Balsall Heathan # 261 Dec 2006 - St. Paul's Community Trust

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Balsall Heath Forum Focus Continued responsible for accounting for or delivering that budget. Little wonder that services are not good and that the customer/resident in Balsall Heath and other neighbourhoods can’t easily influence them. Both Government and the Council are waking up to the fact that Balsall Heath’s question ‘what does our neighbourhood cost the taxpayer?’ is important. If we can find out the answer and create a neighbourhood budget and spend it under the watchful eye of an allert neighbourhood manager, services should improve. More, maybe parts of it could be better spent by local voluntary groups and/or, the Forum. So, H.M.Treasury are seconding a senior Civil Servant to work with the Forum and its partners to answer those questions and recommend new ways of budgeting for services at neighbourhood level. The Government’s ‘financial ferret’ will first visit Balsall Heath in the New Year. Local people are already joining the queue to meet the Ferret who the forum have already nicknamed Freddie. For example, some want him to look at the way the Baths are managed, others the way that parks and car parks are maintained or, rather, not maintained. Do you have a question for Freddie the Ferret? Watch this space! The implications for neighbourhoods are as profound for neighbourhoods as was LMS for Schools. Communal Meal and Fireworks The Forum’s communal meal ended, quite literally, with a bang. Ian Edwards and St Paul’s staff’s firework display lit up the night sky in a never ending series of stars, cascades of many colours and some of very loud bangs. Each multi-coloured cascade was greeted with a series of oooos, ahhhhs and applause from the 1000 strong crowd. The evening started with 500 people gathering in Clifton old building for a balti meal by Hamid, entertainment from Chris McGuinness and her troop of young dancers and singers from the Yemeni Women and Children’s Society. There were so many people there that the queue for food seemed to stretch for ever. But, Hamid and his wardens coped magnificently and all 500 people had been served within 20 minutes. Those present were young and old and from all parts of the community. Kamran’s volunteers were there. Queensbridge school had a presence and the photos of their environmental improvement work were on display and admired by all. Indeed, there was someone from just about every section of the community. While the fireworks were magnificent and the food was excellent, most people remarked about the warmth and spirit of the gathering. “This is special”, said Imran. “You don’t get this anywhere else. This is Balsall Heath at its best”, said Johan. “When can we do it again?” asked Ted. When indeed! The Heathan has asked the Forum to consider organising another event in the New Year or Spring. We’ll keep you posted. Traffic Calming Gwen and Edna pinned local Councillor Dilawar Khan down and introduced him to local residents. They were concerned by the death of a young man at the junction of Edward Road and Hallam Street. They pointed out to him that an accident occurs at this and other nearby junctions every week. “It is only a matter of time,” Gwen said, “Before there is another death or maiming, something must be done”. Councillor Khan promised to get the relevant officers to draw up traffic calming plans and will present these to Edna, Gwen and other residents in December for their approval or otherwise. Edna and Gwen said: “We’ve got the bit between our teeth. We won’t let go until we have stopped this madness. Councillor Khan is a good man. He is helping a lot which shows that progress can be made.” A tale of two schools Staff and pupils from Barnt Green School in the Lickey Hills visited Tindal Primary School recently as part of a school exchange initiative. Every year Barnt Green School spend a week examining art and culture from around the world in order to gain a better understanding. This year pupils and staff from both schools took turns to play host to each other and give insights into their cultural backgrounds. In July parents of children at Tindal School cooked a variety of different dishes from around the world for the pupils and staff at Barnt Green to sample. In addition, Tindal staff and pupils wore costumes from around the world. The return visit last month saw pupils from Barnt Green School explaining what Christmas meant to them, carrying out joint physical education and music lessons and visiting Tindal’s Black History exhibition. Year six pupils from Tindal provided guided tours and the Barnt Green delegation introduced everybody to their daily routine entitled ‘Wake and Shake’. As a result of the exchange pupils from both schools have begun emailing each other and during the summer of next year both schools plan to have a picnic at the Lickey Hills. A year four pupil from Barnt Green called Joe said of Tindal School, “It was the best biggest school I have ever been to”. Head Teacher Susan Skillet said, “The exchange was a good contrast, the children really enjoyed learning about each other”. Gesture of Good Will Representatives from Ramallah, a town in Palestine visited Balsall Heath in November following an invitation from the Birmingham Ramallah Twinning Initiative. The project, which was created by a group of people from Birmingham, was organised following a visit by some of its members who felt the people of the town would benefit from closer links with their home city. As part of the visit, the Ramallah visitors met staff at the Balsall Heath Children’s Centre who had collected money during the summer for the nurseries in the Palestinian town to buy toys and equipment. Representatives of the Ladypool Business Association met with the visitors to discuss possible opportunities between Ramallah and Birmingham. The Chair of Ladypool Business Association Mr Yaqubali said of the project, “It is hoped we can establish a link between two countries to help local traders. We will be a bridge between two nations to overcome deprivation. This is a very positive move to have these people here to develop an understanding”. Supporters for the project hope to see better links between health and education professionals. The better links are in addition envisaged to be of benefit to the business community in Ramallah. According to the visitors from Ramallah, around 45,000 Palestinians are currently on the waiting list for visas to leave. They believe a means of combating this exodus would be to increase the size of business a n d employment opportunities in their home town.
Heath Forum. Can’t people at the Forum see not only the architectural and historical significance of this building but the importance of the baths now, and their even greater importance in the future as a centrally placed accessible health and fitness facility. To continue on this collision course with local people will not do the reputation of the Forum any good whatsoever. Dear Editor, It was great to see such a good turnout at the meeting this week to form a ‘Friends of Moseley Road Baths’. This building is tremendously important to our community, and nationally has great historical significance. How wonderful it would be to have both pools and the slipper baths fully restored. But it was sad to hear people saying that residents of Balsall Heath don’t care much for the pools and the slipper baths. If any residents feel the same way about the Baths as I do, please can I ask them to come to the next meeting and make their voices heard. We have a real treasure here, let’s not give it up! I hope that you will be advertising the next meeting for the Friends of the Baths in the Heathan - maybe our Community Wardens can help publicise it? Yours Nicky Barron Springfield Avenue Dear Editor, I was so annoyed by the meeting organised by the Baths Campaigners that I must write to you. Balsall Heathans were not given a look in the meeting was nothing but a promotions exercise for them and their Architect friends from elsewhere. We were given no options, no facts, no detail of the consultants report. One person even described the Baths as being for ‘Moseley and Kings Heath.’ I beg your pardon! They are a Balsall Heath assets and any future use and management must be firmly placed in local hands – once we have been treated with respect and given all the facts and all the options. Yours sincerely, Raja Amin Hallam Street Dear Editor, We attended the recent meeting to set up the Friends of Balsall Heath Baths group. We would like to thank the organisers for a very informative evening which highlighted the architectural and historical significance of the baths. We are certainly in favour of keeping both baths and the slipper baths open, as it seems were the majority of the people present at the meeting. However there were a few voices who came along to convince us all that we should forsake this treasure of a building in exchange for some new build soulless swimming baths either at Aston University or Kings Heath! This would of course make the Baths building available for some other use; the primary one being put forward was a Civic Centre, or in other words a new base for the Balsall Whilst there may be a real need for the Forum to relocate from the Tree Nursery, they should be seeking an alternative venue or is it not possible for them to occupy some of the space upstairs? We urge all residents and pool users to join the Friends of the Balsall Heath Baths and help us to secure this essential service in an area that has so many health issues. Kath and Russ Whitby Road Dear Editor, Balsall Heath is too often short changed by the system. For example, we still have not received the money we need to put us straight after the Tornado. So, I was shocked by the neo-colonial attempt by people from Kings Heath and Moseley to usurp our Baths and belittle the role of Balsall Heathans in their upkeep and use. Balsall Heath has pulled itself up by the bootstraps and deserves these buildings to be made fit for modern purpose. We wouldn’t mind people from elsewhere visiting and using them. But, the last thing we need is them taking them over and telling us what they will do with them. Yours faithfully, Mohammad Mahboob Dear Editor, Car drivers in Ladypool Road, Moseley Road and Edward Road are becoming a real menace. So many drivers seem possessed with a Toad of Toad Hall mentality:”Honk, honk, get out of my way, I’m an important person. It is my right to run you over.” Can we please have a traffic-calming plan, which echoes the excellent one worked out by the Cannon Hill people, but for the whole of Balsall Heath? If we don’t do this, more people will be maimed or killed. Please help, Mrs P.J. Dunwoody. Roshven Road. Dear Editor, In the last edition of the Heathan there was a report of a traffic calming plan being designed by residents and the Cannon Hill Forum. That’s great. What would be even better would be if the drivers who use the roads in Balsall Heath learnt to drive, the police stopped turning a blind eye to right turns down Edward Road off Moseley Road, that the police stopped people when they saw them using mobile phones, 4 by 4 drivers stopped bullying other car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists and when car drivers parked they left space on pavements. I could mention more but I think that would make the police look like they don’t do anything. Annoyed
Page 1 and 2: The Balsall No. 261 December 2006 J
Page 3 and 4: The Balsall Heathan Your Community
Page 5 and 6: eating, with the third being physic
Page 7 and 8: ….Your health magazine PULL OUT
Page 9 and 10: and enter the body by the genitouri
Page 11: Balsall Heath Forum Focus The Baths
Page 15: Joyeux Noel! Born in Balsall Heath

Balsall Heathan # 261 Dec 2006 - St. Paul's Community Trust

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