OPEN FORUM MEETING & SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

GUEST SPEAKER: KEITH FENWICK, PLANNING DIRECTOR OF SPRING UR

Brett Lovatt, Design Director, Spring UR,
 Majella Lynch, Mere Green Site Construction Manager,
 and a representative from Signature Senior Lifestyle, will also attend to answer your questions.

I have just received this email. Can anybody help?

"Hi. My father, David Butcher, was evacuated during the war to Mere Green
because his Uncle Charles and Aunt Molly ran the White Lion pub on Hill
Village Road. I have been trying to find any pictures of this time,
particularly the pub, Hill Village Road, the school which he recalls the
headmaster was called Mr Prothero - anything really. I run a family magazine
for my family and would love to illustrate my father’s memories of his time
there. 
Any help at all would be appreciated. Kind regards. Tony Butcher"

I have some pics of the White Lion as it is now, which I will be sending to Tony, but does anyone have any old pictures.

As you will now be aware, Spring UR’s proposed development of Mere Green received planning approval on the 9th. of  August.

Three members of the Mere Green Neighbourhood Forum Management Committee attended the Planning Committee on behalf of local Residents.

At the meeting of the Planning Committee a strict protocol was observed.

The Forum Secretary spoke very eloquently for three minutes about Residents’ reasons for objecting to the proposed plans.

A representative of Spring UR was also given three minutes to speak in support of the development.

The number of individual letters and signatories to petitions were mentioned.
A written statement by a local Councillor, listing a number of Residents’ concerns, was read to the meeting.

The Planning Officer’s report was wholly in favour of Spring UR’s proposals
A Transportation representative assured the Committee that traffic & parking will not cause a problem.
There was no discussion about this, although the Chairman said Residents might not agree with him.
There was very little further discussion about any other concerns raised by Residents.

Thanks are particularly due to those Residents who spent time and effort organising the petitions.

Uncertainty has now been removed.
We know the development is going ahead, but we will continue to liaise with SpringUR where possible.

There will no doubt be issues during the build and beyond, so we will need to make sure that Residents still have a voice in the proceedings

Change is inevitable in all our lives and nothing stays the same for ever.
We must now brace ourselves for the changes that will come to Mere Green.

Mere Green has experienced many changes in the past and yet has remained a community.
Let us “think positive” and work together for the future good of our neighbourhood.

A meeting was held this evening to assist residents wishing to comment on the planning application (N/03458/07/FUL) submitted to Birmingham City Council by Spring UR.

The presentation is available here and also as a menu item

We recieved this email from a lady looking to make friends in this country. If anyone is interested in contacting her I have her email address. For obvious reasons I have not published it so give me a ring on 0121-270-6281 and I’ll pass it on.

Hi,

Thank you very much for your quick reply. My name is Rubayiza Faustin, 37 years old, married. I’m Rwandese by nationality and I’m a teacher of economy and Geography in a secondary school called" Institute for Women of Excellence" located in Rwamagana, Eastern Province Rwanda.

I completed 2 years university in "University of Agriculture, Education and Technology of Kibungo". I have stopped for a while and hope to continue next year.

I worked for ICRC, IRC, Care International just after a terrible genocide happened in Rwanda in 1994. I was doing community works,reunifying separated children, reintegrating them and making small projects for their families etc.

So I need people with whom I can be in touch in order to exchange ideas and help me to know other culture, and who can be aware of helping vulnerable people like widows, handicaped children, street boys, jobless young people…

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely yours,

RUBAYIZA Faustin
PO BOX 57 Rwamagana, Rwanda.
tel. +25008654579

It would be really good if someone could spend the time to make contact

We had a message from Mr.John Lavelle concerned that the developers will wreck Mere Green. He went on to say that he lived in Tower Road from the early thirties until the fifties. He went to the infants school, that used to be in Mere Green Road, and then on to Hill Boys’ School, which was situated where Somerfield car park is now.

He remembers Mr Prothero, the headmaster, Canwell Show, Hill Hook Fair and catching newts in the gravel pits in Hill Village. He also remember when it was all fields, full of wild life between Tower Road and Lichfield. He says, “it was paradise for us boys and girls”.

Many thanks for sharing your memories, John, I guess a lot of others will also have memories of Mere Green – Why not share yours with us.

Do You Remember When:

• there was a dairy down by the Log Cabin 
• Holland’s was the green grocer on the corner of Mere Green Road and Lichfield Road. 
• you could buy a quarter of sweets from Bates Sweetshop in Mere Green Road 
• you could smell freshly baked bead from Golby’s and Bromwich’s bakeries 
• you could get “six of chips” from Elsie Gardener’s chip shop where the St. James’ Gallery is now. 
• you could collect frog spawn from opposite the Fox and Dogs 
• you could get four gallons of petrol for a pound 
• you could buy a new car from the Central Garage and the carpets and heater were optional extras 
• Dunbar’s Coffee Bar on Mere Green Road was the teenage hangout 
• you could go to the Saturday morning pictures at the Empress Cinema in Sutton for sixpence (2 ½ pence) 
• we had public toilets in Mere Green – where the pizza shop is now 
• we had a proper Christmas tree on the Mere Green Island every year 
• you could buy nails by the pound from Powers in Belwell Lane 
• you could get a shoulder of lamb from Mathews Butchers in Belwell Lane for 10 shillings (50 pence) 
• hardly anybody had a TV set and we listened to “Journey Into Space” and “The Goons” on the radio 
• you could watch the hunt assemble on Boxing Day at the Fox and Dogs 

Etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,etc.,

Please send us your memories!

The consultative phase, held by SpringUR, the developers has been concluded and they have submitted their plans to the Birmingham planning department for approval.
So, what happens now is anybody’s guess.

The number of residents attending the meetings held by the Mere Green Neighbourhood Forum has indicated the concern felt locally. Many of which have been addressed by the developers before the plans were submitted.
However, the main objection from residents, the lack of customer parking, still remains an issue. We have been told that the allocation has been further reduced since the last public meeting.
SpringUR have stated that they are following government guidelines by so doing but this will be of little comfort to people driving around and around trying to find a parking space. We also presume that Sainsbury’s will not be happy that their car park is being utilised by visitors to the new development.

We will publish information on the planning application as soon as it is made public so watch this space.