Residents of  Acocks Green are becoming very concerned about the future of Acocks Green Police Station.  This, 1909 building has an interesting history.

It was built when Acocks Green was still part of the County of Worcestershire. Hence the three pear ornamentation over the central doorway to the police station.  The pears are a feature of the City of Worcester coat of arms.

Look out for the three pears over the main doorway – as in the picture on the right here.   At the time when the police station was built Acocks Green, as part of the parish of Yardley,  was involved in a debate about whether to remain a part of Worcestershire, or whether to become part of the City of Birmingham.  It seems that the pretty red terracotta police station was a gift from Worcestershire in the hope that we decide to remain in Worcestershire.  Ungrateful   Yardley plumped for Birmingham!  So we have been Brummies ever since, but, in commemoration of this part of our History, showing that we were once part of Worcestershire, our  local Police Station still sports its Worcestershire pears.

For more detail, on this Grade B, locally, listed, building,  a helpful note on the Acocks Green History Society website reads:

Built 1909 for Yardley Rural District Council. Included a courthouse. Red brick and terracotta; tile roof. Two-storeys. Almost symmetrical elevation to Yardley Road. Central section with rusticated ground floor, above which is a central pedimented bay with flanking projecting bays with segmental pediments. To either side are two-storey canted bays. Sliding sash windows throughout. On corner with Alexander Road is an octagonal turret with lead dome and keyed ocular windows. Low boundary wall with mould terracotta coping.

This week we learn that the Police Authority are proposing to allocate 2.3 million pounds for a modernisation/rebuild of Acocks Green Police Station during the 2014/15 financial year.  What, in effect does this mean?  Nothing has yet been decided but it seems that options include demolishing and rebuilding (Already deeply unpopular with local activists; the multi-circulation emails have been flying this week.) or selling off and building a new police station elsewhere in Acocks Green.  However, Acocks Green Police Station is a large building.  Who would buy it?  How would they treat it?  To what purpose could they put it?  Could they afford to give it the tlc it needs?  Would they care?

There is more information on Cllr Roger Harmer’s blog

Ayoub Khan, Cabinet Member BCC Community Services & Safety Addresses a Concerned Crowd

This morning (Sunday 22 January 2012) a concerned group of Acocks Green residents and local politicians of various political shades met for an very urgent and very impromptu meeting (called last night) outside the station itself to review the situation.  The meeting was attended by members of Acocks Green Focus Group, Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum, Fox Green Neighbourhood Forum (Acocks Green), Acocks Green Conservative, Labour and Lib-Dem parties (including Cllr Stewart Stacey (Lab) and Councillors Roger Harmer and Iain Bowen (Lib-Dem), Yardley MP John Hemming.  They were addressed by Cllr Bo b Jones, Chair of West Midlands Police Authority Finance and Resources Committee and Ayub Khan, Cabinet Member for BCC Community Services and Safety.

The main points that were raised centred on the future of the building. Residents stressed that their concern is not just that there is ANY police building in Acocks Green, but that they keep THIS important and  attractive, historic building in the heart of Acocks Green’s proposed Conservation Area.  To loose it would mean leaving a huge visual hole in the area.  As Jon Morris of Acocks Green Focus Group and Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum said, nothing else would balance the surrounding buildings, like the Railway Station, Fire Station, and Glynne Edwards Hall in the same way.   Julia Larden (Acocks Green Focus Group) pointed out that selling to another ‘sympathetic owner’ is not necessarily a safe option.  Another public building in Acocks Green (1073 Warwick Road/The Churchill Club/The Knoll) was sold to a sympathetic owner who is now being forced to sell on, having been unable to undertake the planned conversion work due to financial difficulties in the credit crunch. Ann Clarke (Acocks Green Focus Group and Acocks Green Conservative Party) pointed out that part of the Police Station was, originally, residential accommodation, and that this might be a way forward.  Cllrs Jones and Khan said that they would take on board the concerns of the local people and consider the possibility of retaining the building, with some parts of it being let to other organisations.

There is likely to be a further meeting in the coming months (Indoors, and out of the wind!!) so watch this space.

Acocks Green is an internet savy community of bloggers.  There a set of Flickr slide show/set of pictures of the meeting here  and two more descriptions of the meeting here and here (And we will add any further accounts which appear.)

