbaston constituency has now completed its work on this project and the business case will now be considered by the Council's Cabinet as funding options for the proposed £10.9 million scheme are explored. The timetable laid out by Capita Symonds at the meeting last night suggested a start on site in the first quarter of 2010. The current pool will obviously have to be closed while demolition and then rebuilding takes place. Capita Symonds estimate the demolition and rebuilding will take between 22-30 months depending on the state of the ground beneath the current building, therefore the development would be completed in late 2011 or 2012.

The news was greeted with delight by residents who have fought for a number of years to get a new swimming pool for Harborne built on the current site. They have been supported by their three Harborne Ward Councillors - John Alden, Peter Hollingworth and Mike Whitby, and me in my role as Chairman of the Edgbaston Constituency Committee. As one person said last night, we are not at the end yet, but we are at the end of the beginning. A milestone has been reached.

A New Plan For The Golden Cross

A new planning application has been submitted for the Golden Cross site at the bottom of Metchley Lane (right on the border of Edgbaston and Harborne Wards). There's been a pub on that site for around a hundred years but it was closed down around a year ago. A previous planning application for flats with shops below, was turned down.

This time the retail element has disappeared and the plan is for fifty residential units in a three storey block. The application states the accommodation would be for students/nurses and junior doctors only.

There would be parking underneath (including bicycle parking) with vehicular access onto Harborne Park Road, not onto Metchley Lane (so Planning told me when I phoned them this afternoon). The application is number S/02191/08/FUL and comments must be in by June 4th. I have emailed Planning raising a number of questions today.

More details are available by phoning Planning Direct on 0121-303-1115.

Post Box - It's Not Over Yet!

Regular readers of this blog will know about the saga of the post box in Harborne Park Rd which Royal Mail closed on "health and safety" grounds. I appealed to them to move it 50 yards to the parade of shops in Harborne Lane. This would be a much better location (less dangerous and more passing trade) and would still be convenient for residents in the area who, now that the box has been closed off, have to catch a bus to post a letter as the alternative locations suggested by Royal Mail are too far and (in the case of Metchley Lane) up a steep hill as well.

Royal Mail turned down my plea. So I approached Postwatch - the independent consumer watchdog for postal services.

I'm delighted to say that Postwatch have written to me saying they have sent in an appeal on my behalf. Their Consumer Services Officer has written to Royal Mail asking them to explain how their decision was reached and what research, if any, they carried out to determine who would be affected by their action.

Postwatch have also said they I have suggested a "very valid location" for a replacement Post Box. They have asked Royal Mail to consider my suggested location in detail and provide a detailed reason for their decision either for or against.

So while this in no way guarantees that Royal Mail will reverse their decision, Postwatch's letter (and the fact that the closed off box is stll in situ six weeks after it was supposed to be being uprooted) hopefully mean that this saga isn't over yet!

Making A Difference

Over the past few weeks I've twice sat in on peer mentoring sessions at Four Dwellings School. First I watched as Rob and Gaz (who are part of the SLAM! project with Duncan Chamberlain) helped this year's Youth Marshalls (from year 11) gain the skills they needed to help them do their job effectively. This included the youngsters gaining confidence, team building, leadership skills etc.

The second time I went, I saw the same students I had watched the first time, teaching the skills to the new Youth Marshalls who are currently Year 10 but who will be fully taking over the job of Youth Marshalls next year when this year's Year 11 pupils have left.

Today Baroness Sayeeda Warsi who is the Conservative Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action came to Quinton to meet with Duncan, Rob, Gaz and two of the Youth Marshalls who have been through the project - Andy and Marcus.

We had a really interesting chat as the guys explained the project to Baroness Warsi. Slam! offers a bottom up approach to social problems with the aim of making a real difference "on the street" and also making a decent living for those involved - so that others will wish to get involved too.

Cutting The Ribbon At Chad Vale

This morning I was invited to Chad Vale School in Edgbaston to officially launch the new safety measures which have been put outside the school as part of the "Safer Routes To Schools" programme.

Chad Vale now has a pedestrian crossing, speed bumps, yellow lines and zigzags to deter people parking immediately outside the school entrance, and the immediate area around the school has been made a 20mph zone.

Several years ago, a party of children from the school came to the Edgbaston Ward Committee to make their case for safety measures outside their school. They did this exceedingly well and the Edgbaston Councillors were more than happy to back their case. It's taken a while (these things invariably do) but at last now the school has the kind of measures the children asked for.

I spoke to the headmaster, chairman of the governors and the lollipop man this morning - and all were delighted with the work that has been done. So too were the children from reception class who helped me cut the ribbon in front of the new crossing this morning.

Here's One We Did Earlier...

Yesterday I mentioned the new play areas which will be going in two Harborne parks.

Today I had a day of appointments in Bartley Green Ward. It was such a beautiful day (unlike the bank holiday weather here yesterday) that when we had a gap between meetings, Cllr Vivienne Barton and I first went for a pub lunch and then went to check out this new play area in Lye Avenue.

The Lye Avenue play area was paid for through Bartley Green Neighbourhood Renewal Fund money. It contains brightly coloured play items for younger children, enclosed with railings to keep the little ones safe. It's been open for a few weeks now and there were several children and their mums taking advantage of the new play equipment when we visited. They were delighted with the new facilities.