Tag: Local Conservatives

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OPINION: Erdington Cllr Robert Alden, Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

Cllr Robert Alden with local residents on Spring Lane / Photograph supplied by Cllr Robert Alden

Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(**Ed’s note… this column was first published on Friday 17 October in the Erdington Local print edition.)

Cllr Gareth Moore and I have been working with residents and the police to tackle speeding and dangerous driving in the Spring Lane area during the year.

Last month we gathered a petition calling on the City Council to fund a raised crossing and speed bumps to slow down cars racing, as well as bollards on the corner of Fern Road to prevent people blocking visibility at the junction.

Thank you to everyone who has signed, backing the campaign. We’ve also been supporting local speed watches with the Police in the area.

This month we’ve met with the officers from West Midlands Police following our letter to the Chief Constable demanding the reopening of the front desk at Erdington Police Station.

We put forward our case for why we feel it is vital to back up the initial success of Operation Fearless and extra police officers locally by now reopening our much needed Front Desk. We will continue to put the case in the coming weeks and months.

We’ve continued to challenge the Council about the ridiculous case of the broken street lights on Wesley Road. The road itself is a private unadopted road. Over the last year all the street lights on the road have broken and the Council refuse to fix them.

Despite the lights having Council asset tags and electric vehicles chargers attached to them installed by the Council!

Hopefully the Council will finally see the light and fix them!

For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews

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OPINION: A message from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch

(l-r) Local campaigner Alex Richards and Cllr Clfton Welch collecting rubbish for World Clean Up Day / Photograph supplied by Cllr Clifton Welch

Words by Cllr Clifton Welch

(**Ed’s note… this column was first published on Friday 17 October in the Erdington Local print edition.)

Hello, Local Conservative Campaigner Alex Richards and myself have spent many months campaigning for investment into Kingstanding, especially to rejuvenate our local shopping areas.

That campaign has already seen Lidi come to Kingstanding Circle with construction well underway.

Now it’s been confirmed that following our campaign, Kingstanding will get £2 million a year for the next decade to revive high streets, parks and public spaces.

This will hopefully deliver improvements for Kingstanding Circle, Hawthorn Road, Conker Island and more locally to make Kingstanding even better for residents. This funding is from the national Pride in Place fund.

For World Clean Up Day on 20 September Alex Richards and I organised a clean-up around Kingstanding Circle. We collected eight bags of rubbish and some parts from a car that had previously crashed on the roundabout. We are both proud of Kingstanding and will continue to work to keep our streets clean.

I must stress how much I am against Birmingham Council taking down flags of St George and Union Jacks across Kingstanding and Birmingham. I am so very proud of our country and our history and the flags reflect our pride.

I am quite frankly amazed that a Birmingham Labour Council that has made the city bankrupt, has an eight month bin strike on its hands, a Commonwealth Games Village that never housed an athlete and will require residents to repay the costs for 40 years etc, thinks that putting in staff to take down flags is a good use of its resources.

This Birmingham Labour Council has lost its moral compass.

Take care, Clifton.

To contact Kingstanding Cllr Clifton Welch email [email protected]

For more from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch and local campaigner Alex Richards visit www.facebook.com/KingstandingConservatives

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OPINION: A message from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch

(l-r) Cllr Clifton Welch and local campaigner Alex Richards / Photograph supplied by Cllr Clifton Welch

Words by Cllr Clifton Welch

On Saturday 30 August I received an incredible warm welcome from the organisers of Together in the Community at their fun day on Conker Island. This was their 16th year of holding this event and I was proud to be told I was the first ever Kingstanding Councillor or MP to ever attend.

Together in the Community raise funds to support underprivileged families, homeless and the elderly across Kingstanding and they are doing a wonderful role.

They always require extra help so if anyone would like to volunteer please get in touch with me and I will pass your details on. I should also give a shout out to Kingstanding Inn who gave up their car park for the day.

On Friday 5 September I was back with Together in the Community for their fortnightly food bank. Alex Richards the Local Conservative Campaigner and I joined the volunteers as they assembled food parcels. It was a wonderful to see such commitment to the community.

Along with other parts of Birmingham, the last month has seen a significant rise of Union Jack and St George’s flags being flown across Kingstanding, most notably Hawthorn Road and Chingford Road. I personally love to see our two national flags on display.

I love my country, our proud history and our culture and these flags are a symbol of our proud history and culture. It should not be a problem flying these flags in our own streets and we should install the love and pride in our country to all generations.

Take care, Clifton.

To contact Kingstanding Cllr Clifton Welch email [email protected]

For more from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch visit www.facebook.com/KingstandingConservatives

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OPINION: Erdington Cllr Robert Alden, Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(l-r) Cllr Moore, Cllr Alden on Erdingotn HIgh Street / Photograph by Ed King

Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

Over the summer Cllr Gareth Moore and I have continued our campaign fighting the growth of badly run exempt accommodation and HMOs in the area.

Every converted house that residents report to us we report to the Council to inspect.

