The meeting took place in the Baptist Church Hall and was well attended. key papers are: Agenda; Minutes of AGM 2005; and Annual Report 2006

Planning permission has been granted subject to 24 conditions. You can download scanned images of the 5 pages of conditions using the links below. Note these files are about 0.5mb each, so take a few minutes each on a dial up connection.

Page 1 :  Page 2 : Page 3 : Page 4 : Page 5

A revised planning application has been made. The Application Number is S/0327/05/FUL. It includes changes to the elevations, boundary & access. You can see the plans at the Planning service at 9th Floor, Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, tel: 303-1115 or at the Kings Heath Neighbourhood Office  at 38 Silver Street, tel:303-5009 (ring first to make sure they will be open when you want to go).

Birmingham Council publish the draft Kings Heath Local Action Plan with a consultation period running of 6 weeks ending 26th August 2005. The plan can be downloaded from the Council website here. 

It is not clear whether the Council will arrange a public meeting even though they previously have said they would.

A very well attended meeting with both parents staff and local resident present. Peter Farrell of Birmingham Council explained that the schools are being redeveloped under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) by 'TransForm Schools' a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty. When complete the schools will be maintained by another Balfour Beatty subsidiary for 30 years. The new schools have been designed by architects Watkins Grey International, and a planning application will be submitted in the next few weeks.

Martin Evans the project architect explained that the current nursery school, primary school and technology college will be demolished, and the annexe will be closed. A new technology college will be built in the playground area between the existing schools.  A combined nursery and primary school incorporating pupils at the annexe will be built on the site of the demolished technology college. A new  sports hall and hard play area will be built on the site of the demolished primary school. It's intended to start work in summer 2005, and open the technology college in autumn 2006 and the primary school in autumn 2007.

Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum Annual General Meeting 2005 

The AGM was at Kings Heath Baptist Church, and was very well well attended with standing room only. The usual business of an AGM, such as the Annual Report, and Treasures report, went swiftly, and the election of committee members brought new faces to the fore. The committee details can be found here.

What probably brought many people were the presentations. These included :-

1. The description of the replacement of the existing Wheelers lane Schools with 2 completely new schools, and how access to the schools will be routed during and after construction.
2. The All Saints Project; based on All Saints Church and encompassing major enhancements at the heart of Kings Heath
3. The plans to improve Highbury Park, a lovely and underappreciated asset at the core of the area.
4. The facilities and opportunities presented by the opening of Bishop Challoner Sport Hall

At the start of 2004 the Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum proposed the establishment of a partnership of councillors, community bodies, business and other parties, to drive forward the betterment of Kings Heath. This has been supported by all local councillors, and the inaugural meeting took place on 20th December at Kings Heath Community Centre. Chaired by Councillor Martin Mullaney and with Philip Briggs the secretary of KHNF as vice-chair, the meeting established its terms of reference, and focused on the issues that will emerge from the forthcoming Kings Heath Local Action Plan. The draft of the plan will appear for public consultation in Spring 2005.One of the main goals of the Partnership will be to relentlessly pursue the issues agreed in the Plan when it is finalised.

A special meeting of members of the Moseley & Kings Heath Ward Advisory Board and the Clean Environment Thematic Group took place to consider ways of dealing with fly posting. At the meeting chaired by councillor Mullaney, officers of the Council described the legal position and the practicalities of removing fly posters. After some debate it was agreed to seek authority for the Council to examine the costs of establishing sites run by the private sector, that would be partly dedicated to fly posting, and partly to normal advertising. These are likely to be cylindrical towers similar in shape to existing  advertising towers. The companies that manage these features also take on board the job of removing fly posters nearby.

Moseley & Kings Heath Ward Committee

Moseley Hall Hospital

Chaired by councillor Emily Cox with cllrs. Jepson and Mullaney present, the meeting had a presentation about the development of  Moseley Hall Hospital to provide improved mental health facilities. Moseley residents raised objections about the suitability of design and materials to the conservation area it is in. Concerns were expressed by cllr. Jepson about the way the planning process was apparently being rushed, with minimal consultation, and noted that the project had not been seen by the Selly Oak District Strategic Partnership. The project manager listed the consultation events that had taken place. The ward committee minuted it's concern at he impact of the design and intensity of use on a conservation area and the local community.

Possible Kings Heath Alcohol Free Zone

A police representative described the effect and overall benefits of the alcohol free zone in central Moseley. A side effect had been the displacement of some street drinkers to Kings Heath.

At the request of Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum, it was agreed to hold the debate on this issue at the next meeting which would take place in Kings Heath.

Dedicated Flyposting Sites

Flyposting is a problem throughout the area, especially in Mosely. cllr. Mullaney suggested the use of private companies to provide alternative managed locations for posters, and who would take down other fly posters. The issue will be pursued at a special meeting on 15th December.

Camp Hill Railway Line

The possibility of re-opening the rail line for passenger traffic was considered. The line runs from Kings Norton station (in Cotteridge) through Kings Heath, Mosley, Balsall Heath, Sparkbrook, then connects with the line to New Street station, while also continuing through Bordesley northwards. New Street is at full capacity and getting into Moor Street station needs a junction at Bordesley that would be costly. Stations would be needed, and Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum advocated the use of the old station site  as part of a major commercial project for northern Kings Heath.