Photo News - Solihull Ratepayers

Here you will find a selection of photographs relating to our campaign issues within the Borough.

Photo shows Child Asylum Seekers waiting in Calais for transport to the UK but each new arrival costs £42,000 a year in Taxpayers support. Recently this has become a Big Issue in Birmingham with numbers up 700% although Ratepayers have been pressing for action for two years. Solihull is a target area for the People Traffickers who bring in these children hidden in lorries because of the Regional Immigration Office in Homer Road. Children mainly in the 11 to 17 age group come to Solihull from war zones and troubled areas. We say this is a proper issue for public debate and only part of a bigger problem. People Traffickers will only be put out of business by returning illegal's to safer areas of their country of origin. With a pending General Election now is the time to call for action. (February 2010)

Ratepayers back cycling but costly New Cycle Tracks are a Waste of Money. The Ratepayers Association has made a detailed submission on the Councils Walking and Cycling Strategy. We are generally in support of improvements particularly with walking links to Public Transport facilities and better signposting. We are also calling for better promotion and parking facilities for some of our Rural Footpath Networtks to encourage recreational use. But are pressing for costly new cycle routes to be properly assessed for potential usage at the design stage and highlighted the poor value for money of some existing schemes which are little used or where cyclists so dislike dodging round trees and bus stops etc. they prefer to cycle on the main highway. Photo's show empty cycle routes along Stratford Road, Shirley. But we are keen on practical measures and our Membership Secretary sets off on her delivery round to save postage. (February 2010)

The Association is supporting local residents fighting plans to demolish these two houses at 503 & 505 Streetsbrook Road adjacent to the Station Road Traffic Island to build ten apartments. We are also very concerned the access is through this Council Owned public amenity land into The Cresent. The scheme will dominate adjoining residential homes in a location being considered for inclusion into the Ashleigh Road Conservation Area. Almost identical plans by Piper Developments have been previously refused by Solihull Council and a Planning Inspector at Appeal. (January 2010)

Photo shows three of our lady members in the snow outside the Shirley Centre on Stratford Road on their way to our successful First Friday Afternoon Members Forum on 8th January. Well done girls! (January 2010)

Photo's show recent Sunday Afternoon Parking Congestion at Brueton Park and overflow along its Warwick Road frontage. We have been calling for additional parking as so many Park users from around the Borough can only use cars to access this popular park which is badly served by public transport. The Council are now proposing to impose additional Parking Restrictions on Warwick Road claiming parking is due to to shoppers avoiding town centre charges. This is a long way from the shops and we have found no evidence to support that claim but fear park users will now be penalised and a rethink is overdue. (January 2010)

Mums beware of Parking Penalties - In 2008/2009 Parking Tickets raised £549,286 in Solihull (Source Freedom of Information by the Taxpayers Alliance). In December Cabinet Member Councillor Ted Richards approved plans to extend the previously advisory Road Markings around 100 schools into the Civil Enforcement scheme. The £25,000 cost of the new signage will no doubt soon be recouped by the wardens. So Watch Out Busy Mums on the School Run. (December 2009 - see the full story on our 'News' page The Ratepayer)

Campaigning to Stop Road Humps on Bus Routes. The 966 Buses Bounce off Table Top Humps in Cornyx Lane. Bus passengers and drivers know that Road Humps cause discomfort and can be a hazard to elderly passengers near stops. Not so well known is the vibration caused to adjacent house owners. The association is campaigning for the council to only install Speed Cushions on Bus Routes in future and replace or modify existing humps where they cause nuisance. (December 2009)

Congratulations to the Volunteers from The Solihull Tree Wardens and local residents who got stuck into planting trees and 80 metres of native hedging at Sandfield Close on Woodlands Estate Shirley on a wet Saturday in November. The trees & plants were provided by Stella Atois and Ratepayers Don Hitchcock has been an acvtive tree warden for many years and roped in our Secretary Trevor Eames for some heavy digging. Picking up council habits even the volunteers stop work for a tea break. (November 2009)