We have been raising issues with a number of exempt accommodation units with Severn Trent regarding if the sewer system can handle all additional bathrooms, the Fire Service to inspect if adaptations have been carried out safely and legally, especially since many are in terraced houses and connect to neighbouring properties, building control to discuss if regulations have been followed for conversion work, and with the Police regarding any incidents that have taken place.

We have also held public meetings (Gareth pictured meeting with residents off Erdington High Street regarding a property being converted) and met providers to raise concerns directly.

Cllr Gareth Moore at public meeting over HMOs / Photgraph supplied by Birmingham Conservatives

The big barrier with stopping the growth of supported exempt accommodation is the fact it is currently exempt from planning permission due to the 2004 Housing Act. This literally means that someone does not need planning permission to convert a family house into this type of accommodation.

Clearly this is totally wrong and must change. That is why we have been calling on the Government to introduce a statutory instrument to amend the 2004 housing act so that it requires planning permission going forward and can then be restricted to stop the further loss of family housing.

We have a petition backing this campaign. You can sign at: www.birminghamconservatives.org.uk/campaigns/bring-exempt-accommodation-under-local-planning-control-protect-our-communities

For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews

 

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OPINION: Erdington Cllr Robert Alden, Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(l-r) Cllr Robert Alden and Cllr Gareth Moore litter picking on Short Heath Playing Fields-min / Photographs supplied by Cllr Robert Alden

Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

Cllr Gareth Moore and I’ve been challenging the Council over the lack of proper cleaning on estates in Erdington.

We’ve met the Head of Housing to raise the continued failure to properly clean the inside of the tower blocks in Erdington and the ongoing issue with refuse dumping on estates, especially to the rear of tower blocks such as those on Jarvis Road, and taken the Head of City Operations on a tour of Erdington.

It’s not been good enough and we will continue pushing the Council to improve. We’ve also continued to push the Council to reintroduce CCTV in the 13 tower blocks across Erdington to help keep residents safe.

This month we have also joined the excellent Erdington Litter Busters for their recent clean up in Short Heath Park and joined residents for the latest community speedwatch event on Spring Lane.

(l-r) Cllr Moore and Cllr Alden on Erdington High Street / Photoraph by Ed King

We’ve also met senior officers from the refuse service to challenge them over the refuse collection failures. In particular, the Council continue to fail to collect commercial waste containers including denying ones with Birmingham City Council logos on are Council owned!

These failures have seen certain locations, including schools, in the ward and North Birmingham not have their refuse taken for months on end.

We have stepped in to help sort collections – it’s unacceptable for the Council to leave rubbish attracting pests for weeks on end, at schools especially, and when they have paid for it to be collected.

As always if we can help with anything locally please just let us know on [email protected] or [email protected]

For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews

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OPINION: A message from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch

Cllr Clifton Welch and Ginn the dog at Perry Barr Fire Station (photograph supplied by Cllr Clifton Welch)

Words by Cllr Clifton Welch

Hello, on Saturday 9 August Alex Richards – the Local Conservative Campaigner for Kingstanding – and myself had a fantastic time at the Perry Bar Fire Station where the local fire brigade held an open day.

It was great to get the chance to talk to so many of the amazing people who go above and beyond every single day to save lives and be there at our hour of need such as Firefighters, the Police, First Responders, and numerous other volunteer organisations such as West Midlands 4×4 Response, First Aid, British Red Cross, Guide Dogs and Family HUB Birmingham.

The photo attached with this article shows me with Giddy, a beautiful Spaniel who is based at Perry Bar fire station. Giddy is trained to find the exact location that a fire started and is paid in tennis balls lol.

A massive thank you to everyone who helped organise this wonderful event and it was lovely to get to see and speak to so many volunteers.

On a different matter I have been receiving calls from several residents close to Crossways Lane of drug dealers being active in the area. The most recent example was Sunday 10 August, where Crossways Lane meets College Rd. I have passed details and suspected car registration numbers to Kingstanding Police.

Finally, as you are all aware Birmingham Labour Council Bin Srike chaos worsens. Birmingham Labour continues to drag Kingstanding and Birmingham down. Please continue to make me aware of examples of bins not being collected or examples of fly tipping.

Take care, Clifton.

To contact Kingstanding Cllr Clifton Welch email [email protected]

For more from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch visit www.facebook.com/KingstandingConservatives

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OPINION: Erdington Ward Councillor Robert Alden, Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(L-R) Cllr Robert Alden adn Cllr Gareth Moore with speed camera as part of community speed watch on Kingsbury Road / Photograph supplied by Cllr Robert Alden and Cllr Gareth Moore

Words by Erdington Ward Councillor Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

Cllr Gareth Moore and I have been working with residents and the Police to tackle speeding, dangerous driving and excessive noise from motor vehicles.

As part of this campaign, it has seen residents and ourselves joining the Police on a recent community speed watch on Kingsbury Road.

We continue to push the Council to approve our bid for road safety improvements on Spring Lane, which we have submitted. If approved this would see speed cushions introduced and raising the crossing to help improve safety.

We are delighted to announce that this week the Council has now agreed to introduce average speed cameras onto the Fort Parkway to tackle speeding cars there.

