Author: drsjdixon

Geographer and Geomorphologist

Minutes of September 2026 Meeting

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KINGS HEATH NEIGHBOURHOODS FORUM 

Abridged Summary of Minutes

9th September 2026 (7pm at Brandwood Community Centre)

There was a good attendance at the meeting with nearly 30 people. Given widespread concerns about a rise in crime and anti-social behaviour this topic was prioritised. Due to the length and complexity of the discussions around this topic, the abridged minutes are a little longer this month.

Crime and anti-social behaviour

What has been happening?

  • Matt, (Town Centre Manager for Enjoy Kings Heath BID), reported KH High Street affected by actions of a particular group of teenagers since late 2025, that have gone beyond ASB to criminality (e.g. assault, theft, mugging) Hamzah (local councillor), noted many incidents have been attributed by Police to actions of just two individuals, but a wider group are caught up or influenced by ongoing ASB.
  • There has also been a visible increase in drug-dealing around Kings Heath High Street, especially on the side streets on the east side.

What have the councillors and the police been doing to address this behaviour?

  • Hamzah explained Moseley and Kings Heath police (M&KHP) team (covering most of High St, North of Vicarage Rd junction) have been gathering information and formulating plans for dealing with the core group of offenders. One young person has been relocated from the area and another is facing court action. The sergeant for M&KHP has agreed to monthly meetings with the councillors. Hamzah had received less response from the Brandwood policing team, and he would continue to pursue this and aim for a similar monthly meeting. The councillors emphasised that they are having ongoing discussions with the police about how they allocate available resourcing.
  • Both councillors and Matt are concerned the number of police officers allocated to the local area was inadequate. Hamzah had been pressing the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner (“PCC”) for more resources to be allocated to the local police teams. He understood that the PCC in turn was lobbying central government for an increase in police resource allocated to the West Midlands. The councillors are asking the two MPs (Al Carns and Tahir Ali) who cover the Brandwood & Kings Heath ward to support this lobbying.  
  • Jordan (local councillor) has written and widely publicised a letter to the relevant police inspectors. This had sparked considerable media interest.

Topics of concern discussed at the meeting

  • A widespread perception of a lack of feedback and/ or explanation from the police about action taken (or not taken) after crimes are reported. The apparent absence of action being taken by the police on some incidents, and a perception from victims of either no, or insufficient explanation why is causing bafflement and upset.
  • The councillors said they’ve learnt in some cases this can be due to the non-intuitive way the police process cases; where the local team transfers a case to a specialist/regional police team for further action it will describe it as “closed (down)”, which (may) refer to its status within the local team as a task management item, rather than its status as a criminal investigation. Thus a case can be both “closed” and an active/”open” investigation for different parts of the police. 
  • Communication shortcomings, both in volume and specificity by the police mean they sometimes undersell what they’re actually doing. The response from the police to the media coverage only said they were busy working on the issue. This contributes to a perception there is little enforcement taking place. There was a widespread desire/request for the police to tell people more about what’s going on, especially relevant local organisations like Enjoy Kings Heath.
  • There is concern about resourcing to local police teams, whether the number of police officers is consistent, fair and appropriate at both the neighbourhood, city and regional level, when compared to other areas. As well as when we will see additional neighbourhood police resources promised in government announcements. In addition concerns over how local teams are using resources they have and whether enough of the on-duty officers at any given time are engaged in visible neighbourhood policing.
  • They were concerned about the potential for young teenagers to be groomed into becoming involved with more serious crime.  They were also concerned about the negative impact on the community of the repeated instances of ASB and criminal behaviour and noted that the safety of the community is a key priority. 
  • There are concerns from residents and councillors about criminal behaviour on roads on the east side of Kings Heath High Street, particularly visible/brazen drug dealing. With particular concerns relating to criminal activity regularly taking place around Mossfield Road, Hamzah had received quite a lot of reports about. He was aware that the police do patrol there, but he would like to see more. 
  • There are concerns about housing associations and other landlords not doing enough to support vulnerable tenants, or to have processes for identifying emerging needs, such as to identify and provide better support for tenants who may be vulnerable to getting involved in drugs and other crime. This is a particular concern with a recent vigilante attack on a vulnerable tenant, and the July 2025 murder of a vulnerable drug-affected person on Springfield Road. Matt mentioned a multi-organisation enforcement day on the High St in July, an outcome of which was relevant authorities sharing information and coordinating on locations where cross-organisational intervention and enforcement is required.
  • There were concerns where activity either falls short of the threshold for criminality, or encompasses issues outside of the direct police remit that these are not being appropriately tackled or enforced in a joined up way. Hamzah explained that when the police receive a crime report about a shop, if it looks to be in breach of trading standards rules, they refer onwards to Trading Standards enforcement. Hamzah said that complaints about council tenants can be lodged with the Council, which then has a process to follow.  The situation with exempt approved accommodation is more complex, but there are steps that can be taken. It was noted Kings Heath High Street (along with the centre of Moseley) is covered by a Public Space Protection Order (“PSPO”), which bans certain types of activity from public spaces.  At the full Council meeting on 14 July 2026, it was confirmed that no fixed penalty notices had yet been issued for breaches of that Order despite being in place for a number of years.  It could help if the Council put more effort into enforcing the PSPO.