Ratepayers highlight Fly Tipping Problem in Shirley. Photo's show Tyres dumped recently in the garden of 200 Dog Kennel Lane (The site of the proposed Mosque) previously asbestos sheets were dumped in this unoccupied garden. The landowners and council are being pressed to take action to tidy up the site and make it secure but fly tipping is a real problem and the Police will only act if a registration number is taken of the vehicle involved. Anyone witnessing fly tipping should note the vehicle details and advise the council at Solihull Connect (704 6000) or the Association for Anonymity (0845 158 9206) (October 2009)

Action to Designate Open Land at Neville Road Shirley as a Village Green. Working with the community a great deal of effort has been put in firstly to oppose planning applications by a landowner who reclaimed open space maintained by the council to build maisonettes. Under the Commons Act 2006 a Village Green can be registered if an area of land has been used for Community/Recreation purposes continuously for 20 years even if in private ownership. We have now lodged the formal application including some 90 Evidence Questionnaires from local residents who have lived on the estate for over 20 years. Photo's show the site planned for development, the two areas of Green fenced as now and the presentation of the application to the council on 25th September 2009. Presentation Picture L to R: Bryan Jones (Neville Road) Cllr Gary Allport Andrew Kinsey (Council Property Legal Team Manager) & Trevor Eames. Thanks also go to Rob Turner (Neville Road) & Maggie Throup plus all those residents who completed our forms and supplied the invaluable background evidence. (September 2009)

Ratepayers have attacked the costly Traffic Calming Scheme at Arden School in Station Road Knowle while supporting the principle of a 20mph zone operating at school times only. We have been on a fact finding visit to Ludlow in Shropshire where photo's show a better solution. Passing a school and leisure centre with a cycle track and footpath Ludlow has a 20mph zone school times only with flashing indicator signs and minimal speed cushions plus road markings. At a fraction of the Solihull Cost and without the discomfort of road humps. Message to Solihull "We live in hard times and need to rethink traffic calming" (September 2009)

Solihull Ratepayers are happy to back the Campaign to Keep the Important Maternity Services at Solihull Hospital. Membership Secretary Marcella Barton signs Councillor Jim Ryans petition in Solihull. Pictured left to right - Councillor Jim Ryan, Maggie Throup and Marcella Barton (June 2009)

Ratepayers have attacked the contraversal £210,000 Traffic Calming scheme at Arden School Knowle as unnecessary and a waste of Taxpayers money. The present system in Station Road works well and has an accident free safety record. We say the proposed changes are a waste of Taxpayers money and the Council should keep the present system. "It aint broke so don't try and fix it." (June 2009)

Ratepayers Challenge the Great Parking Enforcement Rip-Off - 1500 Tickets a Month

No sign of a Warden while this car transporter takes 90 minutes obstructing the busy Stratford Road Red Route but this inoffensive private motorist in a nearby service road gets full attention. (March 2009)

Loading - 20 mins is misleading, if you leave a car unattended for 5 minuets you get a ticket. This sign outside Aldi gets regular victims. Further along Stratford Road this is one of several bays that are far narrower than regulations permit. Ratepayers are pressing the council to stop issuing Penalty Tickets in these bays. (March 2009)

Ratepayers are calling for safety improvements at the hazardous junction of Sharman's Cross Road with Streetsbrook Road near the site entrance to the Solihull Rugby Club Ground as part of any redevelopment for housing. (January 2009)

Ratepayers have made representations over plans to build 87 New Homes on Solihull Rugby Club's Ground in Sharman's Cross Road over loss of open space, over intensive and out of character with area, inadequate parking provision, drainage and access problems. (January 2009)

We were impressed with the Remembrance Service in Shirley which enjoyed its largest level of support for many years. (9th November 2008)

In Shakespeare Drive, paving slabs are being replaced by tarmac despite local consultations by Ratepayers Chairman John Rogers indicating 90% opposition. This is a costly project with the disadvantage of being a non permeable surface and over time tarmac becomes very unsightly as it gets dug up or lifted by tree roots. Note - from October new private driveways and developments must use permeable materials but not it seems for public footpaths. (9th November 2008)