‘You get more, you get more with a Morrison’s store.’  So went a 90s TV advertising jingle, for those old enough to remember.   So it would seem.  Acocks Green residents are just waking up to the fact that Morrison’s are intending a sixty million pound development on Shaftmoor Lane: the site of the old Lucas factory:

‘At the heart of the develoment is a new Morrison’s supermarket which will unlock the funding for an Extracare retirement village.’

the flyer tells us.  This is to provide 400 jobs.  OK – sounds good, but .. what is to happen to Acocks Green village shopping centre?   Already it is feared that people will leave our local centre to shop at the new Tesco’s on the old  ‘Swan’ site in Yardley,  when that is finished in2012.   The Lucas  development, about a mile from the centre of Acocks Green village could further help to haemorrhage shoppers away from the heart of our centre, possibly killing our smallish local Sainsbury’s and leaving more boarded up shops.  Four hundred jobs – yes, maybe, but what will happen to the jobs of those who work in Acocks Green’s shopping centre?

Do we want our community shopping centre, at the heart of our village, to suffer this kind of competition?  Do we want to replace our urban village shopping centre: a place where many people meet as they  cross through the village to use not just the supermarkets, but greengrocers, hardware shops, small clothing retailers,  charity shops, repair facilities for shoes and clothes and other facilities too, like the library, the local adult education centre, churches, pubs, banks, building societies and friendly small cafes with an efficient trip purely to get in the weekly shopping, as soon as possible, from under one roof?  What effect would this have on the spirit and identity of Acocks Green community?

Many local communities are already struggling under the weight of ‘out of town’ hypermarkets.   Do we want this to happen to us?

Concerned?  We suggest you go to the exhibitions at the times advertised on the flyer reproduced above: August 1st 6-8,  2nd 10-7.00 or 3rd 10-4.00  at Yarnfield school, to find out more.   Acocks Green Focus Group members will be looking in too, as, we suspect, will a lot more of our community; we are already picking up concerns.  We will update with more info in due course.

First updates:  Acocks Green Town Centre manager says that the Acocks Green village Sainsubury’s is 18,000 Sq. feet.  The new Morrison’s will be 35,000 sq. feet – i.e. more than double the size of Acocks Green’s present largest supermarket.

Local councillors are expressing concerns at the plan.

The  AcocksGreenBid website will  keep businesses up to date with developments  in the plan to make Acocks Green a Business Improvement District.   Other local suburbs,  e.g. Kings Heath and Erdington are already BID suburbs.  These suburbs have extra funds to spend on their shopping centres.  To become a BID area, local businesses must first vote to pay funds into a pot which is then available for centre improvements like Christmas lighting, floral displays, better appearances for vacant properties, community toilets, seasonal street events, or extra street cleaning.  Businesses pay in according to their size.

It has been calculated that a ‘BID’ in Acocks Green would raise £100,000  a year, or £500,000 over five years.  (This is typical; in Kings Heath the amount raised in the first year was £120,000 and in Erdington £100,000.)  The extra money to help improve and promote Acocks Green centre would help at a time when the local economy is under threat from the soon to be finished Tesco development at the old Swan Centre in Yardley and plans for Shirley.

In the first stage of consultation with local businesses 93% who responded were in favour.   There are still more processes to be completed, but it seems likely that Acocks Green will become a BID area.  Check out the AcocksGreenBid site for more details about how a BID works and how this could help improve our local shopping centre.

The idea behind this document is that it sets a plan for Birmingham City Council to work towards, until 2026.   Birmingham people and Birmingham organisations are being asked for their opinions.  The closing date is 11.59 pm tonight – slightly extended.    Why bother?  Are the Council really going to do what we want them to do?  We retain a degree of healthy cynicism.  However, as we see it, the Council will have more justification for doing something we don’t want it to do if we have not made our views known.   Once policies are enshrined in the strategy, and if the  Council can show there was little opposition to a policy,  it will become harder to oppose its implementation in the future.  On the other hand, if enough people call for a particular strategy, and always depending upon budgetary costs, this may make implementation more likely.  We are, in principal, supporting the Smart Route Plan for Acocks Green, though pointing out the particular way in which Acocks Green people would like this to be adopted. (Removing the dual carriageway on the Warwick Road in Acocks Green is our first priority.)

