The document recommending the scheme be turned down pointed out that: “evidence shows established operations are put out of business by action from Local Authorities following complaints and it cannot be guaranteed that new residents will be ‘reasonable’”.

Local councillors were pleased with the outcome with Cllr Dawkins (Conservative) saying: “We three councillors were always vehemently against this planning application. We always felt that Bournville does not need more houses and flats. This is a densely populated area with huge pressures already on parking, exacerbated by the close proximity of the railway station.”

The decision leaves the future of the block in some doubt as this was the second time that an application for change of use had been proposed. The earlier plan was withdrawn in July last year. Franklin House is inside the Bournville Conservation Area but not within the Bournville Estate and the building isn’t owned by Cadbury Kraft who last used it in 2008, since when it has remained empty.

The plan included the building of four houses facing Franklin road and the conversion of the block into 73 flats.

The decision also revelaed that: “Kraft plans to re-locate the main factory entrance to immediately opposite Franklin House. This might not be approved if considered to introduce or exacerbate noise/disturbance for residents of the proposed units. Any restriction on HGV movements (to mitigate potential problems) would impair Kraft’s ability to respond to changing market conditions.”

PDF of document tabled at the planning committee recommending rejection.

How the plans for Franklin House looked

This year’s festival takes place on 30th June at which the Festival Queen takes pride of place during the Maypole dancing. Girls aged 11 to 18 from the Bournville area are eligible to apply.

If you wish your child to register to be a Maypole dancer then registration for that takes place on Monday 27th February from 6pm, alos at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Hall.

All the dates and information about the Festival, the Festival Queen and the dancers is available from the Bournville Village Council website. The Village Council are responsible for organising the Festival and other community events.

http://bournvillevillagecouncil.org.uk/

(Photos of the 1969 Festival Queen courtesy of Bounville Village Council. More here)

The proposed loans are included in the draft of the City Council’s 2012+ Business Plan and Budget which was discussed at a recent Council cabinet meeting. The plan (on page 123) states that:

“a limited amount of new corporately supported prudential borrowing has been provided to fund a local improvements budget of £5m in 2012/13 [to include] £3.7m for the development of the former Bournville Lane Baths, and £1.5m for relocation of indoor bowls to the Indoor Tennis Centre.”

Loca councillors have indicated their approval of the planned loan with Cllr Dawkins (Conservative) saying: “This is a wonderful act of commitment by the council. They realise that Stirchley has waited long enough to see this site restored. We are confident that TESCO will eventually clear all of the legal hurdles but this loan means that this restoration work can begin immediately and ensures that within 12 months Stirchley residents will have a community centre they can be proud of.”

The baths site is due to be home to a new Community Centre as the existing centre will be displaced by the new Tesco. The Council Business Plan and Budget 2012+ will be up for consideration by the City Council on 28 February 2012

“The first fayre on the 18th February is fast approaching and is looking to be a fantastic day. In our main Terrace Room we bring you a selection of home-made gifts and crafts including; cards, jewellery, bags, baby clothes, household decorations and much more. You can then make your way out to the Vintage Village Marquee where you can find all the best from shoes, jewellery, bags and clothes as well as china and home-wear.

“The Pavilion Community Cafe will be open from 9am-4.30pm serving delicious home-baked cakes, fresh hand-made sandwiches and jacket potatoes as well as a wide selection of hot drinks. If you fancy something a little stronger after the hard day of shopping then the Community Bar is open at the other end of the Pavilion serving cold and crisp drinks!”

If you are a local based trader and interested in a stall please contact the organisers at marketdays@rowheathpavilion.co.uk or give them a call on 0121 458 1711. They only have a few stalls left for the February Fayre so if you are interested please contact them asap.

The Pavilion (map) is a 15 minute walk from Bournville station or a shorter walk from the number 11 bus route.

The full dates for this year are:

• Vintage and craft fayre, 18th February 11-3pm
• Vintage and craft fayre with farmers market and children’s activities, 7th May 10-4pm  May Day Bank Holiday
• Vintage and craft fayre with farmers market and children’s activities, 27th August 10-4pm  Bank Holiday
• Vintage and craft fayre, 17th November 11-3pm

The planned phone mast was to be on the corner of Heath road and Hawthorne road. The petition was presented by Councillor Nigel Dawkins (Conservative) at a Council meeting in January and now the council has decided not to approve Vodafone’s plans.

On their website the councillors said: “The 3 Bournville councillors are extremely pleased to announce that the planning application to erect a 40 feet high mast in Bournville has been refused by the city council.”

Local MP Steve McCabe also came out against the plans when he wrote to local residents in January. He argued that ”the application is at odds with the Bournville Village Trust design guide and that it could prove a distraction to drivers.”

Hazelwell Lane - Image courtesy of Mr Hawkins as acknowledged in Images of Stirchley by Linda Chew (1940s)

The lane which is off Hazelwell Street has been boarded up and derelict for some time and will become a car park entrance for the Tesco development effectively making it a dead end.

Place Prospectors who run the Stirchley Prospects project told us: “It is believed that the lane was originally a track across the fields from the brick works (currently where the allotments are sited). It was probably developed into a street between 1900 and 1940 due to growth of manufacturing based in the lane, including a manufacturing chemists, makers of car parts, tool makers and Eccles caravans, the first purpose built caravan factory in the world.

