Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives
This month Cllr Gareth Moore and I, amongst many issues, have been working with residents to tackle issues caused by two new exempt accommodation units.
In this month’s Council debate we also renewed our calls for a change in law to make exempt accommodation units require planning permission and so prevent the continued conversion of family houses, blighting our area and the city.
I have been opposing a planning application for a new HMO on Mason Road, both collecting a petition against the application and updating residents with details of how to object.
At the end of January, we joined the Friends of Rookery Park and Envisage for their community litter pick in Rookery Park. It was great to see so many volunteers out helping, having ‘Pride in Erdington’.
The Labour run Council have announced their plans to hit residents with another double whammy of higher taxes for fewer services in their new budget.
Council Tax is rising another 7.5%, another £134 a month on average, meaning its increased by 73% since Labour took control of the Council in 2012, an average increase of £814 for a band D property.
The City Council are also axing another £1.8m from street cleaning, likely meaning more rubbish on the streets. Matters have been made worse by the Labour Council’s plans to introduce fortnightly bin collections, a ‘rat tax’ for pest removal services and Labour’s ongoing bin strike.
Gareth and I continue to call on the Council to fix the service and keep our bin collections weekly.
For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Moore visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews
