Village July2019

Village News
u
Platinum
party time
Husband and wife residents at
Burcot Grange care home celebrated
their 70th wedding anniversary with
a traditional afternoon tea.
Georgina and Arthur Mitchell’s tea
party was attended by their daughter,
Hazel, and son-in-law, Ken, plus
fellow residents.
Arthur, 91, said, “We would like to
say a big thank you to Burcot Grange
for giving us such a memorable day.
The secret to our long and happy
marriage has been a lot of love, tolerance
and a shared Christian faith.”
The couple, originally from Glasgow,
were members of the same
church from an early age and their
friendship blossomed into love. After
serving in the RAF and returning
to civilian life, Arthur proposed to
Georgina. They went on to have two
children, Hazel and Derek, before
moving to Hereford for Arthur’s work
as a metallurgist.
They moved to Leominster in 1992
and lived there until 2016 when they
moved into Burcot Grange. They have
recently become great-grandparents.
Vicky Osborne, general manager
of Burcot Grange, added: “They are a
wonderful couple and we wish them
many more happy years together. We
took plenty of photos to share with
their family in Scotland who were
unable to attend in person.”
Stations still waiting
B
arnt
Green Parish Council is
hoping that long-promised
lifts at the railway station may
at last be a step nearer.
A letter from Network Rail, passed
on to the council by village MP Sajid
Javid, stated that it was now working
with the Department for Transport
on a funding process, with designs
and costings to be submitted by the
end of this year – with work due to
begin shortly afterwards.
The council had previously requested
a meeting with the DfT, and
parish chairman Robert Cholmondeley
reported that the Bromsgrove
Engagement and Equalities Forum
had agreed to write to the Disabilities
Minister on the same matter.
Richard Brooks of West Midlands
Rail had also told the council that
new branding and signage was now
in place at the station, while an extra
ticket machine had been installed in
the car park.
Councillors agreed to continue to
pursue WMR for information screens
and extra seating.
6 The Village July 2019
n The “Great Lake of Alvechurch”,
which has filled a large portion of
the village station’s car park so far
this spring and summer, has forced
even more cars to park along nearby
residential streets, parish councillors
heard.
“There are very polarised views,”
said district councillor Kate Van
Der Plank. “On the same day last
week I had someone who had been
shouted at by a resident for parking
near the station and a resident upset
at having their drive blocked.”
The problem may be exacerbated
by commuters from Redditch parking
at Alvechurch on their way into
Birmingham.
Coun Van Der Plank said she had
been told of a Redditch social media
group “where they were suggesting
people drive to Alvechurch for the
free parking”.
Parish chairman Marc Worrall said
he had contacted county council
officials over resolving the car park
problems and hoped there would be
fresh impetus.
Village braces
for parking woe
Barnt Green is braced for “parking
mayhem” when Hewell Road closes
for the water main to be replaced,
although Severn Trent assured
parish councillors that disruption
would be kept to a minimum.
They said there would be two
phases to the road closure, due to
begin on July 22, with access to
homes and the railway station maintained
throughout.
The village churches had been
asked if shoppers could use their car
parks during the closure, but both
said they were busy already. Severn
Trent would now approach the
social club.
Parish chairman Robert Cholmondeley
said: “There will be parking
mayhem whatever happens.”
Coun Charlie Hotham said he was
“very worried by the track record of
Severn Trent’s previous projects.”