“The Co-operative Grocery warehouse and the Co-operative Hall and Education Centre were based there from the late 1930s and it is still home to the lively Ten Acres and Stirchley Co-operative Society (TASCoS), Many local residents who worked in local industry also called Hazelwell Lane home.”

On Thursday 9 February there will be drop in sessions that will focus on memories and the history of the lane and Place Prospectors would like people to contribute their photos, memories and stories to the event. Further workshops on Wednesdays 22 & 29 February will focus on creative activities to make tributes to Hazelwell Lane and the project will culminate in a memorial walk and the laying of tributes (including a floral tribute spelling out Hazelwell Lane) to celebrate the lane’s life at 2pm on Saturday 3 March 2012.

Commemorating Hazelwell Lane
Thursday 9 February
12-4pm Stirchley Prospects 1427 Pershore Road, Stirchley, Birmingham, B30 2JL
7-9pm Stirchley United Working Mens Club, 2 Hazelwell Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham. B30 2PP
Drop in. Bring photographs, stories or memories of Hazelwell Lane.

Making Tributes to Hazelwell Lane
Wednesday 22 February & Wednesday 29 February
7-9pm Stirchley Prospects, 1427 Pershore Road, Stirchley, Birmingham, B30 2JL
Creative sessions. Physical tributes will be made to celebrate Hazelwell Lane which will be laid at points along the Celebratory Walk on Saturday 3 March.

Celebratory Walk
Saturday 3 March
2pm  – Meet at Hazelwell Pub car park. Pineapple Road, Birmingham, B30 2RS. Ends at Stirchley United Working Mens Club
A memorial walk to commemorate and celebrate the life and history of Hazelwell Lane. Wreaths and tributes (including those made in workshops and a floral tribute spelling out Hazelwell Lane) will be laid. A ‘wake’ with refreshments will be held afterwards in Stirchley United Working Men’s Club.

28 year old Felicity was brought up in Bournville and started her career in Birmingham working with Central TV’s Children’s Television Workshop and performing as Emma Grundy in the Archers, recorded in Birmingham.

The reviews for ‘Like Crazy’ describe her performance as ‘impressive’ (Daily Mail), ‘utterly disarming’ (Telegraph) and the Evening Standard cites her ‘admirable’ improvisation skills. In the film she plays an English exchange student in the US who falls for Jacob played by Anton Yelchin.

At last year’s Sundance Film Festival Jones won the ‘Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance’ for her role in the film, an award that many saw as her breakthrough moment.

Jones took her A-Levels at King Edward’s Handsworth and studied English at Oxford whilst continuing her acting career on TV and in film. She now lives in London.

Pic of Felicity Jones at the Toronto Film Festival in September via Flickr by Heather McCall

In his letter Steve McCabe argues that the mast should be rejected on the basis that the Birmingham Unitary Development Plan lists a number of ‘sensitive sites’ where applications should be rejected. He also points out that the application is at odds with the Bournville Village Trust design guide and that it could prove a distraction to drivers.

Local Councillor Nigel Dawkins (Conservative) said: “Earlier this month at the January public meeting of the Full City Council, Councillor Dawkins presented a petition containing hundreds of signatures and comments from the residents of Bournville objecting to a planning application proposing a mobile phone mast. We have campaigned against every planning application that seeks to install a mobile phone mast in Bournville because we believe 12 metre high phone masts are ugly, inappropriate structures that should not be located in residential areas. I am pleased to say that we have been successful, so far, in all of those campaigns.”

The planning application is 2011/08543/PA (search for this number on the council’s online planning portal at birmingham.gov.uk/planningonline) and residents have until 30th January to register their opposition.

The @BournvilleNHT account is run by the local police neighbourhood team who work across the Bournville ward area. During yesterday’s ‘school run’ they tweeted that:

Paul & Colin have been outside Bournville junior school this morning monitoring parking/ dropping off. Some parents behaviour is shocking.

— Bournville Police (@BournvilleNHT) January 25, 2012

They even took aim at holders of disabled badges who insist on dropping able children as close to the school as possible:

Having a disabled badge does not mean you should block all the traffic to drop a perfectly fit child right on top of the school crossing.

— Bournville Police (@BournvilleNHT) January 25, 2012

The area around Bournville Junior School, and the Infant School, has restricted parking along Linden road with only limited space on the roads on the Village Green. In response to the tweets from the police some pointed out this wasn’t a problem confined to the Bournville area. In September it was reported that the City Council would start fining parents who parked badly near school gates after chaotic scenes at Wheeler’s Lane School in Billesley.

Birmingham Schools are able to participate in the ‘School Travelwise‘ programme that helps schools to develop plans to encourage a move away from parents dropping children off by car. To date neither Bournville Junior School or the nearby Infant School have signed up.

We would be interested in your views on parking problems at local schools. Use the comment box below to share your thoughts.

Bournville Junior School on Linden Road (pic by Ell Brown, Flickr)

Councillor Dawkins said, “we are very fortunate to have been able to access this funding but we are also very pleased with our decision to spend it exclusively on upgrading our Bournville parks.”

The monies for the refurbishment come from ‘a variety of sources’.

Improvements to the parks was one of the items discussed at last month’s Ward meeting. We’re still awaiting the publishing of those minutes.