Category: News

Reporting blocked roadside drains

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Localised flooding can, sometimes, be caused by blocked storm drains, known as gullies. These are found at the edges of the city’s roads. We’re approaching the time of year when these are even more likely to be blocked because fallen leaves can build up across the gratings over gullies.

Now Birmingham City Council has introduced an online form so that local people can report blocked gullies. BCC wants reports to include ‘An accurate location (including landmarks, nearby house numbers or road junctions)’ as well as ‘A detailed description of the problem (e.g. blocked gully or missing grate)’.

If you want to report a blocked or damaged gully, visit the reporting form.

Obviously there is no guarantee that reporting a blocked gully will result in it being cleared. Indeed, the road layout in some places makes it almost impossible for surface water to drain away. If you report a flooding problem and it doesn’t get cleared, then the next step is to report it to your local councillors along with the reference number.

Who’s checking on Amey?

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Members of the Moseley and Kings Heath Greener, Cleaner, Safer Environment group were surprised to be told that Amey is ‘moving towards one hundred per cent monitoring’ of highways repair work. The news was delivered by an Amey representative at a recent meeting. Amey currently carries out all highway maintenance work for Birmingham City Council (BCC).

This leads to an extraordinary conclusion: that nobody is currently checking all the work that Amey is doing for BCC to make sure that it’s up to standard.

There should be a considerable amount of work to be checked. The contract with Amey started in 2010, runs for 25 years and is worth £2.7 billion.

However, it seems that BCC has taken action by imposing financial penalties on Amey following complaints from residents that work was not being done or was not up to standard. Amey has disputed the allegations, claiming that all work meets the standards set out in the contract. The argument has been rolling since Autumn 2015. According to the Birmingham Post, it was still not resolved as recently as September 2016.

But why does BCC rely on local residents to monitor the work carried out by its biggest contractor? Given the value of the contract, it must surely be possible to have BCC staff checking every job completed by Amey?

And on a £2.7 billion contract, it should surely have been possible to make Amey pay for the BCC staff needed to check the work.

Kings Heath library

Library opening hours changing

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Cuts to the library services in Birmingham have resulted in reduced opening hours for Kings Heath library. From Monday 11 July 2016, the new hours will be:

  • Mondays: open from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm
  • Tuesdays: open from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm
  • Wednesdays: closed all day
  • Thursdays: closed in the morning and open from 12 noon to 7pm
  • Fridays: open from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm
  • Saturdays: open from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm
  • Sundays: closed all day

Apparently these new arrangements are temporary. There is to be a consultation ‘on a future model for the community library service’ although at present the members of the Residents’ Forum have not been told what shape this future model might take. Nor is there any indication of when the consultation will take place.

When more information is available, it will be posted on the website.

Photo: Kings Heath library by Tony Hisgett (CC BY 2.0)

Residents’ Forum letter objecting to licence application at 52 High Street

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The Residents’ Forum has written to Birmingham City Council Licensing to register its objection to a licence application which, if granted, would permit the sale of alcohol 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from premises at 52 High Street.

You can read the Forum’s letter in full at the following link:

Letter to Birmingham City Council Licensing objecting to licence application no. 96450 (pdf)

Yesterday, we shared a copy of the full application details (pdf). Anyone who wishes to comment on the application, should do so by 19 July 2016 in writing to:

Birmingham City Council
Licensing Section
P.O. Box 17013
Birmingham
B6 9ES

 

24-hour alcohol sales licence application

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An application has been made for a licence to sell alcohol 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from a shop at 52 High Street, Kings Heath. The shop is located between Restaurant Veneziano and Bike Pro, opposite the derelict Kingsway cinema. The application also covers the sale of what are described as ‘late night refreshments’ from 11pm to 5am, again, 7 days a week.

If granted, the licence will be for drinking off the premises. In other words, it looks as if this will be a supermarket, selling alcohol in the way that supermarkets normally sell it. The difference in this case will be that it will be permitted round the clock, every day of the week.

This application comes just months after consultation on a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). The relevant website claimed that, ‘in Moseley & Kings Heath ward, this is being introduced to address unlicenced street drinking related anti-social behaviour’.

Representations relating to this application must be made in writing by 19 July 2016 to Birmingham City Council, Licensing Section, P.O. Box 17013, Birmingham B6 9ES.

View the full details of the licence application (pdf)

The Residents’ Forum management committee discussed concerns at a meeting held 6 July 2016. The Forum will respond to Birmingham City Council Licensing specifically objecting to the sale of alcohol after 11pm. (More information to follow shortly.)

Other potential reasons for objecting to this application include:

  1. Anti-social behaviour.
  2. Litter and street cleanliness.
  3. There are already two 24-hour shops selling alcohol, and two other late-night closure shops; no need for any more.
  4. Noise at night.
  5. Traffic and road safety.
  6. This licence application will not help achieve the aims of the Public Space Protection Order.
  7. Lack of toilets.
  8. Unsocial hours.
  9. Close to residential housing in Bank Street, Grange Road and apartments in the future Kingsway development on the opposite side of the High Street.
  10. Risk of underage sales of alcohol to local school children.

Keeping pavements clear

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Obstructions on the pavements in Kings Heath High Street have been annoying residents for several years. Recently, the road safety group within the Kings Heath Forum took up the problem with local councillors and Birmingham Highways Maintenance and Management Service.

There are a number of issues covered by this subject but they all relate to one concern: whether there is enough space available for people with limited mobility, visual impairment or parents with push-chairs.

The restrictions usually have one of three causes:

  • parking on pavements
  • ‘A boards’ outside shops
  • work on pavements by the utility companies

It has been difficult to get any solid information so far but it seems that there is a standard that should be applied. In areas with few pedestrians such as the High Street near Sports Direct, there must be a 1.2 metre (almost 4 feet) width of pavement available free of obstructions. In areas with more people moving around, the minimum is 2 metres (about 6 feet 6 inches).

One of the difficulties is that there seems to be some confusion over who should be enforcing these standards. A statement from Birmingham Highways Maintenance and Management Service seems to suggest that enforcement is a matter for the Police although the highway authority can remove ‘A boards’.

However, the statement also said that local traders agreed at a meeting ‘several years ago’ to self-police the ‘A board’ problem. Since then, it has been suggested that Amey, which is the highways maintenance contractor for Birmingham, has a contractual responsibility for making sure that pavements are kept clear. This has yet to be absolutely confirmed.

The difficulty now seems to be that the traders’ agreement is being overlooked and ‘A boards’ are being positioned in such a way as to obstruct pavements. As a result, the available width of pavement is narrower than it should be.

In February the Residents’ Forum asked Birmingham Highways Maintenance and Management Service a number of questions in relation to this issue and suggested that clear guidance should be produced for local businesses.

As yet, no further information has been provided. When it is, an update will be posted.