We are also pressing, ideally, for a Conservation Area for Acocks Green.  However, failing that, it would not be particularly costly to formally designate Acocks Green a ‘Mature Suburb’.  We have been experiencing a very worrying number of threats to important old buildings, trees and green spaces in Acocks Green in recent years.  There is also a threat of higher density housing.  This appears not likely to affect ‘Mature Suburbs’ in the same way though, although other non formally designated ‘Mature Suburb’  areas are then likely to experience more high density building.   Mature Suburb status could also help protect Acocks Green’s buildings green spaces and trees  in the future, so it is something we are particularly calling for.

Our ‘take’ on the Core Strategy’ is in our submission here  Birmingham Core Strategy – Our Comments If you live in Acocks Green, and think you might want to support these policies our document will also give guidance on the areas to go to for comment.

For comments on the main policies for Acocks Green (8) East Birmingham (E4) Please see our cutting from the site below.  Note we have commented on three other areas too.   (Our comments are registered and will appear on the site shortly, but the team is currently innudated.)

To begin the comments process go to here

***

We thought this little film would be useful in the debate, making it possible for anyone to check details, without having to rely on memory.  This is only our second experiment with a moving camera, ever, and Tom Hooper can probably sleep easy that we are not going to be a threat to his position for a while. However, we have dubbed this film ‘Glynn Edwards Verite’. This is partly because of a fragment of accidently caught chatter, but, more to the point, the aim of ‘verite’ is to accurately show what is there.  (For non Film buffs ‘ Cinema Verite’ was a French Film term which became international.  It refers to  truthful filming, using a hand held camera out in the street in a spontaneous, ‘Never mind the shake, let’s just show the raw truth.’,  style. This become famous in the 1960s, when it was popular with campaigners.)

Whilst we are on the subject of truth … because of questions which certain parties have been raised about the local listing status of the Glynn Edwards, we have double checked. It is definitely locally listed Grade A. (A quick call to BCC Planning on 0121-303 1115 will confirm this, if anyone is still in doubt on the point.)

Stockfield Community Association and Acocks Green Baptist Church have issued a response to their recent opinon survey.  Incidentally, if you have not yet completed that (see top of our previous post here)  it is clear this debate is going to run for some time – our advice would just be to get it in now anyway.

The whole of the  new three page letter from Stockfield and Acocks Green Baptists, sent those who have responded to their questionnaire is available for download by clicking here We have added a few boxes to draw your attention to controversial points.

Page 2 – Box 1 ‘The Glynn Edwards Hall is not itself listed’.  (This point is repeated several more times in the document.)  This is untrue.  The Glynn Edwards Hall is not statutorily listed.  It is locally listed Grade A.  A local listing is still a listing.  A listing at this level denotes a building of a quality capable of achieving statutory listing.  A local listing does not automatically preclude demolition.  However, what it does mean is that the Council Planning Committee will consider any plans brought before it very carefully indeed in the light of that high local listing. A plan for a replacement building can still be refused.  That SCA and AGBC are trying to conceal this local listing status is worrying.  At planning stage this point will be noted and they will not be allowed to continue to deny it.  Meantime we will be giving this present little economy with the truth maximum publicity.

Page 2 – Box 2 Which local groups have called for the destruction of the main hall space?  A number of local groups are concerned about this loss of space in an area where we have no village hall.   It would be interesting to see a list of local groups (apart, presumably, from SCA and AGBC)  who want this.

It is highly questionable whether removing the middle building is beneficial to the statutorily listed buildings on either side.  From a Conservation point of view the view of the buildings either side will be seriously affected in this exercise.  It is very interesting that it is noted that ‘Conservation focus’ (Who are they.  Could we at least try and get our terminology right?  Would that be a reference to Conservation officers by any chance?)  have been consulted.  We note that we are, ahem, not advised on what they actually said …  Come on Stockfield, come on Acocks Green Baptists.  We need a little more openness than this.

Page 3 – Box 3 ‘The vision’ does not ‘serve the prime needs of the area’ which are to have a large hall available as a village hall and to maintain that hall’s present attractive and welcoming exterior which blends in well as part of the face of  primarily Victorian to nineteen-thirties Acocks Green.   Comments we have received suggest that if this plan were to go ahead the new building would experience a down-turn in use.

The Glyn Edwards Hall (Acocks Green Baptist Hall) 1924 Locally Listed Grade A (Side Elevation - Alexander Road)

Many Acocks Green residents have expressed horror at the present proposal put forward jointly by Acocks Green Baptist Church and Stockfield Community Association to demolish the much loved 1924, locally Grade A listed,  Glyn Edwards Hall at the corner of  Yardley Road and Alexander Road, Acocks Green.  (You can read more about local listing, and this building here.) The current proposal (we understand shortly to be put forward to Birmingham City Council Planning Department) is to demolish the hall and to replace with the design below.

The Glyn Edwards (Baptist) Church Hall Design Proposal - Artist's Impression

Below  is the present Glyn Edwards Hall, front elevation,  from Yardley Road, and the proposed Stockfield/Baptist design compared.

Double clicking will enlarge for clarity (Please ignore apparent grained effect on roof - a trick of the light.)

The present Glyn Edwards Hall is a distinctive Arts and Crafts Building with unusual roof features in keeping with the Arts and Crafts style where roofs are often an important part of the design.    See below for detail (Note, any of these pictures can be double clicked to enlarge.)

Glyn Edwards Hall - Detail

It is not hard to see why The Glyn Edwards Hall was awarded its Grade A status.  It  also has some striking brickwork patterns, see below:

Glyn Edwards Hall - Detail (Double click to enlarge)

The replacement building is a plain and featureless  seventies style  building with a large flat expanse of plate glass.   It has limited features of any kind and is not, in any way, in keeping with the surrounding buildings in this area.  It would jar  badly with its mainly Edwardian and nineteen-twenties surroundings in this part of Acocks Green.    Local people have already described it as a plate glass shed.

So why do Acocks Green Baptists and Stockfield Community Association want to dispose of this charming and welcoming looking building and replace it with such a bleak, souless, monstrosity?  Their rationale seems to be as follows.  We reproduce it as best as we can:

The new building would be (we quote) more ‘useful’.  The plan for the new building involves dividing it into sections – see paper plan below, followed by three dimensional model:

The Stockfield/Baptist Paper Plan for the Glyn Edwards - note double clicking will enlarge to give good clarity

This plan shows the proposed new layout, with a range of small rooms inside, to be used for different purposes.  These would replace the present large village hall style room inside, which is currently popular with local groups for meetings.  (Acocks Green lacks a parish hall.)

(Note the present Baptist buildings complex also includes 2A Alexander Road.  [Shaded pink on the plan above.]  This is the original Baptist caretaker’s house.  It is currently partly used as office space, with one flat above.  It is next to the Glyn Edwards on Alexander Road.  Next to 2A, on Alexander Road,  is the Arthur Moore Hall.  [Shaded green on the plan above.] This is the other Acocks Green Baptist Hall [here are two.] built 1903.  Next to the Glyn Edwards Hall on the Yardley Road is the Baptist Church itself  [Shaded beige on the plan above.] This is part pictured in the present and proposed front elevation pictures.)

Below is the same idea in 3D, but showing, also, how the upstairs space would be used.

Stockfield/Baptist Proposal for Glyn Edwards Hall (3D Model) Double click to enlarge for clarity.

The theory is clearly that a several smaller rooms would be more ‘useful’.  We are unclear about how far this theory has been tested in practice.  At a meeting about two years ago local residents involved in community work were invited to give their opinions on what would be appropriate for their needs.  At this time it was being suggested that the new facilities, already being discussed, would be designed with the needs of all residents this side of Acocks Green.  The five delegates who were not from the Baptist Church or from the Stockfield Estate did not express a strong preference for this type of division into smaller rooms, at that time, and  concerns are now being expressed that the loss of the larger hall could mean the loss of the most popular facility of this kind in the area.   There is a meeting room currently available to local groups  at 2A Alexander Road, but it would appear that, apart from Stockfield Community Association and the Baptist Church ,there is only limited use of this facility by other local residents’ groups.  It seems unclear why three small meeting rooms are now required upstairs.

This much said, we accept that if Stockfield and the Baptists can make better use of the space than is being made at present then there is an argument for changing the space arrangements inside th building.  However, what remains disturbing about the design,  even if such a division of space inside the building can be demonstrated to be ‘useful’ is the complete demolition of the building – why not simply adapt and build onto the existing one?  Much of the new design rationale seems, on further questioning, to centre on a perceived need for more light  (though the building seems already quite light enough in the daytime for most tastes) and an idea that the building would be more ‘welcoming’ if passers by could see inside it.   However, no-one we have spoken to,  finds this design ‘welcoming’.  Instead, people have been shocked by the cold, uncaring, atttitude  involved in removing, for ever, an attractive building from the local landscape, and imposing, instead, such an ugly building as this upon the community  here which contains many people who care passionately about their surroundings.   In addition, as a number of people have pointed out, plate glass windows can bring problems of their own.  They limit privacy, can make people inside a building feel uneasy and, moreover,  people have quoted local experiences in which such a large expanse of glass  has attracted unwelcome attention from bored local teenagers, eg banging on the glass.  This can be very unnerving for people trying to conduct an activity inside the building.

