Monday, July 25, 2011

Update on aggressive street drinkers and nuisance beggars in Moseley

Last Wednesday, 20th July, I met with the local Safer Communities Officer who is dealing with the issue of aggressive street drinkers and nuisance beggars in Moseley shopping centre. This is a report back from that meeting.

Birmingham Community Safety Partnership & West Midlands Police are working
jointly to tackle this issue. Since May there has been a noticeable increase in anti-social behaviour by street drinkers and beggars in Moseley shopping centre. This is due to a number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) on street drinkers coming to an end since May.

The police are presently collecting evidence on 13 individuals in preparation for the issuing of ASBO’s on these individuals. At the end of June, all these individuals were handed letters informing them that evidence was now being collected in preparation for new ASBO’s. Also the police have provided each individual with details of services that they can access to help them come off their alcohol/drug addiction. The police will continue to provide them with this information, since any judge issuing an ASBO will want to see evidence that less draconian measures other than an ASBO have been investigated.

What the police need from the community is evidence of anti-social behaviour or harassment by these or other individuals.

The police are happy to collect statements from residents either from their homes or from pre-arranged meetings at Woodbridge Road police station.

Examples of anti-social behaviour that the police can take action against include:

  • threats of violence,
  • swearing or threatening language at members of the public,
  • urinating or defecating in a public space
  • intimidatory begging (ie demanding money and following you down the street still demanding money),
  • implied threats (eg sitting next to the cash point and asking for money as you are withdrawing money),
  • selling the Big Issue without permission (we have a number of individuals doing this. Any Big Issue seller needs an id badge and is given a pitch by the Big Issue organisation. The Big Issue organisation work towards helping the individual stabilise their lives. Non-authorised sellers by-pass this help and have been known to bully authorised Big Issue sellers )
  • selling items without a street license (we have a problem with individuals selling liquid cigarette lighters without a street license and harassing members of the public)


If you have witnessed any of the above or other examples of anti-social behaviour by street drinkers or beggars in Moseley, please contact our Community Safer Partnership officers, Jonathan Antill or Oliver Humpidge to arrange a visit/appointment on 0121 303 3191 or via:
jonathan.antill@birmingham.gov.uk & oliver.humpidge@birmingham.gov.uk

Also, can I remind readers that my on-line survey on this issue is still active and can be accessed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TC75LVV. It only takes two minutes to fill in. Honest!

Update on Moseley Road baths –25th July 2011

First of all the last six weeks dealing with the works to re-open of Pool 2 of Moseley Road baths have been utterly frustrating for me.... and I am sure that the Urban Design team of the City Council now have a nervous twitch whenever they see my name, since I am asking for updates every few days.

If you read my last update on 8th June – see http://martinmullaney.blogspot.com/2011/06/update-on-moseley-road-baths-8-th-june.html - you will note that we were hoping to have pool 2 open to the public by 15th July. Subsequent to this update, our Health and Safety team inspected the basement of Moseley Road baths and have designated it as a ‘confined work area’, which requires an of onerous level of work conditions. It is in this basement that new permanent scaffolding needs to be inserted to hold up sections of the floor, which in turn holds up the roof.

The list of conditions that Health and Safety have set is as follows:

Before the main project works begin –

  • The basement area needs to be surveyed. There are a number of areas that pose a substantial risk of tripping/ falling. These areas should be covered over. The use of barriers may not be practical.
  • An agreed travel route around the basement should be clearly designated and marked, avoiding pipework where possible.
  • Any waste should be removed or relocated to free up working space
  • The pipes should be surveyed with high hazard pipes clearly marked eg high temp water pipes
  • Assure yourself that no asbestos is in the working area.
  • Improve lighting provision
  • Improve ventilation provision
  • Seek assurances from building management that there will be no ingress of noxious gases, eg sewer gases or chlorine gas from the pool processes or any decaying sewer pipes into the basement.
  • You should treat this basement as a confined space and ensure a rescue plan is in place should someone get injured. Dragging a prone body over the pipes is not going to be easy.
    Modify the chute scaffold access point as an alternative means of escape,
  • Agree a system to ensure this is always available whilst work takes place.
  • The external area should be kept secure and managed.
  • Agree a fire watch system between the contractor and building management and a means of raising the alarm as there is no means of detecting a fire or a fire alarm system. Exit routes should be clearly marked.

