…else you are unable to watch in, if you get my meaning. But yes, Izzy Knowles, a fellow Moseley Forum member, emailed me with this today:

There has been a spate of theft of batteries from street Virgin Cable / TV boxes throughout South Birmingham. The one at Billesley Lane @ Dyott Road was raided a couple of nights ago.

The batteries are large and heavy so the thief will have used a vehicle. They may also be using duplicate keys to open the boxes.

If you see anyone working on a cable box not in Virgin uniform or using a vehicle that doesn’t have Virgin logo please report it to the police and/or note registration numbers and descriptions.

West Midlands Police 0345 1135000.

A little bizarre, but just be aware, TV lovers…

Categories: Community Power
Tags: community groups, crime, moseley, moseley forum

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Before I go into this further, this is the Birmingham City Council statement of licensing policy, which contains an explanation:

Located in the south of Birmingham, central Moseley is a prominent entertainment centre often considered to provide an alternative destination to the city centre. The centre of Moseley has a high concentration of premises licensed for the sale of alcohol on the premises which are in close proximity to residential housing and, following consultation, the Council has decided a special policy is necessary to prevent further crime and disorder and public nuisance impacting on the licensing objectives. A map of the area is attached at appendix 4.

For any application in these three areas the Council will expect the applicant to demonstrate the steps it will take to promote the licensing objectives. Where relevant representations are made, the Council will consider the application on its individual merits and decide whether to apply the special policy. Where it is of the view that the application is unlikely to add to the cumulative impact on the licensing objectives, the application will be granted.

The special policies will be subject to review on a regular basis.

The Prince of Wales pub and the Moseley Society have locked horns over the review of Moseley’s Special Licensing Policy. The Moseley Society would like it to stay in place. The Prince of Wales would like it to be removed. Myself, I care about outcomes – if there is another way to stop pubs “leapfrogging” one another to achieve later and later opening hours, to achieve a good relationship between nearby residents and to generally ensure that national chains of pubs cannot ride roughshod over people who do not have their financial muscle, then I’d like to hear it.

Ultimately though, it’s a completely legitimate challenge. Good for Moseley, good for Birmingham, good for democracy. My favourite things.

But this blog, posted by someone from the Prince of Wales, was nasty, personal and showed a complete lack of understanding of voluntary activity in Moseley as a whole. It really upset me, because both the Prince of Wales and the Moseley Society are important parts of our community – and I really resent the implication that we should somehow have to pick a side.

So I posted a comment on the blog. It wasn’t published. Other comments have been. So I’m publishing it here:

I’m sorry, but I do not think this is fair – to Moseley or to the Moseley Society.

I have been a Trustee of the Moseley Society since March, and sit on the management committee as a representative from Moseley Neighbourhood Forum. I am 27, and moved to Moseley because of the Jug of Ale. While we have sadly lost it, I was delighted to find places like the PoW and the Fighting Cocks, which have charm, warmth and spirit. They are the best pubs I have ever known.

I am not a typical member of the Moseley Society management committee, in that I am (relatively) young and of mixed race. The lack of diversity is something that does concern them – they really do want more people to be part of what they do, it makes the organisation sustainable, and more reflective of Moseley as a whole. So your push to get more people involved will undoubtedly please them, and certainly pleases me.

They don’t believe that they represent the views of Moseley. They genuinely don’t. They represent and reflect the views of the majority of their members. On the SPL, the views of the membership clearly diverge with yours. That’s freedom of speech and thought for you. To members, the “leapfrogging” with regards to opening hours was a problem, and the level of resident complaints was also a problem. Both of those things have improved since the SPL. However, as I said at the last Moseley Forum meeting to Keith (I’m not sure if it is him writing the post), I am glad that the SPL is being challenged. It’s democratic, and it means that if it does stay, it will be because a strong case has been made for it, rather than simply because it has always been done.

At the last management committee meeting of the Moseley Society, the conversation turned to the development next to the Prince of Wales. The consensus was very much that the developer needs to ensure that soundproofing on the pub side is adequate – it was wholly unacceptable for the new flats to hurt the prosperity and vibrancy of the pub. You are genuinely mistaken if you think that members of the Moseley Society do not drink at the PoW. Perhaps they don’t show you their membership cards, but they do.

I also completely reject your comments about their snobbery. If they’re so up their own bottoms, why are they in the carpark behind Wetherspoons every month, picking up litter – needles, broken bottles, dog poo? Why do they maintain the garden at the Dovecote, a place where patients of Moseley Hall Hospital come to spend time outdoors, to recharge and recuperate? Why are they in the pubs, spending money?

The reason why there are empty premises in Moseley is not the fault of the Moseley Society. We have just come out of a very serious recession, and are probably going to head straight back into one. Empty premises are a natural, and very sad and worrying consequence of that. Also, we do not support entrepreneurial efforts (as a city) to the extent that we should. Hopefully, Moseley becoming a Business Improvement District will go some way to addressing that. The SPL is not keeping premises on Woodbridge Rd empty.

No one person or group speaks for Moseley. And if they tried, they would get their arses rightly kicked. Moseley has many different voices. The voices of our night-time economy should be listened to, because it is a great strength, and something to be celebrated and proud of.

But the Moseley Society is also something we should be proud of, even if there are disagreements such as this. It didn’t become a strong and influential voice overnight – they have worked their arses off for years, and have a great deal of knowledge about planning matters, and invested a lot of themselves into the community.