Racing cars in the evening is one of the causes of vehicle noise audible in the local area all too often. These cameras will help both improve the safety of the road and reduce the vehicle noise.

Sadly, however, the Council continue to refuse the request for average speed cameras on the Chester Road that we have been campaigning for.

This is despite a number of tragic incidents on the road in the last few years and of course both a park and school being alongside the road. Again, we continue to push the Council to change their mind and also introduce average speed cameras along this road.

As always if we can help with anything locally please just let us know on [email protected] or [email protected]

For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews

 

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OPINION: A message from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch

(L-R) Cllr Clifton Welch and Local Conservative campaigner Alex Richards cleaning sign for Burford Road Playing Fields / Photograph supplied by Cllr Welch

Words by Cllr Clifton Welch

This month at Birmingham Full Council Meeting on the 8 July, I added a petition of 525 people calling on the City Council to take enforcement action against 101 Hawthorn Road for operating without planning permission.

The background to this case is that in 2020 the City Council gave planning permission for a retail shop to be converted into an Islamic education centre for activities such as teaching languages.

Since then, residents have reported that it has effectively become a mosque for which there is no planning permission, with on occasions praying on the pavement and significant planning permission. I have been raising the concerns of residents to City Planning for 14 months, sadly without success.

Due to the breach in planning regulations and the failure of the Labour run Council to act I launched this petition demanding they take enforcement action. It’s not too late to sign the petition as I’m getting additional names every day and I will be able to add these names at the next Council Meeting.

On 27 June I had a wonderful afternoon at Kings Rise Academy School to share their 3rd anniversary of what is a stunning Nature Garden.

Local Conservative Campaigner Alex Richards and I have also been busy cleaning community signs such as the one in the above photo at Burford Park. Local Conservatives believe in Actions not Words.

Finally enjoy the beautiful sunshine but stay safe.

To contact Kingstanding Cllr Clifton Welch email [email protected]

For more from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch visit www.facebook.com/KingstandingConservatives/

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OPINION: A message from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch

(l-r) Alex Richards and Cllr Clifton Welch collecting rubbish on Conker Island / Photograph supplied by Cllr Welch

Words by Cllr Clifton Welch

(Ed’s note… this column was written the June/July Erdington Local newspaper and first published, in print, on Thursday 12 June.)

Hello, I thought I’d tell you about some of the things I’ve been involved in around Kingstanding in the past month.

On 23 May, my colleague and local campaigner Alex Richards and I visited Conker Island. Our original purpose was to look at the condition of the waste bins which turned out to be in a dreadful state, in some cases almost falling apart.

I’ve reported the state of the bins together with the fact that exercise equipment is missing and not replaced or broken, and matting in the play area is missing or in poor condition. Alex and I also took the opportunity to do an extensive litter pick of Conker Island as the photo above shows.

In early June, I was contacted by member of staff at Greenholm Primary School and sent a video of the waste bags that had not been collected for almost six weeks. I was shocked and very concerned at the obvious threat to public health of primary school aged children.

I wrote to the CEO of Birmingham Council the same evening I received the video, asking her to use her authority to get the waste collected from the school as a matter of urgency. I was delighted to hear and see photos showing the waste had been collected the next working day.

But within two hours I was sent another video from Warren Farm Primary School almost identical to Greenholm. This demonstrated this was not an isolated incident.

Birmingham Labour Council are putting the public health of small children and staff members at risk; this is simply unacceptable.

To contact Kingstanding Cllr Clifton Welch email [email protected]

For more from Kingstanding Councillor Clifton Welch visit www.facebook.com/KingstandingConservatives

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OPINION: Erdington Cllr Robert Alden, Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(l-r) Cllr Moore and Cllr Alden on Erdington High Street / Photograph by Ed King

Words by Erdington Ward Cllr Robert Alden – Leader of Birmingham Conservatives

(Ed’s note… this column was written the June/July Erdington Local newspaper and first published, in print, on Thursday 12 June.)

Cllr Gareth Moore and I have been continuing our campaign for West Midlands Police to reopen a public front desk at Erdington Police Station. Having recently secured the additional Police team for the ward, we are clear that this is best complimented by the reopening of the front desk for at least part of the week.

While the Police pod placed on the High Street is nice to support community groups, it is clearly not a replacement for a Police Front Desk. Therefore, we have again written to the West Midlands Police Chief Constable, calling on him to reopen the front desk.

Other things we’ve been doing for residents recently include campaigning against a planning application to convert four much needed bungalows behind 41 Deakin Road into care homes, tackling dumped rubbish and missed bin collections, securing a further visit from the Mobile Waste Trucks for residents to be able to get rid of rubbish during the strike, and supported community events like the recent volunteers day as well as much more.

We also spoke at a recent licensing review meeting against Drinks 2 Go, where we were calling on the Council to close the premises. Sadly, this was rejected by the Council, who added a further condition on the premise.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who took part in the first Love Your Local Community High Street Litter Pick. It is hugely appreciated.

For more from Erdington’s Councillor Robert Alden and Councillor Gareth Jones visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonNews