Month: April 2026

Registering to Vote in local elections

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The council elections will take place on May 7th, and you need to be registered to vote in order to take part. Details on how to do so are on the BCC website below under “Register to Vote”

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/elections

The deadline for registering to vote in these elections is 20th April.

You also now need to show photographic ID at your polling station in order to be allowed to vote on the day. There is a list of eligible ID types on the below page, if you do not have any suitable ID you can also apply for a special “Voter Authority Certificate” (VAC), also linked on below page. The deadline for applying for a VAC is 6 working days before the election – May 4th is a bank holiday, so we advise doing this no later than Monday 27th April.

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20097/elections_and_voting/1181/how_to_vote

Make sure you exercise your democratic right.

To help inform your vote join us on Monday 27th April (Kings Heath) or Tuesday 28th April (Brandwood) for election hustings for the ward where candidates will answer questions put to them from the residents of Brandwood and Kings Heath.

April Artisan Market & Committee Meetings for 2026

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We’re excited to announce we’ve secured the community stall for the April Kings Heath artisan market on York Road. This takes place on Sunday April 12th, and we’ll have people on the stall from 10-3. We hope to chat to local residents, let them know more about what the Forum does and how they can get involved, and to hear people’s concerns and priorities for Kings Heath and Brandwood.

Although we’re not a political organisation, we do have an important role in coordinating with local residents to draw up the “Ward Plan”, which is a broad vision for the area. Designated Neighbourhood Forums are official bodies empowered by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to produce these Ward (or Neighbourhood) Plans to inform and lead the planning process in the area. This helps to guide whoever the ward councillors will be for the next council term on what the area wants and needs, as well as acting as important support and evidence for funding bids to make improvements. Although a Forum has no power as such, through a ward plan the residents can exert some influence on the direction of their local area. Post-election we expect to go through a period of reviewing and updating the ward plan, and as in the last council term anticipate coordinating with local councillors to hold workshops and drop-ins for residents.

The Artisan Market will be a chance to chat to us informally about this work and the other things we get involved with, and to let us know your thoughts.

You can also attend any of our upcoming management committee meetings as a guest, see below

Kings Heath & Brandwood Election Hustings

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We’re pleased to announce we will be hosting local election hustings again in advance of the council elections taking place on Thursday 7th May.

Due to the popularity of our hustings for the previous council elections in 2022, and the size of the ward we’ve decided to hold TWO hustings this time, one in Kings Heath and one in Brandwood. Full details will follow in due course, the dates will be:

Monday 27th April (Kings Heath)

Tuesday 28th April (Brandwood)

The full list of candidates will be announced on 10th April, and we’ll then approach them all with invites. We’re partly announcing the hustings and dates early so that prospective candidates can get as much notice as possible, as well as to help residents plan. If you expect to be a candidate, or you know someone who is planning to stand please pass on the information to them.