What further steps should be taken?

  • Achim (Chair) provided background about the way the Kings Heath Neighbourhoods’ Forum, the Enjoy Kings Heath BID, individual businesses and residents, local councillors, the Police & Crime Commissioner (“PCC”) and the two local police teams worked together in the first half of 2025 to tackle open drug dealing in All Saints Road.  This was effective, but highlights the scales and challenges of coordination that can be needed to tackle habitual issues.
  • Action: Forum management committee, in discussion with councillors and BID to decide if a meeting with the PCC and others would be useful.
  • Action: Forum management committee and others to publicise monthly meetings run by the two local neighbourhood police teams 
  • Simon (committee) highlighted there is a need to address the fear and anxiety local residents feel about crime and ASB as well as addressing the incidents themselves. Pointing out crime statistics themselves are not usually what make people feel afraid or worried, and so greater reporting of statistics, prosecutions, etc from police or PCC may have limited impact on their own. Alongside police actions, we as a Forum and a community can think about how we can contribute to making things happen, which also make people feel safer. Suggestion forum could consider supporting the community setting up more in the way of coordinated Streetwatch groups. (Action: To discuss further at next Forum management committee meeting).  
  • Councillors will push for the police to communicate more with the local community in meetings/engagement
  • Action: Identified more could be done to help people who are vulnerable or being victimised into criminal activity.  The councillors agreed that this was important, not simply out of concern for the individuals concerned, but also as a way of tackling some of the root causes of crime. Councillors to push for more joined-up, multi-agency approaches to both vulnerable people and to people/ families with difficult background and behaviours.  The idea would be for better communication between social workers, GPs, housing providers, police, mental health teams, etc. 

Other matters:

Update on ward/neighbourhood organisation 

  • A new team has been set up at Birmingham City Council, consisting of around 20 Local Partnership Officers (“LPOs”) covering all of Birmingham’s 69 wards, to support councillors and local community organisations.
  • Darnell Richards, is new LPO for the Brandwood & Kings Heath, Stirchley, Billesley and Highters Heath wards. 
  • Suze (formerly lead of Our Scene CIC and Brandwood Buzz) has been appointed to one of these roles, but not for our local area. Due to conflict of interest rules, she has to take a step back from Our Scene and the Brandwood Buzz cultural action area; these will continue with other people taking the lead
  • LPOs will assist each councillor in their area to prepare a Ward List – a list of priorities for councillor allocated funding within the ward to influence how funding is spent. Ward Plans are being abolished and replaced by Ward Lists. LPOs will be able to help with coordinating local neighbourhood projects but will not have an active hands-on role in delivering them. 
  • Jordan and Hamzah will be organising up to four Councillor-led ward forums a year, supported by Darnell as part of the Ward List process. Along with an online ward survey, currently open to residents. In the previous council term the former councillors here ran their ward forums to prepare the Ward Plan in conjunction with the Forum, so this will be a slight procedural change for residents.