When the works commence –

  • Contractor not to appoint tall operatives, the area is very cramped with low ceilings, this will cause some discomfort as in most areas operatives will have to work stooped. Tall operatives will struggle.
  • All operatives should be inducted onto site and given a familiarisation tour of the site and made aware of the site procedures.
  • There should be enough operatives to conduct the work without putting undue stress on the operatives due to the restricted nature of the working environment and the manual handling activities.
  • Operatives should be allowed and directed to take regular breaks outside of the basement.
    A ready supply of drinking water should be available in the basement area.
  • No loneworking to take place.
  • There should be visible and permanent site supervision
  • Only one contracted activity at a time should take place in the basement due to its restricted nature.
  • There should be cooperation, coordination and active communication between all on site which includes building management.

The impact of these additional health and safety conditions is that the cost of this work has almost doubled from £55k to almost £100k. There have been a number of meetings between officers and the contractors to reduce this price as much as possible.

In preparation for work starting, an asbestos survey is taking place in the basement this week – I should have the results later this week.

If everything goes well, we hope to have the baths re-opened towards the end of September.

In the meantime, I’ve had my first meeting with officers to understand what a successful £5million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund would mean for Moseley Road baths. It is clear that £5million would achieve alot, but wouldn’t completely restore the building. This £5million would need to be seen as reaching phase 1 of a much longer 10 year restoration.

As a recent of that meeting, our Council officers are doing a further piece of work to get a further understanding as to what condition and priority areas for restoration we would want to achieve at the end of phase 1.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Survey on aggressive street drinking and begging in Moseley

I wonder if you could spend a few moments filling in a survey on the current state of aggressive street drinking and begging in Moseley shopping centre. The survey only takes about two minutes to fill in – see http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TC75LVV

To provide some background to this survey, if you regularly use Moseley shopping centre you may have noticed a sudden increase in aggressive street drinkers and beggars in the area since May.

Both Councillor Ernie Hendricks and myself have acted quickly to resolve this issue and worked closely with the local police. As a result, at the end of June, warning letters were issued to eleven individuals informing them that evidence was now being collected in preparation for the issuing of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) against them. I would like to give special thanks to our Moseley and Kings Heath street wardens who quickly identified the problem individuals and are now collecting evidence of anti-social behaviour.

Since the issuing of these warning letters, I have noticed a drop in anti-social behaviour by the street drinkers. I would like to know if you too have seen this reduction and what other problems you may have noticed with anti-social behaviour in Moseley and Kings Heath.

There are also further proposals to reduce the street drinkers’ presence in St Mary’s Church, on which I would like your views.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Below is the text of the speech that I delivered at today's Leisure, Sport and culture Scrutiny Committee. Every twelve months, Cabinet members have to present themselves to the relevant Scrutiny Committee for questioning on the performance of this portfolio.

Leisure, Sport and Culture Scrutiny Committee

13 July 2011

Can I thank you for this opportunity to talk here at the Leisure, Sport and Culture Scrutiny Committee. It is 12 months since I last presented my report here and 7months since I presented my annual report to full Council.

As you well know, this portfolio is very broad in its responsibilities and if I were to go through every particular project we have or are working on we would be here for the next 2 hours.

So what I intend to do is just remind you of the many successes this portfolio has achieved since December 2010 and then I will open it out to questions.

First of all you will have seen last weekend, Alexander Stadium hosting the British leg of the Diamond League athletics event. The world’s fastest and best track and field athletes came here to Birmingham, for an event that was shown live on BBC2 and on TV screens across Europe and in the USA. An event which has won our city great praise from the athletes themselves and from the IAAF and again reinforced our position as a world leading event destination.

Yet it is less than 12 months ago that the Leader, myself and the Chief Executive of UK Athletics discussed the possibility of the Diamond League coming to Birmingham and Alexander Stadium being the head quarters of UK Athletics.

To satisfy the seating capacity requirement of Diamond League we have built a new stand, increasing the capacity of the stadium to 12,500 and in October this year UK Athletics and English Athletics will move their head quarter operations into the offices in the under croft of this new stand.

The event on Sunday was a complete sell out – selling more tickets than both the New York and Shanghai legs. Indeed, we had one of the most well attended Diamond League fixtures in the last twelve months.

The new stand looks fantastic and has been designed so that in the future we can increase the capacity of the stadium to 25,000 seats. Such a capacity would allow the stadium to host the European Athletics Championships – now held every two years and an event that Britain has never held. Also we could host the European Team Championships.

Continuing on the theme of running, in June we announced that we had reached a deal with Nova International – organisers of the Great North Run, the largest half marathon in the world – that the Birmingham Half Marathon would join the Great Run Series and become the Bupa Great Birmingham Run. This partnership should not be underestimated – Nova International has a fantastic reputation for organising and staging mass participation events and in order to encourage more of Birmingham’s residents to become more active we have set them a target to raise the number of runners in the Birmingham Half Marathon from 14,000 last year to 25,000 in 2013.

In June also, we opened the new BMX track at Perry Park – this track is now recognised as the best BMX track in Britain. Indeed, we already have both the Australian and US BMX Olympic teams enquiring as whether they can use this track as their training base in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

Last year, the rebuilding of Harborne pool began. The first swimming pool to be built in Birmingham since 1990. This pool is still on target to open on 2nd January next year and the procurement process has already begun to find a private operator to run this pool on the Council’s behalf. A procurement framework is also being prepared to find a private partner to design, build, operate and maintain a new Sparkhill pool, a report seeking approval will be presented to Cabinet at the end of this month. Together these show my commitment, supported by my Cabinet colleagues to the retention of community swimming pools in Birmingham.

I know that the issue of asset transfer is something that the Committee has asked me to talk about. As Cabinet Member for this portfolio, I have been very supportive of the idea of involving community groups, especially sports organisations, in the running of our various facilities. Indeed, I have taken a close look at how Sweden has managed to successfully work with voluntary groups to run facilities.

Our first such test of this Swedish model for community managed assets is taking place at an unattached playing field at Holford Drive in Perry Barr. Working closely with my Cabinet colleague, Cllr Les Lawrence, we advertised in the local press for sports and community groups who would be interested in working together to form a ‘Community Sports Hub’ to coordinate activity and eventually manage these playing fields under a Community Asset Transfer, the protocol for which was approved by Cabinet earlier this year.

Using Holford Drive as a pilot we are also working towards forming Community Sports Hubs at a number of unattached playing fields and a report to Cabinet later this summer seeking approval for a Community Asset Transfer at Holford Drive will lead the way for similar transfer at:

  • Spring Lane in Erdington
  • Holders Lane playing fields and pavilion in Moseley. This would most likely include the former Pebble Mill playing fields.
  • Belchers Lane playing fields.

The development of a Community Sports Hub/Community Asset Transfer at Belchers Lane playing fields is quite advanced. These playing fields have not being used since the 1970s. In 2003, the previous administration announced plans to build on these playing fields for a medical research facility, plus car parking for the hospital. Through discussions with the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (Heartlands) it is quite clear that this medical research facility is not going happen and that planning restrictions would prevent the playing fields being merely used for car parking.

On that basis, both Cllr Lawrence and I have taken the initiative and worked closely with Waverley School and the English Cricket Board to put these playing fields back into use. Indeed, Waverley School proposed to create a cricket academy on part of the site, which will tap into the high level of enthusiasm for cricket in the Small Heath community and act as a feeder school for Warwickshire Cricket club.

Later this month, work will begin on laying out a new cricket pitch on these playing fields, ready for Summer 2013, when the cricket academy will open.

We know that the school will be inviting local sports group to join with them in running these new playing fields.

Finally, can I explain about the recent decision to sell off a thin sliver of open space to Asda at Barnes Hill. I do not take these decisions lightly, our open space is very important to me, local councillors and residents alike. However, I do believe that this was a unique opportunity to raise capital funding to reinvest in the local area, plus other key parks around the city such as Cannon Hill Park, Sutton Park, Kings Heath Park, Lickey Hills, Sheldon Country Park and Cofton Park.

I have worked closely with the local Councillors, who in turn have consulted with their residents as to whether they would find a financial investment in Woodgate Valley country park sufficient to compensate for the loss of this land.

As a result, we have, I believe reached an agreement which the residents of Barltey Green will find acceptable. In exchange for the sale of this land, the residents will see a considerable financial investment in the infrastructure of Woodgate Valley Country Park. These include:

  • The building of a sports changing room to the rear of the visitors centre. At the moment, football teams have to change in a class room used by schools and store room – this is not acceptable and in turn impacts on the users of the class room, especially when they find it covered in mud.
  • The enlargement and refurbishment of the toilets, plus the creation of a disabled toilet.
  • Repair of numerous paths, which during the winter become waterlogged and impassable.
  • Repair and improvement in the boundary fencing to stop travellers setting up camp on the site.
  • Improvements to the nearby pony trekking centre, including a disabled toilet and the construction of an indoor horse riding centre. This indoor centre will allow the trekking centre to operate throughout the winter, plus whenever it rains in the Summer.

