Black Country news and blogs Saturday 15 November 2014
Our Solihull
210 storiesRSS feed for Our Solihull
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Final post 
Our Solihull 20 Oct 14
The site producer is leaving Solihull for Bournville, where trees and green spaces are protected and buildings maintained.
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The 9th Organic Producer Conference: St John’s Hotel, Solihull, 26-27 November
Our Solihull 17 Oct 14
The Organic Producer Conference has a great line-up with more to come.
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Solihull Ratepayers Association and the Green Party holding the council to account
Our Solihull 17 Oct 14
Relates to public concerns circulating for years .
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Solihull-based Koolmill nominated for the British Business Awards 2014 in China
Our Solihull 7 Oct 14
Following last year’s news of the 2013 award for Koolmill , which gave a detailed description of this innovative technology, Alec Anderson, Managing Director of Koolmill Systems Limited writes: “With 31 machines installed at 6 mills in China and …
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CBI and British Chambers of Commerce shed light on the drive for ‘aspirational’ housing on Solihull’s green fields
Our Solihull 30 Sep 14
Mobility is the name of the game – not housing those in need This – replaced by .
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No living wage here: is India’s caste system flourishing in Solihull?
Our Solihull 29 Sep 14
Though its green spaces are at risk and surplus supermarkets are approved, Solihull was named as the best place to live in 2013, a judgement weighted by the income and situation of Silhillians living in more favoured areas.
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Solihull council: no effective action on hazard
Our Solihull 22 Sep 14
A day later, residents and councillors continue to press for the removal of this on-road tip.
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Council alerted to bad practice: inconvenience and potential danger to elderly residents
Our Solihull 21 Sep 14
Local residents are concerned about the welfare and safety of those in the sheltered bungalows for the elderly in Old Mill Close.
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Proposed council closure of children’s centres: the inside story
Our Solihull 20 Sep 14
A direct cut by SMBC, not government Solihull Council is considering closing fourteen children’s centres by next year following a £600,000 cut in its central grant from government.
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Dance to the Moon & Stars live orchestra: Sunday September 21st
Our Solihull 12 Sep 14
Invitation: dance to music played by a fifteen-piece orchestra led by Roger Moon – or join those who simply sit and listen: ‘…
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Green Party parliamentary candidate for Solihull on the role of NATO
Our Solihull 9 Sep 14
Extract from Political Concern On 4 th to 5 th September, Wales hosted a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) summit attended by more than 60 heads of state and ministers.
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Solihull volunteers – 2: People’s Local Action Team
Our Solihull 7 Sep 14
A great deal of time and energy has been spent by this team, seen below meeting a prospective parliamentary candidate Julian Knight.
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Will the council ensure mitigation measures, monitoring and maintenance in flood-prone areas scheduled for housing?
Our Solihull 31 Aug 14
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Will Haslucks Road residents be obliged to endure Asda’s weekend deliveries from 7am -10pm?
Our Solihull 30 Aug 14
From the top of a double-decker bus the full extent of Parkgate’s ongoing building project behind houses in Haslucks Green Road can be seen – a long range of buildings, probably the planned residential apartments and supported care …
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Will Solihull newspapers cover the TTIP?
Our Solihull 17 Aug 14
Theresa forwarded news of an appeal to publicise the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between Europe and the USA, which is being negotiated in secret with the EU by the White House.
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December application for change of use at Monkspath Business Park heard on ‘a good day to bury bad news’
Our Solihull 16 Aug 14
This measure was slipped through at a meeting in December 2013 – a busy month for family folk planning Christmas celebrations.
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Are ‘crocodile tears’ being shed about the council-approved change of use at Blythe Valley Business Park?
Our Solihull 12 Aug 14
A reader sent an intriguing message about a monster ‘acropolis’ which was being built on the Nature Reserve hilltop at Hillfield Park and received planning permission from Solihull Council in October.