Report from Councillors (Hamzah & Jordan)

  • Jordan reported that Kings Heath Library will be part of a city-wide programme of renovations to improve sustainability and energy-efficiency, including installing a heat pump.

Updates on other community work and groups

  • Teams of volunteers (Clean and Clink) have been painting over unauthorised graffiti on High St
  • New local weekly podcast called Heath Talk highlighting positive things in Kings Heath. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/chris-smith3/
  • Kings Heath Community Centre is going well.  The Football World Cup watch events had about 1,000 people through the doors.  There’s also a community meal taking place there once a month, alongside both regular and one-off bookings.  
  • Friends of Kings Heath Park would welcome more involvement/engagement in their activities. Forum will support this by inviting chair to future meeting.
  • The Forum, along with Kings Heath Community Centre agreed to provide support for setting up a new local photographic society/club 

Friends of Kings Heath Station (“FOKHS”) (Alan)

  • Since the opening of the new stations on the Camp Hill line there has been interest in local “friends” groups adopting the stations. An application for Moseley Village station has been rejected, but we understand the friends group are reapplying, and Pineapple Road station has been adopted by a group supported by the Dads Lane Community Association.
  • FOKHS is a long running group set up to push for and then support the opening of the (new) train station. The original group has dwindled in size and in its current form is not able to take forward any proposals to adopt Kings Heath station.   
  • The Forum has been supporting FOKHS by investigating if any other groups were looking into adopting the station (there are not), to gauge whether local residents favoured the idea of adoption (considerable local support), and to gauge interest in people either taking over FOKHS or setting up a new group to do so. One attendee volunteered to explore a group for adoption and the Forum will support by sending relevant information and facilitating links to other local contacts (Action).

Next meetings and events

14 October, 7pm: Committee meeting in Silver Street

Minutes of July 2026 Committee Meeting

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We are continuing our trial of posting a summary version of the monthly committee meeting minutes. These are intended to provide a brief overview of the issues, discussions and ongoing actions related to topics we believe are of most interest to the community. For clarity, as not everyone will know who individual people are, in these summaries we refer to everyone by their role/position, with the exception of the two councillors.

KINGS HEATH NEIGHBOURHOODS FORUM 

Abridged Summary of Minutes 

8th July 2026 (7pm at Whitesmith Croft, Silver Street) 

  • Work continued to strengthen ties and coordination with other local Forums. 
  • The Forum ran a stall at the Brandwood Bash on 20 June. Represented by Chair and Secretary at “Great Get Together Street Party” in All Saints Square on 27 June.
  • A committee member shared information and analysis with Councillor Jordan about drainage problems on the High Street which will be shared as a case study within Council about the need for a more coordinated approach between departments to tackle issues.
  • Councillors will pass on a suggestion made that immediately before resuming recycling collections, there is a one-off amnesty where existing recycling bins are emptied as if they were regular rubbish bins. Forum agreed to liaise with council and councillors about the implementation of new rubbish collection scheme to make sure there is clear information and to consider hosting a public meeting about the new system when implementation date is known