We are all part of the same community, we all matter, and we all need to talk to one another. Setting ourselves up as enemies will leave us all as losers.

Categories: Community Power, Planning and Regeneration, Policy Review, Screaming Howlers
Tags: birmingham, birmingham city council, community cohesion, community groups, licensing, moseley, moseley pub watch, moseley society, planning

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Dear Moseley Residents,

Some of you have already had an email from me and have responded, and some are hearing about this for the first time.

On Wednesday next, 20 October, the City’s Licensing Committee will be considering the three-yearly review of the Statement of Licensing Policy. Three years ago Moseley residents campaigned for and succeeded in getting a special policy covering central Moseley and which presumes against the granting of any new on-licences, or the granting of extended hours for existing licences.

I am told that for 6 weeks through the summer there was an opportunity to comment on the revision of the Statement of Licensing Policy through the ‘Be Heard’ part of the City’s website – but as I have never heard of the ‘Be Heard’ website it’s not surprising I didn’t know.

On Monday 18^th there will be a Moseley Pub Watch meeting at which local pub landlords [and landladies] will decide whether or not to challenge the special policy for Moseley. I understand they are minded to do so even though they, like the residents, did not do anything during the official 6 week consultation period.

On Wednesday Inspector Ian Green, who has very recently been appointed as Licensing Inspector for the policing area that includes Moseley, Geoff Rees co-Chairman of the Moseley Society and I will be attending the Licensing Committee meeting to put the case for the retention of the policy. I do not think it likely that the policy will be over-turned on the spot, but there could be  decision to request a report to the next meeting to allow more time for consultation. In December there will be a report to the full Council and it is then that a final decision will be taken about whether or not to retain Moseley’s Special Policy. It will be important to ensure our three local Councillors know if residents living in the centre of Moseley want the policy to be retained.

Even if the Special Policy is retained without too much further ado, it may not last for another 3 years as the whole licensing system is under review at a national level.

Those of you who have been involved in previous action to try to prevent applications for extensions to hours at a particular pub will know how time consuming it is, and how difficult it is to attend Licensing Committee hearings during the working day. For the last three years we have had a period of stability without pubs trying to leap-frog each other to achieve ever longer hours. If we lose the Special Policy we will be back to frequent campaigning.

YOU CAN HELP NOW by replying to this email (fiona.adams@blueyonder.co.uk) to say if you think it important that the special policy for Moseley is retained. Please can you copy your message to Inspector Ian Green at: i.green@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk

Fiona Adams

Moseley Society Secretary

Categories: Community Power, Planning and Regeneration
Tags: be heard database, birmingham, birmingham city council, campaigning, community groups, consultation, fiona adams, geoff rees, ian green, licensing, local government, moseley, moseley pub watch, moseley society

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In a letter to John Melish in 1813, Thomas Jefferson remarked “an honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens.” Small wonder then that the general public perceive the political class to be rife with dishonesty, in a society where “done to” is more common than “done with”, and people feel increasingly unable (and disinclined) to change the world around them. But these people often have more power than they know, and helping them to use it is a responsibility that all engaged with politics should bear. Focusing on how people can influence decisions in their locality should be a priority for those in local government in particular, given its prominence in the 200-odd list of National Indicators.

There is no quick-fix solution to instilling motivation, civic pride and self-worth – but public servants, other elected representatives and active citizens should always be looking out for ways to make democracy more accessible to the people they live with. National Local Democracy Week is one such way, and in Birmingham, we have pushed it to nearly a fortnight (without changing the name, natch), with a calendar of lectures, workshops and events designed to help to engage the people of Birmingham with the structures of power and influence that surround them.

Chamberlain Forum* is putting on two free lectures during the fortnight. The first is with Councillor Paul Tilsley, the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, on October 14^th. He’ll speak for about 20 minutes on ‘the changing culture of local government’, followed by questions from the audience. This is a rare opportunity for people from across Birmingham to question the Deputy Leader, and furthermore, to do so from within the Council Chamber itself. I went to have a look around a month or so ago with Margaret Yates (Democratic Services, Birmingham City Council), and it is a really beautiful space, with touches of useful technology such as electronic voting and screens to display speakers. There is a public gallery, but how often that is filled is anyone’s guess, so take the opportunity to experience it if you are free. Our other offering is a lecture with Geoff Mulgan, on how to move social innovation ‘from the margins to the mainstream’. Mulgan is a former policy advisor to Tony Blair, and is now Director of The Young Foundation, and has form in turning good ideas into reality.

But who else will these events actually reach? It’s hard to imagine swathes of ‘hard to reach’ individuals making a special trip to Council House to learn about democracy – myself and readers of this blogs are probably in a sad minority of people who find this sort of thing fun. We can assume, then, that the audience will largely be composed of already-active citizens, as well as a few groups of people that have specifically been targeted – namely, a number of schools and youth groups. If Local Democracy efforts up and down the country are to be meaningful, they must firstly be targeted beyond the usual suspects (difficult), or failing that, ensure that the usual suspects take the knowledge back to their communities, and use their community networks to get it out. Too many people believe that their only opportunity to participate in or make use of democratic structures is at election time, and a worrying number don’t even see the point in that. We must use all available avenues to make it relevant agan.

*the social enterprise that I currently work with

Categories: Community Power, Parliament Regeneration
Tags: birmingham, birmingham city council, chamberlain forum, geoff mulgan, influence, local government, paul tilsley, power, public services, the young foundation, tony blair

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