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Solihull volunteers –1: Samantha and Dave
Our Solihull 9 Aug 14
We hope to hear news of many other local ‘volunteers’ – a term we use to refer to people who come forward to give unpaid help, in addition to their own daily work and family obligations.
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Socially divisive in Solihull: 3000 homes for the relatively affluent – not the homeless
Our Solihull 1 Aug 14
Who cares about the people on the housing register? On the Brummie aggregator site there was a lead to Cllr Hawkins’ web post reminding readers that the sites identified within the ward for housing development within the ward were subject of …
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Antenatal and postnatal fitness classes in Solihull Lodge, Dorridge and Monkspath
Our Solihull 19 Jul 14
OneFitMama is the Midlands biggest antenatal and postnatal fitness company, currently serving 800 mothers.
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Solihull Council reveals that Asda has paid no rates on the former Powergen site since 2005
Our Solihull 15 Jul 14
Questions on how much council tax Asda has avoided paying on the former Powergen site will be asked at a full council meeting, open to the public, at 5.30pm on Tuesday 15th July at the Civic Suite Solihull.
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Despite protests by councillors and residents, Persimmon-Miller starts to destroy the ‘green gap’
Our Solihull 9 Jul 14
Solihull Lodge green spaces destroyed for profit – where next? Barry Avery of the local action team writes: “This is a sad sad day that all local residents should remember – the day that the diggers and earth movers arrived on site next…
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‘Urbs in Rure’ Solihull: Going, going, gone!
Our Solihull 30 Jun 14
Why were the views of residents and local councillors respected in Dickens Heath but not in Solihull Lodge? Is SMBC purse-proud and unjust? Solihull Council’s assessment (SHIRLEY WEST WARD PROFILE: Spring 2013 pdf) makes it clear that the latter…
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Housing development: Sir Simon Jenkins’ verdict – profit motive paramount, social obligations ignored
Our Solihull 26 Jun 14
As Cllr Hawkins notes , six months ago Solihull Council adopted its local plan – the first council in the Midlands to do so.
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Rebalance the local economy: more powers needed to support small shops
Our Solihull 20 Jun 14
Solihull councillor Howard Allen notes research by the Federation of Small Businesses that shows money spent in local and independent shops is worth many times more to the local economy; it is re-spent locally by shop-owners – whether in wages to …
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The relocated library: to date, opinions are evenly divided
Our Solihull 15 Jun 14
Positive Books: good choice at present.
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Shirley Round Table’s Donkey Derby – a resounding success
Our Solihull 15 Jun 14
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Greens initiate culture change: mothers are important too!
Our Solihull 14 Jun 14
Solihull Greens’ concern extends beyond concern for the natural environment to supporting local shops and the former Sure Start centres, currently threatened with closure.
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If developers run rings round the council, in the long-term the taxpayer has to foot the bill
Our Solihull 13 Jun 14
There is concern about infringements by Persimmon-Miller contractors because if they flout procedures in relatively small matters, what will be their attitude to constructing the serious flood run-off mitigation measures required? Green fields and …
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Valentino’s – equal to Italy’s finest
Our Solihull 9 Jun 14
So good to see the last unit in Solihull Lodge’s Oxhill Road parade taken recently and the interior impressively refitted – with a new kitchen, fine stone flooring and furniture of the highest standard.
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Visiting Parkgate – a well-travelled Shirley professional writes:
Our Solihull 9 Jun 14
“Parkgate is open and Asda dominates an unpleasant place.
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Persimmon: a failed attempt to make a locally detested project more acceptable
Our Solihull 6 Jun 14
Persimmon’s Acorns site – an estate with look-alike houses of undistinguished design – has not, as many supposed, been named in honour of the trees its contractors have destroyed (below).
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Shirley’s Chloe Anderson and co-workers need your help
Our Solihull 3 Jun 14
CreatePlay Bulgaria is a charitable project that has been working to design and build an inclusive outdoor play-space in a mainstream nursery school in Bulgaria.
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The Acorns, Aqueduct Road: will this be Solihull Council’s most serious planning error?