Anti-Social Behaviour and Crime

  • An “all-out” day took place in early July, of intensive enforcement action on and around Kings Heath High Street organised by the Council’s Community Safety Partnership as part of anti-social behaviour awareness week. Across the day, there was strong representation from the police, BCC community safety enforcement, Trident Housing, transport police, waste enforcement, trading standards, traffic wardens and BCC housing, others too. Jordan has since asked for a similar event to take place in Brandwood in the future.
  • A number of concerns were raised relating to antisocial behaviour on Vicarage Rd near All Saints Centre, particularly targeting the children’s home in Vicarage Road. There was some discussion about other incidents, including an incident where a pupil from a local secondary school was attacked in Kings Heath Park. There has also been a spate of break-ins to businesses up and down the High Street, for which the BID Manager is also dealing with the police. Queries were raised about how the police are addressing the issues on Vicarage Road and in other parts of the local area. Concern was raised about recent occurrences of anti-social behaviour and the scope for it to escalate during the school summer holidays.
  • As the police work is not always visible, the BID Manager will be encouraging the police to be a little more communicative to local residents and businesses, to make people more aware that there is ongoing police activity and involvement. Councillors will attempt to find out details of any ongoing action being taken by the police and other parties to address anti-social behaviour locally.
  • Jordan reported success in removing reported abandoned vehicles working with the Council’s Parking team. He is continuing to work with them on long-term abandoned vehicles in Brandwood.
  • Councillor Hamzah said that taking effective action to tackle anti-social behaviour is one of his priorities. He arranged a meeting with the team from the children’s home, and will look into specific reports raised of ASB related to properties believed to be managed by the council. Hamzah suggested that the WM Police & Crime Panel could be useful in addressing anti-social behaviour.  Hamzah is also looking into how to improve opportunities for young people in the area. 
  • The Forum will consider organising a focused meeting with councillors and (both local) police teams about anti-social behaviour – would need to concentrate on possible solutions, actions and accountability.

Mums for Lungs Guest

  • Kirsten de Vos from Mums for Lungs (M4L) gave an invited talk to the meeting about their work campaigning for improvements in air quality. The group’s motivation is the risk to health from local air pollution – linked to many different health conditions, with the youngest and oldest at greatest risk. M4L aims to encourage shifts in behaviour by individuals including stopping non-essential woodburning, and to think carefully about every drive in a motor vehicle, if it is necessary and if there is a reasonable alternative. M4L are supportive of interventions such as School Streets and Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone (“CAZ”). M4L would also like to see people feeling safer to use non-motorised means of getting round Birmingham, such as walking, wheeling and cycling. 

Other local issues

  • Hamzah has been working with members of both the Jewish and the Muslim communities, relating to access issues in Brandwood End Cemetery due to a fence erected by the Council. 
  • Jordan reported on the Kings Heath Park Improvements Scheme consultation to determine how funding will be allocated. Jordan expects the Council will be in touch with him later in July. Additionally, many residents have raised concerns about the lack of toilet facilities available at the park on weekends. Jordan has found out there is no longer any resource in the park service to provide them but is meeting a more senior officer in City Operations to explore potential solutions.
  • Jordan is continuing work started by David Barker to get more cycle stands on the High Street using leftover budget from the Environment and Transport Neighbourhoods Fund for 25/26. 
  • A previous planning application to convert a vacant office to 6-bed HMO (Use Class C4) has been rejected. The Forum had submitted an objection on several grounds related to provision of facilities for tenants and building regulations.
  • Concerns were raised about reliability of the train service on the Camp Hill line. There was also a query about a “Friends” organisation for Kings Heath railway station. 

● 9 September, 7pm: Committee meeting in Brandwood

Minutes of June Committee Meeting

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We have been discussing in the committee for a while how to increasing visibility of the Forum activities, in order to increase transparency and engagements from the local community. While we decided it isn’t suitable to publish a copy of the full minutes and actions from every committee meeting, mainly because these will be too long and detailed for general sharing, and because we don’t want to publish the names of visitors, we believe it is useful to put out a shorter version of the main discussion and action points every month.

This is the first of our meeting summaries, and was the pilot/proof of concept for the committee to discuss. As such it is now a few months out of date. Ordinarily we approve our meeting minutes in advance of the subsequent meeting, so in future we hope to release a summary on the website around 1 month after the meeting.