Finally, one of us was told ‘Well it’s our building.’  Well, yes.  It is.   This makes us sadder than anything else.  Over the years, local campaigners have heard this, final, somewhat aggressive statement many times.  Generally it comes from insensitive property developers:  ‘It is my building.  It is nothing to do with you.  I can do what I like. ‘ We would have hoped that two locally well respected organisations like Acocks Green Baptist Church and Stockfield Community Association: both organisations we have worked with before, and organisations who do much good locally, would have shown greater awareness of the feelings of the residents of Acocks Green.  Demolishing  The Glyn Edwards Hall would bring division and pain to this part of Acocks Green.   It will not be a happy outcome for anyone if these two organisations end up coming face to face with other local residents’ groups across the  Planning Committee Room floor in a wrangle over the planning proposal set out here,  and we are still hoping to avoid this.

We appeal to local residents to make their views known to Stockfield Community Association and Acocks Green Baptists now, by downloading and completing their questionnaire on the plan.  The questionnaire is available here.  It should be returned to 2A Alexander Road, B27 6HE.   We are also in the process of producing materials suitable for petition (leaflet and petition form) and have already promised one road that such materials will be available shortly.  Please contact us, using our ‘Contact Us’ link, see near top right of this website,  if you would also like petition materials.

We are  also appealing directly to Stockfield  Community Association and Acocks Green Baptists to reconsider their plans now,  before any more harm is done.   We will be writing to them separately.

ACOCKS GREEN LIBRARY THURSDAY 10th FEBRUARY 9.15am – 4.45pm

or at the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum meeting, 7.30, Thursday 10 Feburary, at the Glynn Edwards Hall (Corner of Yardley Road and Alexander Road, Acocks Green.)

If you live in the Fox Hollies Green Neighbourhood Forum area the document will be discussed at their next meeting on Monday 7 Feburary.

We give an outline of some points which affect Acocks Green, below, and our comments.

Implications of these Policies for Acocks Green.

Positive

The existing proposals for the Smart Route in the centre of Acocks Green are supported in the proposals.  There are details here that still need to be worked out but, in principle, this mean investing considerable money in the Village Centre it seems the likely first step in the development of the Smart Route through Acocks Green will be the implementation of a single carriageway in the centre, smoothing traffic flow and making the area more shopper friendly with more space for pedestrians, trees, car parking etc.  Such improvement proposals are becoming particularly urgent in the light of the new Tesco’s Development to Open in Yardley in 2012.  This development, as revealed at the Yardley Constituency meeting a few days ago will have car parking for 863, a landscaped plaza with specimen trees, and a shopping mall with 21 shops as well as the large Tesco’s shop itself.

Worrying

There is a possibility that the policy on Convenience Stores could allow another large supermarket to be developed in the vicinity.  Pointing out that supermarkets are not the only answer would help.

High levels of new housing are proposed and this is combined with high densities.  Put this together with the emphasis on protecting Mature Suburbs and Conservation Areas elsewhere and we are likely to get further, poorly designed,  high density flats and garden grabbing within an unprotected Acocks Green.  We should compare this with higher standards in Olton (e.g.  the current development on the Warwick Road in Olton, on the site of the former Fleming Hotel.

Alternatives We Could Ask For

The section on Acocks Green should recognise the high quality and unique character of the suburb and should seek to protect that so that it continues to provide the diverse range of housing requirements for its existing population and is seen as a place people aspire to live rather than one they aspire to move through on their way to Solihull. In order to help achieve this there should be a new set of policies which involve declaring Acocks Green as a Mature Suburb and parts of it as a Conservation Area. In addition a local housing market assessment should be undertaken as a priority to guide the future type and size of housing development in Acocks Green.

So: In a Nutshell we think Acocks Green should ask for:

• Acocks Green to become a designated  Mature Suburb (which brings extra protection)
• Parts of Acocks Green to become a Conservation Area
• Undertake local housing market assessment for Acocks Green and not allow any new development until this is completed and then require new housing development to comply with a policy framework developed from the assessment.
• Strengthen policy in relation to convenience shopping to restrict further supermarket development in the area.
• Support the single carriageway proposal for the A41/Wawick Road.