As I said earlier this is a huge portfolio and this is just a taste of many of the achievement of this portfolio in the last seven months. I’m happy to take questions.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Planning Applications in Moseley & Kings Heath Ward that have had a decision made since 22nd May 2011

The planning applications

2007/07766/PA for Conversion and alterations to existing building and erection of single and two storey rear extension to create 4 apartments to extend the time limit for implementation Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02992/PA 30 St Albans Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9AS Erection of single storey rear extension. Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02438/PA 19 St Marys Row Moseley Birmingham B13 8HW Installation of new access ramp to existing entrance Refused

2011/02760/PA 88 Church Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9AE Installation of 64 no. solar panels to roof Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01967/PA 17 Reddings Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8LW Erection of single storey rear extension Withdrawn

2011/02496/PA 21 Woodbridge Road Birmingham B13 8EJ Change of use from bakery (use class A1) to restaurant (use class A3) and installation of flue to rear Refused

2011/02729/PA Moseley Church of England Primary School Oxford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9EH Installation of 6 no. solar panels to roof Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02376/PA 348 Moor Green Lane Moseley Birmingham B13 8QP Erection of two storey side extension Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02669/PA 47 Elizabeth Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8QH Erection of two storey side and rear extension and replacement of flat roof with pitched roof to porch Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02492/PA 12 Forest Road Birmingham B13 9DL Erection of single storey rear extension and conservatory Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02491/PA 16 Avenue Road Birmingham B14 7TH Erection of single storey rear extension Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01878/PA Moseley Hall Hospital Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8JL Listed Building Consent for refurbishment and subdivision of an existing store room to create a lobby and office accommodation including the provision of a staff welfare facility Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02331/PA 197 Alcester Road Birmingham B13 8LW Part change of use from Childrens Home (use class C2) to Internet Pharmacy (use class B8) Registered Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01518/PA 161 High Street Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7LA Display of 1 no internally illuminated fascia sign and 1 no. internally illuminated projecting sign Approve Temporary

2011/02120/PA Kings Heath Park House Kings Heath Park Vicarage Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7TQ Listed Building Consent for demolition of existing conservatory and erection of a new conservatory, installation of access ramp, internal & external alterations including maintaining security of the main house Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02118/PA Kings Heath Park House Kings Heath Park Vicarage Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7TQ Demolition of existing conservatory and erection of a new conservatory, installation of access ramp, internal & external alterations including maintaining security of the main house Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01400/PA 21 St Agnes Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9PH Replacement of first floor windows Approve subject to Conditions

2011/02192/PA 72 Melton Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7ES Erection of a single storey rear extension Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01979/PA 8 Greenend Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9TJ Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for a proposed single storey rear extension Withdrawn

2011/01555/PA 2 Cartland Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7NS Listed Building Consent to renovate the property from current its state of disrepair to a habitable condition Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01160/PA 31A St Marys Row Moseley Birmingham B13 8HW Listed building consent for the removal of external staircase to side and erection of porch Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01152/PA 31A St Marys Row Moseley Birmingham B13 8HW Change of use from (use class A2) Finance and Professional Services to (Use class C3) Residential Flats and removal of external staircase to side and erection of porch Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01114/PA 33 Alcester Road South Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7JQ Display of 1 externally illuminated facia sign and 1 externally illuminated projection sign Approve Temporary

2011/01113/PA 33 Alcester Road South Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7JQ Installation of a new shop front and roller shutters. Approve subject to Conditions

2011/01814/PA 51-67 High Street Land to Rear Kings Heath Birmingham Outline consent for 11 no. town houses with associated parking Registered Approve subject to Conditions

2010/07194/PA St Dunston School Drayton Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7LP Erection of part two storey and part first floor side extension, and single storey forward and front extensions. Registered Approve subject to Conditions

2010/06456/PA - 201 Russell Road Moseley And Kings Heath Birmingham B13 8RR - Conservation Area Consent for demolition of existing bungalow Registered Approve subject to Conditions

2010/06143/PA - 201 Russell Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8RR - Erection of a dwellinghouse Registered Approve subject to Conditions

2010/04782/PA - 18 Amesbury Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8LD - Erection of two storey rear and single storey side extension Registered Approve subject to Conditions

Planning Applications in Moseley & Kings Heath Ward that are still live– Sunday 10th July 2011

These are applications, where no decision has been made and residents can still comment on.