KINGS HEATH NEIGHBOURHOODS FORUM
Management Committee Minutes
10th June 2026 (7pm at Brandwood Centre)

  • Forum represented at the opening of the Community Cafe at the Brandwood Centre
  • Chair met with Jordan and Hamzah after their election victory to discuss how the Forum would work with them.
  • Continuing development of collaboration and support for Neighbourhood Forums in other wards across the city. Chair started discussions with people in Billesley about supporting them to establish a Forum there. Committee already liaising with Moseley and Stirchley Forums.
  • New councillors both attended and discussed progress on forming a governing coalition including Hamzah’s cabinet appointment as deputy for Health and Social Care, and to the West Midlands Policing Scrutiny Panel. .
  • Councillors explained they will be dividing ward case work between them on an issues basis linked to their existing expertise, below is a sample of issues. Any issues can be initially raised with either of them, this is just how they will allocate the work between them.
Hamzah Sheikh Jordan Phillip
Planning applications (inc. HMOs) Road safety measures and schemes
Adult social care Fly tipping and litter
Housing (inc. social/council housing issues,  neighbour disputes etc)Roads, street furniture defects (e.g.  potholes, failed lighting, flooding, uneven  pavement etc)
Schools/education support Parking and congestion issues
Antisocial behaviour & young people Green spaces and parks 
  • The councillors are planning to each hold two surgeries a month in the ward (4 total). Jordan has commenced his  programme of surgeries and Hamzah will be starting very soon. They have been familiarising themselves with how the Council works, to  prepare them for handling requests and queries from residents.
  • There is no formal system for recording case work at the council. Each councillor manages their own and no requirement for former councillors to hand over live casework to new councillors. David Barker has contacted them to hand over some ongoing issues. If any local resident has outstanding case work with one of the former councillors, and aren’t already in contact with Jordan or Hamzah they suggested approaching them directly. 
  • The councillors are planning to keep people informed about what  they’re doing by producing newsletters, to be hand-delivered to  residents’ homes
  • Enjoy Kings Heath (BID) has received complaints from members of the public about the number of “pop-up” activities on the high street, including charity fund raisers, faith groups, commercial stands and buskers. They are seeking advice from other areas and bodies to understand the issue and relevant legislation, governance, etc.
  • Enjoy Kings Heath informed of upcoming events: Queens Heath Pride on Sunday 21st June. Cricket Roadshow on Sunday 28th June. Community Centre is screening the England World Cup matches.
  • Forum agreed to provide support for The Brandwood Bash run by Our Scene CIC on Saturday 20 June, 12-3pm in Dawberry Fields Park.
  • Committee offered to provide information to Jordan relating to potential long-term drainage issues causing uneven pavement on the High St, which will be forwarded on.
  • Sue from Kings Heath Community Kitchen highlighted the great work they are doing. Provides hot meals, support and company in the afternoons of the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month. The Kitchen operates from the New  Life Baptist Church opposite Asda on Kings Heath High Street.
  • Pat from Brandwood Centre highlighted the (new) community café at the Brandwood Centre was now open to the public Mondays to Fridays 8.30am to 12 noon.

Thank you to our councillors

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For the past four years we’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Lisa Trickett and David Barker as the elected councillors for Brandwood and Kings Heath. We would like to express our thanks and appreciation for the way they enthusiastically engaged with the Neighbourhood Forum and worked with us and a network of partner organisations such as Our Scene CIC and Enjoy Kings Heath BID to improve the ward. They can be rightly proud of the things they have helped deliver in the ward during extremely challenging times, and there is no doubt they leave the ward in a better shape for their tenure as its councillors. They have delivered a lasting legacy, not just in material improvements, both big and small, but in fostering collaborative ways of working between community groups which is a model for engaging and empowering a local area. We will be keeping a close eye on their future work and have no doubt they will make a success of it.

Thank you David and Lisa!

We would also like to welcome our newly elected councillors Hamzah Sheikh and Jordan Phillip as they take on the exciting challenge of representing Brandwood and Kings Heath. We’ve been impressed by their commitment to the local area and look forward to working closely with them over the coming years.

Kings Heath Neighbourhoods Forum Committee

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