Summer Walkabout in Ladywood
It was such a beautiful morning yesterday that I decided upon an impromptu walkabout the estates of Ladywood with a friend. We spent over two hours wandering from the Jewellery Quarter to Summer Hill Road, King Edwards Road, St Marks Crescent, Ledsam Street, Rodney Close, Guild Close, St Vincent St West and along Ladywood Middleway to Five Ways. We then stopped for breakfast on Broad Street before cutting through Brindley Place and back to the Jewellery Quarter.
It was a gorgeous day and we weren't the only ones strolling around - there was a real friendly atmosphere wherever we went. I took down several pieces of casework and along with my friend, we took the opportunity to take some snaps...
The walk got me thinking. Ladywood ward isn't the first place many people think of going for a walk when the sun is shining, but there are some wonderful sights to see. Over the next few months I'll create a few walks and post them up here - hopefully residents and visitors alike will find them useful.
Trouble Erupts in Birmingham City Centre
We'd been expecting it all week (see coverage on The Stirrer) and today trouble did indeed erupt in Birmingham City Centre.
Details are sketchy at present and currently only reported via Twitter. My thanks to @adambc82 who let me reproduce his photo here, taken from his city centre apartment. He tweeted "Riots in Birmingham City Centre, right outside my flat. Smashed windows, bottles flying, riot police everywhere. No idea what's going on."
It would appear the violence is in response to today's planned anti-Islamic extremism protest in the city centre. This was a follow-up to the events of 4th July which I've blogged about previously (the videos are worth watching. I'm told a counter anti-fascism protest was also held earlier today. Exactly who was involved or why things escalated is not clear at present.
I'm told from numerous sources things have calmed down now, but I can still hear the police helicopters watching over the city. More when I know it.
UPDATE 1:
Video of riots - this does not look good
UPDATE 2:
Video of protest earlier in the day
UPDATE 3:
Mainstream press start reporting - Birmingham Post and Daily Mail - both with disturbing images
UPDATE 4:
The story hit the BBC amongst others on Sunday. All reports seem to indicate the police handled the situation well. There were 33 arrests and 2 injuries.
Burnt Out Car on Attwood Green
For part of today's mammoth FOCUS delivery day, we were in Attwood Green - always a great place to be when the sun is shining.
It was a shame then to discover this burnt out car on Rickman Drive, right outside the Etap hotel. Within a few seconds the local police arrived after being alerted by a hotel employee. From chatting to them it seems the car wasn't stolen, so it's likely to either belong to a local resident or someone staying at the hotel, or abandoned. As it was parked on double yellow lines, I suspect the latter.
Crime on Attwood Green has fallen by 9% over the last 12 months, but there are still issues with antisocial behaviour as there are across the ward.
If anyone has any information, please contact West Midlands Police on 0845 113 5000.
Work Underway at St Georges
Work is underway on the new St Georges development on the fringes of the Jewellery Quarter. The mixed use development covering 2.75 hectares will be built in 5 phases, eventually resulting in new office space, apartments, retail, bars, restaurants and 2 new hotels. It will be built around the Icknield Street, Carver Street and Pope Street area, which is mostly composed of vacant warehouse and factory buildings.
Preparatory work has started on the first phase, The Kettleworks, which will provide 236,176 sq ft of office space and a multi-storey car park. The first phase should be complete by late next year.
I'm very keen on this development not only for the job creation, but also because it opens out the Jewellery Quarter and creates a new gateway on the Ladywood side - something desperately needed.
There are still a number of developments - "The Quarter" on Warstone Lane and the Birmingham Mint - where work has stalled. Hopefully St Georges will not suffer a similar fate.
BBC’s “Hustle” Starts Filming in City Centre
Filming of the new series of BBC's Hustle has got underway in Birmingham city centre. The drama relocated to the city earlier this year along with Survivors.
The Council claim the show will boost the city's economy by £1.2m. I'm all for raising the profile of the city and challenging the poor reputation that still exists, but I'd love to know how the figure of £1.2m was calculated!
Brindley Place Farmers’ Market July 2009
Yesterday I popped in to the monthly produce market at Brindley Place to stock up on fresh bread, vegetables and other goodies. I got chatting to Martin from Halfpenny Green Vineyards in South Staffordshire.
They diversified from farming into wine when I was just two years old and now have a thriving vineyard and craft centre, selling their wines from their shop and at farmers' markets across the Midlands.
I am now the proud owner of a rather lovely bottle of raspberry wine and they are now the proud owners of lots of information about 24 Carrots - the Jewellery Quarter Farmers' Market!
Mechu License Restricted
Mechu on Summer Row has had its license restricted by the Council following a license review brought about by a resident of Islington Gates. The venue will now only be able to serve alcohol until 1am (Sun-Thurs) or 2am (Fri & Sat), with the venue able to stay open for an additional hour. The license had previously allowed Mechu to stay open until 4am.
From the minutes of the meeting: "The Sub-Committee's reasons for imposing these conditions are due to concerns by local residents in relation to noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour."
I wrote some time ago about the noise problems (from people and taxis) suffered by local residents. There were numerous other conditions emposed by the review, including specific taxi instructions and the fitting of a noise limiter at the premises. I'd be interested to know at what level this will be set.
The owners of Mechu have 21 days to appeal.
Click these links to read more about licensing and planning issues in Ladywood ward.
Former TRMNL Building Available
The Hockley Street premises formerly occupied by the TRMNL nightclub is now available for lease from commercial property agency Fleurets.
It's interesting to note the board advertises the premises as a "bar/restaurant", not as a building suitable for a nightclub!
I'll keep a close eye on what happens with this building and if any planning or licensing applications are submitted, I'll do my best to keep all local residents that were affected by TRMNL updated.
The previous tenants did restore much of the inside of this building and I'm keen to see it put to good use. Any budding entrepreneurs considering opening a bar/restaurant could do a lot worse than consider this building!
Parking Hotspots Revealed By Citizen Journalism Project
The Birmingham Post's recent headline proclaiming that Birmingham's social media reputation continues to grow has been backed up the success of citizen journalism project Help Me Investigate.
The new tool, aimed at helping citizens get answers, was set up by, amongst others, Birmingham social media celebrities (!) Nick Booth and Stef Lewandowski. It's supported by Screen West Midlands and 4iP.
One resident wanted to know where the most ticketed streets were in the city. Using the knowledge pooled on the website, she was able to obtain the figures which were then collated and processed by another user.
The ten most ticketed streets in Birmingham for the year were:
(Ladywood ward highlighted in bold)
- Alum Rock Road, Washwood Heath (3,995)
- Stratford Road, Sparkhill (2,418)
- Corporation Street, city centre (1,748)
- Alcester Road, Moseley (1,545)
- Waterloo Street, city centre (1,455)
- High Street, Harborne (1,391)
- Gas Street, city centre (1,083)
- Whittall Street, city centre (1,022)
- St Paul’s square, Jewellery Quarter (1,008)
- Dean Street, city centre (978)
Last week I had a beer with a city centre resident responsible for collating and processing the data. His passion on the subject shone through, so much so that it gave me the impression there must be someone just like him, passionate about every topic imaginable, no matter how small. Help Me Investigate might just be the tool they need to get their answers.
Good job, everyone!
Nightclub License Application Declined
The premises license application for 89-91 Livery Street has been thrown out by Birmingham City Council. I wrote to residents last month informing them of the application as I was not happy with the signage advertising the application. A large number responded to the Council which led to the application being refused on the grounds of public nuisance. Environmental Health also raised concerns on the impact of the Youth Hostel next door.
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