Acocks Green at the moment is hanging in a balance.  We have the potential to become an area where people really want to live: one with an attractively laid out, accessible, shopping centre and and a place which preserves plenty of greenery and trees and  buildings of character … or we could retain our present busy, noisy and sometimes dangerous main High Street, with its limited parking and we could begin to lose more of our surrounding heritage with more buildings of character being demolished and more attractive suburban gardens with mature trees (visible and enjoyed by everyone) disappearing.  Your choice – join us and  send your thoughts to the  Council on the links provided above by 18 March.

'Essential Tree Maintenance', Please do not park within 20 meters either side of this tree, Sunday 9th January 7.30 am, 3.30 pm - click to enlarge.

The main tree related event on the Acocks Green calandar this month was the planting  of a new tree on Acocks Green’s green space, The Westley Vale Millenium Green, by Lord Mayor Len Gregory.   This was  followed by a blessing ritual for the site.  Toasts were ceremoniously hung from an oak tree and  Pagan wasailling … including singing, the scattering of cider and a cande light processsion -  all to help the trees grow.  The ceremony went off splendidly.

Pagan Wasailling, Westley Vale Millenium Green, Acocks Green

However, on their way to this celebration of Acocks Green’s trees, some Focus Group members photographed,  in Yardley Road, the  notice  displayed on a tree and reproduced at the top of this post.   This  had already set people in Acocks Green talking.  There were two more of these notices in the immediate vicinity, on two more large mature trees.  What was going on?  With such limited information, such a huge gap to be cleared, extremely short notice (The notices  appeared about 36 hours before the promised event.) , no way at all of contacting Amey (we tried) and a published Council schedule of tree work that made no mention of Yardley Road, concerns quickly deepened.  Were we about to lose some of  our mature trees?

Acocks Green people love their trees: see above and also the longer History.  The Focus Group came about partly because of some genuine threats to trees in the centre of Acocks Green.   The affection of Acocks Gren for its trees was swiftly  demonstrated  again. Emergency plans were put in to place  to deter Amey until Monday morning, if necessary, and pending proper discussions.   Fortunately, this proved to be a false alarm.  The lower branches of the trees canopies were being ‘lifted’ slightly so that street lighting was not obscured.  All resistance plans were quickly cancelled (The internet, with a little telephone backup,  can be a wonderful thing … )

This clearly left some questions to be answered though.  Why were Amey displaying cryptic, and, frankly, scarey notices like this at such short notice?

We have now had detailed discussions with Amey area Rep Jason Bickley, and Amey Yardley Area Manager Calvin Richardson.

They say

• The missing correct number for Jason Bickley is 0797 187 9059.
• Jason would not have been available at the weekend anyway.
• However they take the point that the notices were ill thought out.  In future notices like this on trees should be going up around two weeks in advance of any work, and will display emergency contact details.
• Amey are not intending to remove any healthy mature trees in Birmingham.
• Since taking over tree maintenance for the Council Amey have recently completed a survey of all street trees in Birmingham.  Apparently they are around 80,000 trees.  Such a survey has not previously been carried out on this scale.  All these trees are now noted on a GPS map.
• There will be a new five year programme for trees, to replace BCC’s present three year programme.  Each tree has been surveyed to see what is required by way of maintenance, pruning etc.
• Trees will only be removed if they are dangerous.  No tree in the whole of the Yardley Constituency has been assessed as dangerous, so there should be no tree removal.

The new tree programme will be up for Consultation shortly, probably at the next Yardley Constituency meeting.  (27 January, 2010) Presumably the plans will also appear at other Constituency meetings in Birmingham.

Additional comment on this issue can also be found on Acocks Green Ward Councillor Roger Harmer’s blog here.

]]> http://acocksgreenfocusgroup.org.uk/2011/01/08/save-the-trees/feed/ 2 http://acocksgreenfocusgroup.org.uk/2010/12/13/manual-for-streets-2-presentation-in-acocks-green-8-december-2010/ http://acocksgreenfocusgroup.org.uk/2010/12/13/manual-for-streets-2-presentation-in-acocks-green-8-december-2010/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:17:21 +0000 Julia http://acocksgreenfocusgroup.org.uk/?p=1296

Stage 1 - Tidy Up

Stage 5 - Re-create the Street

Note: these are pictures from the Manual for Streets Presentation given at Acocks Green Library, 8 December 2010.  The full Powerpoint  presentation from that meeting is now available in three parts.   You can now download them here:

MfS2 – Acocks Green Powerpoint Part 1 of 3 – Slides 1-80

MfS2 – Acocks Green Powerpoint  Part 2 of 3 – Slides 81- 100

MfS2 – Acocks Green Powerpoint – Part 3 of 3 – Slides 101-123

Street design design expert, and co-author of Manual for Streets 2, Phil Jones, gave a very detailed and informative presentation to a highly attentive audience in Acocks Green Library on 8 December 2010.

