Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBC) update:
The initial recommendations from the LGBC will be discussed at our full council in October. Our submission will be determined by them and they will submit their final recommendations to parliament for them to be formalised, possibly by the end of this year. In any event they will not take effect until the local elections in May 2026.
The biggest changes affect Blythe and St Alphege wards. Parts of the existing St Alphege ward will merge into neighbouring wards and Monkspath will leave Blythe and merge with Hillfield (and other parts of St Alphege ward) to form a new ward called St Alphege and Monkspath ward.
A more detailed explanation can be found on Kens website: https://cllrkenhawkins.co.uk/2024/07/22/local-government-boundary-review-response-to-lgbce-proposals-solihull/
Local Plan update:
Due to changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) that came about from the last government and communications with the planning inspectorate, the council’s local development plan (LDP) was stalled. However, the plan had been reviewed by the planning inspectors at an Examination in Public and apart from issues surround developments near the NEC (and a question that we needed to accommodate more houses in the plan) all other sites in the draft LDP can be said to have been accepted by the planning inspectors. Therefore, several planning applications have been submitted and other expected soon.
We also have the statements from the new Deputy Prime Minister in relation to housing number the country and find that Solihull effectively has to double the number of houses required to be built.
Ken has reported on Facebook forums how this affects Blythe ward recently. A lot of information and detail about this issue can be read on his website post: https://cllrkenhawkins.co.uk/2024/08/15/planning-and-development-update-blythe-ward/
Road Safety:
Road safety is taken extremely seriously, and although Solihull has the safest roads in the region, and amongst the safest in the UK, there is always more that can be done – and will be done.
The safety of road users, especially children and vulnerable people, will not be compromised. We are part of a Road Safety Partnership, with West Midlands Police, Fire and Ambulance services. There are range of methods the road safety partnership address issues of concern and you can find out how we deal with road safety here: How we keep our roads safe (solihull.gov.uk)
Hillfield Local Nature Reserve:
This a fantastic place at the heart of our community. The addition of the Armed Forces Community Garden has made it an even better place.
We have a brilliant Friends of Hillfield group, as well as the volunteers tending for the garden and our local litter pickers. They contribute to keeping our park in such a great condition. We do though have plans that may bring more facilities.
On Wednesday 21 August member of Friends of Hillfield Park will be near the play with officers from Solihull Council environment department between 10 am and 12 noon seeking your views as to what park improvements you would like. We do have access to some infrastructure funding and need to determine what park users would like and prioritise these ‘asks’ (Please see poster). We will update you in due course.
Green Flags:
We have some fantastic parks and green spaces in the borough, and we have far more prestigious Green Flag Parks than any other local authority in the wider Midlands and East of England regions. We now have 17 Green Flags Parks, with Hoe Coppice joining the list when we ware given our awards recently.
As a borough we value the importance of our parks and green spaces and will continue to invest in them.
More information about our green flags parks cand the green flag award itself self can be found on the post on Kens website: Solihull Green Flag Parks success: – Ken Hawkins (cllrkenhawkins.co.uk)
Our engagement:
Both Ken and Keith are active on the local Facebook groups. We strive to make honest and non-political comments on our local forums. Ken has had his website for several years and was, up till recently, the only councillor in the borough with a non-political website. We can now add Keith and his new website can be found via https://keithgreen.co.uk
Both sites will have details information as to what is happening in the ward and borough.
Ken Hawkins 