Drawings and further details on each of these planning application is available on-line at http://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/ApplicationSearch.aspx

If you wish to comment on any of these applications, you do this by the following means

  • telephoning (planning will accept comments on planning application over the telephone) 303 1115 – please remember to quote the planning application number you are commenting on
  • post to Planning Management, Birmingham City Council, PO Box 28, Birmingham B1 1TU

2011/04232/PA 72 Moorcroft Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8LU Erection of two storey rear and single storey front extensions Registered 29-06-2011

2011/04030/PA Bishop Challoner R C School Institute Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7EG Erection of pitched roof to replace existing flat roof Registered 22-06-2011

2011/04054/PA 49 Greenhill Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9SU Erection of single storey rear extension and alterations to existing side extension with the addition of two rooflights in side elevation Registered 22-06-2011

2011/04014/PA 40 Vicarage Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7RA Change of use of part first floor residential (use class C3) to day nursery (use class D1) in connection with existing day nursery use at ground floor Registered 21-06-2011

2011/04013/PA 40 Vicarage Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7RA Change of use from domestic garden (use class C3) to children's play area for existing day nursery use (use class D1) Registered 21-06-2011

2011/02646/PA Shilpa Medical Centre 1C Ashfield Avenue Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7AT Erection of 1.5 stoery extension to existing single storey element and change of use from surgery (Use Class D1) to 11 no. flats in addition to existing 4 no. flats. Registered 27-04-2011

2011/04164/PA 36 Poplar Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7AA Erection of single storey rear extension to form kitchen and store room Registered 27-06-2011

2011/04049/PA 47 Melton Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7ET Erection of single storey rear extension & existing front drive to be extended & paved. Registered 22-06-2011

2011/03382/PA 153 High Street Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7DG Display of various illuminated and non illuminated signage Registered 26-05-2011

2011/02944/PA Moseley Allotments Moseley Birmingham Installation of 6 solar panels to roof of allotment building Registered 11-05-2011

2011/04113/PA 120-126 Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8EE Application for variation of conditions 1-10 (inclusive) and 18 attached to planning approval 2010/04473/PA Registered 23-06-2011

2011/03409/PA 6 St Marys Row Moseley Birmingham B13 8JG Change of use of ground floor from retail (use class A1) to a taxi booking office (use class Sui Generis) Registered 27-05-2011

2011/03713/PA 106 High Street Hare and Hounds Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7JZ Erection of 1.2 metre high steel posted and metal chain fencing. Registered 08-06-2011

2011/03931/PA 8 Prospect Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9TB Erection of single storey rear extension. Registered 15-06-2011

2011/01908/PA 21A Sandford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9BP Erection of 4 no. 5 bedroom dwellinghouses and ancillary car parking. Registered 25-03-2011

2011/03649/PA 106 High Street Hare & Hounds Kings Heath Listed building consent for formation of new doorway in courtyard, Registered 07-06-2011

2011/03648/PA 106 High Street Hare & Hounds Kings Heath Formation of new doorway in courtyard. Registered 07-06-2011

2011/03836/PA 113 Blenheim Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9UA Erection of a single storey rear extension Registered 14-06-2011

2011/03817/PA 100 Cambridge Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9TB Erection of two storey side, single storey side and single storey rear extensions and installation of canopy to front Registered 13-06-2011

2011/02590/PA 31 Park Hill Birmingham B13 8DR Replacement of windows to the front and side elevations Registered 26-04-2011

2010/06263/PA 195 Highbury Road Moseley Birmingham B14 7QS Erection of single storey rear extension and first floor rear extensions, installation of 3 no dormers to rear and alterations to roof pitch Registered 08-11-2010

2011/01579/PA 2 Highfield Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9HL Erection of a single storey rear extension Registered 14-03-2011

2011/03410/PA 167-167A Highbury Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7QS Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for existing use as 2 self contained flats in excess of 4 years Registered 27-05-2011

2011/03529/PA 110 Oxford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9SQ Listed building consent for the installation of replacement hard standing to front. Registered 02-06-2011

2011/03528/PA 110 Oxford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9SQ Installation of replacement hard standing to front. Registered 02-06-2011

