OPINION: John Lambert, Chair of Reform UK Erdington Branch

(Ed’s note… this column was written for the January/February Erdington Local newspaper and first published on 20.01.26)

Words by John Lambert

January in Erdington has a particular honesty. The lights are down and what remains is the everyday. Getting the kids to school, keeping a business open and hoping the street still feels like yours when you get home.

All across Castle Vale, Erdington, Gravelly Hill, Kingstanding, Oscott, Perry Common, Pype Hayes and Stockland Green, residents are telling us the same thing. They do not want another set of promises in 2026. They want the basics done properly. Bins collected on time, streets kept clean, potholes repaired before they swallow a wheel and anti-social behaviour dealt with, rather than managed.

They also want fairness. Planning rules should mean something, not least when decent streets are being slowly worn down by fly-tipping, nuisance vehicles and the quiet creep of overcrowded HMOs that change a street’s rhythm overnight. Good landlords should not be undercut by rogue operators who ignore standards because enforcement is rare. Residents should not be left to log the same complaints again and again while nothing moves.

Operation Fearless by West Midlands Police has brought a bracing reminder of what normal should look like. Visible patrols, pace and consequence. But a town should not require a named operation to feel protected. If urgency works when it is organised and resourced, it should work every day of the year.

We are Reform UK’s Erdington Branch.

Like every resident in Erdington, we want competence. We will push for transparent spending, firmer enforcement and a council that treats residents as customers, not an afterthought. You may have already seen us in Erdington’s neighbourhoods, listening, taking notes and asking residents the simplest question of all.

What would you fix first if the people in charge were finally prepared to do the job? Please send your suggestions to [email protected]

For more from Reform UK’s Erdington Branch visit www.reformerdington.co.uk