Ratepayers Secretary Trevor Eames meets with Blackford Road Residents to follow up concerns over details of the DeVere Hotel car park scheme which has adversely impacted on their rear gardens. This area already suffers from drainage problems as can be seen from the recently planted trees standing in waterlogged ground. (2nd November 2008)

New Stratford Road Traffic Island - Despite a huge public protest and a Council consultation when 67% response considered the island to be unsafe the Cabinet Member for Transport & Highways decided on 6th November to "take no action" other than to increase the size of warning signs Roundabout Ahead. The next review is not for another two rears. The island is constructed to a substandard design and we will continue to make representations for improvements, hopefully before there is a serious injury accident. (18th October 2008)

Association Members Celebrate the Launch of our new Website on 4th October 2008 at the home of our Chairman John Rogers and his wife Barbara in Shakespeare Drive, Shirley. (October 2008)

Association Committee Members Don & Mary Hitchcock help raise funds at Castle Bromwich Gardens by selling home made jam and running children's fun activities on a rather wet Sunday. Mary & Don have worked as friends of the Castle Bromwich Gardens Charity for some years and we strongly recommend you add the gardens to your 'must visit' list for next Spring/Summer. (October 2008)

In Blackford Road, Shirley, members are keeping a watchful eye on ground preperation work on the adjacent Shirley Green site to which their gardens back onto. Photo's here taken on 16th October 08 show how a planning consent for a 25% Crown Reduction on one Black Poplar Tree and removal of some lateral branches have actually been implemented. Further along the road, contractors working on the DeVere Hotel car park have totally removed a large section of the screening mound which residents were promised would be retained. In addition while site tree's are protected there is clear evidence of a very large tree having been felled. These issues have been reported to Solihull's Planners for investigation and also taken up with the developer. (October 2008)

Concerned Milverton Road Residents in Knowle pictured by their blocked off public right of way through Arden School creating a three quarter mile detour are calling for action by the councils Walkways & Rights of Way Officer to reopen as a matter of urgency or arrange a suitable diversion. Ratepayers say this footpath is an important community link and believe it should be reopened. (September 2008).

Ratepayers are calling for a review of parking facilities at Brueton Park for next summer. The park is popular with families and difficult to access without a car and we expect increased use when work starts on Shirley Park and families want to use other parks. These photo's show typical Sunday morning queueing into a full car park while on-street parking along the Warwick Road frontage is also busy. (September 2008).

Association Secretary Trevor Eames takes a look at Solihull's oldest Royal Mail Post Box, the Shirley landmark in Dog Kennel Lane as we move to launch our own Website on 4th October 2008. (September 2008).

Wheeley Bins for garden waste have proved a great success with menbers as well as being a cost effective approach to meeting Solihull's recycling targets. This year an extra collection will be made giving two more weeks to tidy up those gardens. (September 2008).

The TRW Buildings will be demolished as part of a huge redevelopment scheme on the whole of this site. Photo taken from the busy new traffic island that has caused a big increase in heavy traffic flow along Cranmore Boulevard. (September 2008).

Ted Heath of Chelmsley Wood, with one of the many redundant street signs that have been left behind after redevelopment (Lowbrook School is now a housing scheme). The SRA is pressing for these to be recycled or sold as scrap and to remove them as unnecerssary clutter. (August 2008).

Don Hitchcock inspects the site at Kenilworth Rd, Balsall Common where 11 detached houses are to be built in rear gardens. The SRA had campaigned over intensive development and obtained a sustainable drainage scheme. (July 2008).

With the ASDA superstore plans approved by the council, the SRA campaigns to preserve the ancient trees and hedgerows around Shirley Park so residents can continue to peacefully enjoy this amenity. (May 2008).

An old friend to the Shirley DIY Community - Stanway Hardware, closes its doors for the last time in August 2007. An early victim to the Shirley re-development scheme. (August 2007).

Copies of any of the above photo's or others that appear on this website are available from the association at just 70p each.