Phil outlined how up until recently traffic engineers have been working from engineering guidance manuals which were never designed for situations like that in Acocks Green, but were designed for busy trunk roads.  The new message in the government sponsored Manual for Streets 2 is that an urban village street is not merely a route to somewhere else.  It is a place in its own right, and should be treated as such.  We have been saying this in Acocks Green for six years now; we are not merely part of the route between  Birmingham City Centre and Solihull.  Our local centre is the heart of our community, but has  suffered from the failure of Birmingham City Council to recognise this fact.

Phil Jones

Phil went on to explain that Manual for Streets 2 (MfS2) does not recommend removal of all traffic.   Areas can loose their vibrancy when this happens.  Instead, traffic needs to be better integrated with the other functions of the street, and the balance of priorities needs to be changed.   When it comes to traffic paraphenalia the MfS2 philosophy is that less is very frequently more.   Urban high streets do not need to be dominated by traffic signs, traffic markings, traffic lights and the notorious guard rail cages which the Department for Transport is now, itself, increasingly advising against the use of   (See their new 2009 guidance here) The presence of guard rails and bollards – things we are all too familiar with in Acocks Green -  have been shown to increase speeds.

Illegally parked cars is often a big fear but there are other ways …

Blocking cars without the use of barriers

On the other hand, speeds  of cars are typically reduced by methods like introducing slight visual obstructions.   Planters and steeper bends can be as effective as traditional traffic markings.  Reducing strict segregation between traffic and pedestrians tends, also, to result in more smoothly flowing traffic with more pedestrians feeling empowered to use the whole of the space.  This has also been shown to increase the number of pedestrians in the street as a whole.

News which was particularly interesting to this audience was that a recent Department for Transport study – hot of the presses from a conference Phil had been at that day in London -  confirms that Shared Space (one style of street design which emphasises reducing pedestrian/traffic segregation)  is ‘no less safe and can be safer’.

Widening pavements also increases pedestrian useage of the area whilst narrowing roads reduces speed.  This point is something which, again, is particularly relevant to an Acocks Green audience who  is currently endorsing a BCC scheme to remove most of the dual carriageway on the Warwick Road in Acocks Green.   Most of us have, at some point, stood near Sainsbury’s and watched with despair as the traffic begins to speed up as it hits the wide dual section.

Many older streets lose their sense of History when modern street layouts and furniture are imposed upon them.

Historic street - cluttered

The atmosphere of such streets can often be retrieved by a sensitive stripping down of recent additions and, again, a more sympathetic use of materials.

Historic street - de-cluttered

This is an issue in Acocks Green, where good buildings from the nineteen-twenties and thirties are obscured by modern railings, bollards and street signs: a point, which interestingly, also attracted spontaneous comment from non-Acocks Green members of the audience!

Boris Johnson also proved a hit with his idea of a five point approach to better streets:

• Tidy up
• De-clutter – remove unecessary features
• Re-locate/merge functions – e.g. put signs/bins on lamposts
• Re-think traffic management – e.g. make it unobtrusive
• Re-create the street – e.g. upgrade materials

The audience stayed well beyond the scheduled finishing time of 8.30 pm in order to hear, and very actively discuss ,these new ideas. Such ideas are now radicalising urban street design, helping to make urban high streets once again a  popular places for people to visit and spend time in, at a time when the local high street has been under threat of disappearing.    Acocks Green was well represented in the audience, but there were also delegates from other areas like Moseley and Harborne, from Birmingham City Council, Friends of the Earth and Living Streets.  The evening was rounded off by Andy Chidgey from BCC informally explaining his recent plans for Acocks Green.   (See our previous posting) When asked whether he had found the evening interesting Andy agreed that there were many ideas which worth thinking about.

We hope that Manual for Streets 2 will help to shape the new, revitalised, Acocks Green centre which we look forward to see emerging in the next few years.

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