Residents take action on School Road traffic chaos

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There has been a long history of traffic problems on School Road, mainly caused by inconsiderate, often dangerous, drivers. It now looks as if some relief may be on the way for local residents.

In November 2016, local people set up a Facebook page to begin gathering evidence to present to Birmingham City Council (BCC). The aim was to get action to protect local residents, particularly pedestrians.

The area of greatest concern is the stretch from the roundabout near Kings Heath Primary School down School Road itself. There are frequent reports of cars mounting the pavement to pass other cars, even forcing pedestrians to get out of the way. In some cases, residents report that drivers ignore the presence of small children, so keen are they to get past as fast as they can.

Comments on the group’s Facebook page detailed incidents in which

  • a car mounted the pavement close to a mother and child walking home from school
  • another child was almost hit by a car on the pavement
  • a four-year-old on a scooter was within a metre of a car that had mounted the pavement
  • a woman was walking her child home and was abused by a driver because she objected to him driving his car at her and her child
  • a woman pushing a baby buggy on the footpath found three cars trying to get past her on the same footpath.

With the support of Councillor Claire Spencer and Councillor Lisa Trickett, the group has been putting pressure on BCC to find a long-term solution to the problems. In January 2017, residents were told that BCC was going to undertake a formal traffic survey on School Road. In addition, money had been set aside to try to come up with a solution to the problems. This was followed in March 2017 with news that a budget of up to £40,000 had been allocated.

Now a set of proposals is being put out for consultation. They will be sent to residents of School Road while anybody else who wishes to comment will be able to do so. It is understood that, at present, the proposal is to make School Road one-way from the roundabout near Kings Heath Primary School to Blenheim Road.

Councillor Spencer will be in the area of School Road on Sunday 25 June 2017 gathering information.

The School Road Traffic Issues Facebook page can be found here

Take care in hot weather

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The Design Out Crime team from WM Police is emphasising the need to take care of belongings during the hot weather.

Their point is that thieves will grab any opportunity. In hot weather, they can get into a house through an open window when the owner is away or in the back garden. And if we’re enjoying a barbecue in the back garden, we probably won’t realise that somebody has got in through an open front window.

Unfortunately, they might not even need to get in. If laptops, phones, car keys and so on are left within reach of an open window or door, they can be stolen very quickly.

So the message from the Police is to make sure that our doors and windows are shut and locked if we’re not in the house. It may mean that the house is hotter than we’d like when we get back but better to be too hot than to lose valuables.

It’s also worth remembering that garden sheds often contain all the tools a thief needs to break in. Steps, ladders, spades that can be used as crowbars – the possibilities mean that sheds must be locked. If ladders have to be left outside, they need to be chained to a fixed point.

There’s more information here

When it comes to cars, always check that the doors really are locked after using the remote locking fob. And always lock the car, even if it’s only being left for a few minutes. For example, when paying for fuel, lock the car before going to pay. Finally, as always, lock items such as satnavs, handbags, laptop bags and so on out of sight.

There’s more advice here.

One point worth remembering is that this isn’t a campaign by the Police to make us all worried about theft. It’s more about taking care as we do in most areas of life. When we’re crossing the road, for example, we check to make sure we’re not going to get hit by a car. Now we’re being asked to be just as careful about our houses and cars.

Spaghetti Junction – summer closures

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Residents heading for the M6, Erdington or Castle Bromwich along the A38(M) Aston Expressway are likely to hit trouble after 7 July 2017.

The biggest problem is likely to be caused by the closure at weekends of the A38(M) Aston Expressway.

The road will be COMPLETELY CLOSED from 8pm on Fridays to 6 am on Mondays for 7 consecutive weekends.

This means that it won’t be possible to use the A38(M) Aston Expressway to get to the M6 on Friday evenings, Saturdays or Sundays. The weekend closures will start on Friday 14 July and apply on every weekend until Monday 28 August. During those weekends, drivers won’t be able to leave the M6 at Junction 6.

In addition, major roadworks on the A38(M) Aston Expressway will cause restrictions and road closures for several weeks. The closures will start on 7 July and will include:

  • Closure of the tidal-flow lane on the A38(M) Aston Expressway.
  • 30mph speed limit on the A38(M) Aston Expressway.
  • Complete CLOSURE of the approaches from Gravelly Hill and the Tyburn Road to the A38(M) Aston Expressway.

Full details can be found here

Encouraging young cricketers

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On Sunday next (25 June 2017) there will be an Edgbaston Foundation Community Open Day at Edgbaston cricket ground. Gates open at 10 am.

The day will be free and is intended to inspire local youngsters to get involved in cricket.

The Foundation aims to give away up to 500 cricket bats to local youngsters aged 12 and under. They will also be put in touch with the club nearest their home that is part of All Stars Cricket, a new entry level national cricket programme for children.

There will also be a chance to meet members of the Birmingham Bears cricket team and to watch them in an open training session.

Ravi Masih, Head of Community Engagement at Warwickshire CCC said, ‘Parents simply need to register for the Edgbaston Foundation Community Day and attend on the day to receive a bat, ball and regular cricketing opportunities for their child.’

Children under 16 years old will need to be accompanied by an adult to get into the ground.

More information and a link to the registration form can be found here (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link to the registration form).

 

How to recognise a police warrant card

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At the beginning of this month, we added an item about thieves on the streets. The original story is here. This included advice from the Police to always ask to see identification from anybody claiming to be a Police officer.

The difficulty with this advice is that few of us have ever seen a Police officer’s identification, called a Warrant Card. That makes it difficult to know whether what we’re being shown is genuine.

One of the local Police Liaison Team members has provided some advice on how to identify a real Warrant Card. It will be the same size as a credit card, be made of plastic and have:

  • A blue bar across the top of the card with the word Police in white on the blue bar if it identifies a Police officer.
  • Below that, in red lettering, the words ‘POLICE OFFICER’.
  • The officer’s collar number and their photograph will be across the centre of the card.
  • Their name and rank will be below the photograph.

The officer may have their card in a leather wallet but this isn’t always the case.

Perhaps the key point is that if you’re not absolutely certain that the card you’re being shown is genuine, say you’re going to call the Police. If the person who has shown the card isn’t a real Police officer, they’re unlikely to hang around if they think you’re really going to phone up to make sure they’re genuine.

Mobile phones used for theft

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A warning has been sent by the local Police team about mobile phones being used to steal money. The warning applies to old-style mobiles and to smart phones.

The scam starts when the victim receives a text message. The message appears to be from the victim’s bank or credit card company. It tells the victim that a transaction has been approved on their card. All the victim is asked to do is to text back ‘Y’ or ‘N’, depending on whether or not the transaction is genuine.

Inevitably, they will text ‘N’ because the transaction is never genuine. That tells the thief that this is a real mobile phone number.

The scam then moves on and ends up with the victim providing enough information for the thief to be able to steal money from their bank or to use their card to buy goods online.

The advice from the Police is:

  • Always check the validity of the text message by contacting your credit card provider or bank using the number on the back of the card or on the credit card/bank statement.
  • Beware of cold calls where the caller claims to be from a bank or credit card company.
  • If think the phone call might really be from your bank, hang up the phone and wait for 10 minutes before calling the bank back. Better still, use a different phone. This is because thieves have been able to keep a phone line open so when the victim has thought they were calling their bank, it was just the thief picking up the call. Again, use the phone number on the back of your card or on your bank statement in order to contact your bank.
  • If you have been a victim of fraud or cyber crime, please report it to Action Fraud here or alternatively by calling 0300 123 2040