Comments on: Acocks Green Focus Group Campaigns

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:44:13 +0000

Hi Adrian

I agree that things are not satisfactory as they are, and that we need action. The Focus Group have been saying that for years now. I think the action requires to be thought through very carefully though. I don’t agree that ALL that is needed is double yellows and enforcement of parking restrictions though - see Mick’s comments on your other posting about Oxford Road and the Bus Lanes for expansion on that.

In regard to Shared Space - this is not really about pavements. This is a slight misreading of Shared Space - you might like to browse some of our street design links and Shared Space videos for more info on this. It is true that a proper redesign is going to cost money, and, yes, it would involve a complete reconsideration of the way that the space in the centre is used and not just in the lower half Wilkinson’s to Post Office area, but all the way up the Warwick Road as well. This is what we are asking for. However, Acocks Green has not really had any serious money spent on its centre since the nineteen-seventies. We have become a Cinderella suburb in many ways. Other areas of our general broad type and vintage, eg Erdington, Northfield and Kings Heath, have had, or are about to have, a lot of money spent on them. We find this very worrying, and we think we need to stop being so accepting.

By: Adrian Martin

Adrian Martin — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:56:55 +0000

It is taking far too long to get action. The City Council are just not interested. When there was the great Number 11 bus “Showcase”, nothing was done to resolve the traffic problems in Dudley Park Road and nothing has been done since. All we need are double yellow lines and enforcement of parking restrictions to free up public transport and, more importantly, stop emergency service vehicles being delayed en route to Heartlands Hospital! As for Shared Space, it needs wide pavements on both side of the road to work - that isn’t possible in Acocks Green unless we spend a lot of money and completely change the present layout and do away with wasted space outside Argos, Post Office, Lloyds Bank.

By: Julia

Julia — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:47:28 +0000

Hi J Barton

Fair question. I have made a new post on this topic.

By: j barton

j barton — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:15:54 +0000

since I moved to Oxford Road in 2006 there has been a great increase in through traffic using this road rather than wait in queues on Warwick Road. I see the bus lane is still in place causing single lane traffic 2 years after the meeting about this, so what (if anything) is being done about it?

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 19 May 2007 15:13:38 +0000

Hi A C Baker

Glad you like the blog.

The meeting on 20 March went very well. The Council are prepared to invest some money into carrying out a feasibility study into regenerating the centre of Acocks Green. They will look at our Shared Space style suggestion, amongst others.

You are very welcome to join us on Monday 21 May when our speakers, leading Shared Space advocate Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Phil Jones (Traffic Consultant) and Will Thornton (for Birmingham Focus on Blindness) will be explaining how Shared Space works, and we will debate how it could work for Acocks Green.

Best wishes

Julia

By: A C Baker

A C Baker — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:27:21 +0000

Lovely new ‘blog. How did the meeting go on 20 Mar 2007? I hope to be able to join you on Mon 21 May.

By: Edmund

Edmund — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:55:35 +0000

You know, this website, wonderful though it is, reminds me of something…