2011/03527/PA 112 Oxford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9SQ Listed building consent for the installation of replacement hard standing to front Registered 02-06-2011

2011/03526/PA 112 Oxford Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9SQ Installation of replacement hard standing to front Registered 02-06-2011

2011/03069/PA 11 St Marys Row Moseley Birmingham B13 8HW Change of use from retail (use class A1) to a restaurant (use class A3) to provide additional space for existing restaurant at 13. St Marys Row Registered 16-05-2011

2011/03480/PA 69-71 High Street Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7BH Change of use from Bingo Hall (use class D2) to retail (use class A1). Registered 01-06-2011

2011/03184/PA 56 Alcester Road Birmingham B13 8BA Listed Building Consent for installation of satellite dish and head end unit to rear. Registered 19-05-2011

2011/03129/PA 20 Ashfield Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7AS Erection of single storey rear extension Registered 18-05-2011

2011/02930/PA 43 Leighton Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8HD Installation dormer window to rear Registered 11-05-2011

2011/02673/PA 224 Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8EY Erection of single storey rear and side extension. Registered 03-05-2011

2011/02922/PA 232 Wheelers Lane Kings Heath Birmingham B13 0SR Erection of single and two storey rear extension, two storey side extension, canopy to front and dormer window and juliet balcony to rear Registered 10-05-2011

2011/03267/PA Former Jug of Ale PH 43 Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8AA Erection of two storey and single storey rear extensions, creation of new entrance to side, associated landscaping and various alterations and refurbishment in connection with use as a restaurant. Registered 23-05-2011

2011/02939/PA 1 Lench's Close Moseley Birmingham B13 9EY Erection of two single storey extensions to existing communal areas. Registered 11-05-2011

2011/02651/PA 169 Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 0NY Application for a new planning permission to replace an extant planning permission 2007/07766/PA for Conversion and alterations to existing building and erection of single and two storey rear extension to create 4 apartments to extend the time limit for implementation Registered 28-04-2011

2011/02651/PA 169 Alcester Road Moseley Birmingham B13 0NY Application for a new planning permission to replace an extant planning permission

2011/02514/PA 18 Moorcroft Road Moseley Birmingham B13 8LX Erection of a two storey side and rear extension with Juliet balcony, single storey rear extension, installation of a two storey bay window to frontage, open porch and canopy to front. Registered 21/04/2011

2011/02024/PA 52-54 Dads Lane Kings Heath Birmingham B13 8PG Installation of ATM Registered 31/03/2011

2011/02024/PA 52-54 Dads Lane Kings Heath Birmingham B13 8PG Installation of ATM Registered 31/03/2011

2011/01579/PA 2 Highfield Road Moseley Birmingham B13 9HL Erection of a single storey rear extension Registered 14/03/2011

2011/01114/PA 33 Alcester Road South Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7JQ Display of 1 externally illuminated facia sign and 1 externally illuminated projection sign Registered 22/02/2011

2010/06557/PA - land adjacent to 107 Edgbaston Road Balsall Heath Birmingham B12 9PJ - Demolition of 6 no. garages Registered 23-11-2010

2010/06555/PA - Land adj to 107 Edgbaston Road Balsall Heath Birmingham B12 9PJ - Erection of 1 no. detached dwelling Registered 23-11-2010

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Moseley shopping centre left-turn and right-turn restrictions

I’ve been contacted by a group of residents who would like to seen the turning restrictions on the main traffic lights in the centre of Moseley removed.

The ‘no left turn’ restriction, on the Alcester Road heading out of the city centre, stops vehicles turning left into St Marys Row. Normally vehicles use the slip road in front of the Bulls Head public house to make this manoeuvre. When this slip road is closed once a month for the farmers’ market many vehicles make illegal left turns at the traffic lights.

The ‘no right turn’ restriction, on the Alcester Road heading into the city centre, stops vehicles turning right into St Marys Row. Instead vehicles have to use Woodbridge Road and the top-end of Church Road causing excess traffic and congestion on these roads.

My own investigations show that these two restrictions were introduced in the early 1990s, with little consultation, to ease the movement of traffic along Alcester Road.

With the ‘all red phase’ on these traffic lights, removing these restrictions would not cause any conflict with pedestrians crossing.

I would be grateful if you could let me know your views by filling in this survey at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LMYXC3Q It only takes about 2 minutes, at most, to fill in. honest