Tag: Community

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Save Kings Heath Park Garden Centre from BCC cuts

Birmingham City Council are considering proposals to close Kings Heath Park Nursery/Garden Centre for good as part of the re-organisation of the parks department. They also plan to drastically reduce the amount of plants produced and sold to the public at Cofton Garden Centre. 

I have launched a petition calling the council to think again, look at other options and reconsider this short sighted decision.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

Kings Heath Park Nursery has served the local and wider community for many years providing a large variety of good quality, competitively priced plants in an attractive and welcoming setting within the park as well as a popular floristry service. People come from far beyond the local area to purchase their summer bedding and other plants. The floristry service offers a high class service for businesses and the public, offering bouquets, banquet, wedding and funeral flowers as well as providing floral displays for council functions.

Closing the nursery will not only deprive Kings Heath Park of one of its major attractions, at a time when the council is trying to increase footfall, but it will also have a knock on impact on the nearby Cartland Tea Rooms that also brings income to the park and to the charity Thrive which operates from the old TV garden to offer therapeutic gardening programmes to people with a defined health, social or educational need.

The glass houses will not be maintained if the nursery is closed and will be vulnerable to vandalism. Once beyond repair they are unlikely to be restored and these valuable community buildings will be lost for good.

Plug plants will no longer be bought and grown on by parks staff at the nurseries which will have an impact on the sale of hanging baskets and floral displays to BIDS and charities like Moseley in Bloom to enhance the city retail areas.

Nursery staff have been given very little information or notice of the closure and yet could offer a big insight into increasing the commercial opportunities of the nursery site.

Little thought appears to have gone into business development or exploring other models which could keep the nursery open, for example utilising volunteers and considering use of S106 monies or other funding streams.

Kings Heath Park Nursery/Garden Centre is a valuable and important part of the Kings Heath Community – the (now closed) School of Horticultural Training is in a listed building with English Heritage and offered training and apprenticeships.  A history of Kings Heath Park’s association with horticulture can be found on Thrive’s website:
https://www.thrive.org.uk/how-we-help/regional-centres-and-programmes/birmingham/thrive-birmingham-history

My petition calls on Birmingham City Council to recognise the importance of Kings Heath Park Nursery as a community asset and to do everything in its power to keep it open, growing and selling plants to the public.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

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Queensbridge Depot – not for sale

UPDATE 4th December 2024 – I’ve had confirmation today that the site has been withdrawn from auction. The council have sent expressions of interest forms to two organisations who have already expressed an interest. They will also contact Save Birmingham and BVSC to ensure other community organisations are given the opportunity to register an interest to purchase or a long lease for the site.

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I have been made aware that the site and building known locally as the Queensbridge Depot has been listed by the council for auction in December 2024.

The site is located on Queensbridge Road next to Queensbridge School and is between the two playing fields.

Research undertaken in 2018 by former Councillor Martin Mullaney revealed the site is of significant local interest. It may have been built as the engineering workshop and coach house for Uffculme Hall and is part of the Cadbury family history. It was used for community meetings and believed it may have been the base for the Pocket Testament League
In 1970 the land and buildings were bequeathed to Birmingham City Council and used as a base for the Parks department. It has been empty and the buildings semi derelict since 2009.
You can read Martins document here:

history-2018-july1stDownload

 In June 2018 the site was included on a list of sites for sale by Birmingham City Council. Representations were made by various organisations, including Moseley Forum, Highbury Orchard, and Kings Heath & Moseley Shed as well as both Moor Green Lane and Russell Road Residents Associations. There was also a petition. The site was withdrawn from sale following the concerns raised and a presentation at a Moseley Forum meeting. The important local interest, as well as the difficulties with traffic flows were the reasons given for ‘disposal for residential’ being rejected and withdrawal of the property for sale.

The same happened in 2020 when again it was put on a disposal list by BCC. Councillor Lisa Trickett gave assurances at that time that ‘no development would occur on this site and no future decision would be made on its use until ‘we are clear on how it might fit to securing a wider community asset and viable future for Highbury Hall‘. 

In the past few years local organisations including Highbury Orchard and Moseley and Kings Heath shed have expressed interest to explore the possibility of taking it over, restoring it and opening it for community use working with the local schools and trusts, such as the Uffculme Centre in the nearby locality. Their requests have never been formally considered. There has also been interest from two nearby schools to enable them to extend provision, however this has never got off the ground either.

I have now written to the director of Place Prosperity & Sustainability at Birmingham City Council to make my objections to the site being auctioned without prior consultation with local councillors (we were not informed of the latest auction listing) and the local community.

I have received a reply and hope to progress a dialogue and remove the site from sale.

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Tree Preservation Order for Church Road

Earlier in June we wrote about a case where Izzy helped some tenants whose new landlord had turned their home into a building site. See the post here

Shortly after that post Izzy was alerted by nearby residents that a beautiful and established copper beech tree had been felled at the front of the same premises. Izzy went to speak to the contractors, but was unable to prevent it being removed. The road is not in a conservation area and the tree was not protected with a TPO.

The lovely copper beech tree couldn’t be saved


A year ago Izzy had written to the council tree officer asking for that particular tree to be preserved by a TPO , however sadly that hadn’t happened.

The recent decision to refuse the planning application for the building had even mentioned three trees at the property, including the lost copper beech, being of public amenity value. The lack of a specific arboricultural method statement and tree protection plan had contributed to the decision for refusal.

officers-report-65-church-roadDownload

After the tree was felled Izzy immediately contacted the tree officer again and arranged a site visit. As a result a TPO has now been authorised to protect the two remaining lime and copper beech trees.

tpo-65-church-road-pdfDownload

The tree before it was felled