Our Solihull 1 Jun 14
Inconveniently for the electorate, the report noting Site15 contamination hazards has been removed from the council website – a facility designed to place obstacles in the path of the enquiring public; however, the document may be viewed via a …
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Asda Parkgate: corrections, reactions and accolades
Our Solihull 30 May 14
Apologies to any disappointed visitor: Alan Carpenter, who keeps a photographic record of the development (including this perspective), points out that many of the shops we listed from the Parkgate website: Asda, JD Wetherspoon, Pizza Express, Prezzo…
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Myths and truths: Parkgate
Our Solihull 27 May 14
Shirley Parkgate , a downmarket development, opens after 12 years of steady local opposition – not a 10 year row , as Enda Mullen knows full well.
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Solihull Green Party is now the main opposition in the borough, with 10 councillors
Our Solihull 24 May 14
The writer – a member of another party – explains that the Greens are winning seats because, unlike many other councillors and candidates, they are not merely in position to enhance their CVs but work all the year round in the wards in …
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Dance to Moon & Stars on Sunday: live orchestra
Our Solihull 16 May 14
Accomplished dancers, just enthusiastic or spectators who will enjoy the music and company – all will be welcome.
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Good news: Timpsons is not moving from the High Street
Our Solihull 15 May 14
In the shop yesterday, the good news that Timpsons (key cutting/shoe repairs) would not be leaving the High Street was heard.
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From Colebrook Priory Windmill to Asda
Our Solihull 12 May 14
Some reflections on the story of Colebrook Priory Windmill have been received by email.
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Memories of Colebrook Priory Windmill, Solihull Lodge
Our Solihull 7 May 14
Ann Turner (Shirley Local History Group) writes that a painting of the windmill used to hang on the walls of Haslucks Green School, but is no longer there.
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Flooding on Persimmon building site and mystery contractors
Our Solihull 29 Apr 14
On April 11 th , an SMBC Places Directorate officer asserted: “The works (on Site 15) did duly cease at the end of March .
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No change to the proposals for supported housing for the over 55s
Our Solihull 28 Apr 14
We are pleased to correct the rumours queried on this site that drug rehabilitation is now on the agenda for the Sunhaven site in Solihull Lodge.
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Solihull Council: flooding on Persimmon building site – and more rain to come
Our Solihull 26 Apr 14
Overnight Aqueduct Road’s Site 15 has started to flood.
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Shirley West Councillors & Philip Mayhew, SMBC director for business transformation, information please
Our Solihull 25 Apr 14
Adult social services provision on the Sunhaven site as described at the public consultation on the 25th November at Solihull Lodge Community Centre: “The new scheme will provide older people with a wide range of suitable and affordable rented …
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GO GREEN event in Mell Square on Saturday 3rd May
Our Solihull 22 Apr 14
Solihull Faiths Forum invite all to GO GREEN in Mell Square on Saturday 3 rd May A joint event held with the Gardeners’ Spring Fair .
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Wildlife Crime police officer’s enquiry about unauthorised activities on Persimmon Site 15
Our Solihull 21 Apr 14
Wildlife crime police officer Andrew Timmins (left) is seen here in a field closely resembling the recently scarred landscape off the High Street, Solihull Lodge.
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Council orders Persimmon to suspend work – but digging continues
Our Solihull 18 Apr 14
Julia Sykes (Places Directorate – Solihull MBC) assured local councillor Howard Allen in writing on Wednesday that developers had been told to suspend activity, adding: “I have reminded the applicant that any such work may have potential to …
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An invitation from the Chair of the Solihull Faiths Forum
Our Solihull 17 Apr 14
On May 1st, the Solihull Faiths Forum will examine a vitally important challenge for us today – how faith communities can help those struggling in the present economy.
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Persimmon development: fears of airborne carcinogens, concern about illegal tree felling and a return to the Ombudsman
Our Solihull 16 Apr 14
Local residents are gathering evidence for the Ombudsman to challenge Persimmon’s declaration that they undertook an adequate public consultation.