TESCO SAY:

“Insofar as Stirchley is concerned, the City Council has said that it will not be completing the S106 Planning Agreement the Co-op needs to secure the release of its planning permission.

The Council has concluded that the Co-op does not have sufficient interest in the site (ownership) to justify entering into a binding legal agreement. The Council has also resumed discussions with Tesco and we hope now to be able to make progress in respect of both the acquisition of City Council land (the Community Centre and Indoor Bowls Centre) and the scheme itself (we will need to re-open discussions with the Planning Department and community stakeholders in due course).”

CO-OP/HELICAL RETAIL SAY:

“As you will be aware Midlands Co-op along with development partners Helical Retail have submitted plans for a mixed use retail scheme in Sitchley and are awating a decision from the Cty Council. Similarly Tesco have also submitted an application for a new superstore on the same site and only one of the two schemes will be granted planning permission.

As part of our ongoing community consultation programme we would like to invite you [Stirchley Neighbourhood Forum] to participate in a community focus group. Establishing a focus group consisting of a resprentative cross section of the Stirchley area will allow us to understand the views of the wider community on what they consider to be the needs and priorities for the regeneration of the local community.”

So it’s all still as confusing as ever. What is certain is that this battle has stalled real regeneration in Stirchley for years.

The queue outside the baths

There was a huge turnout for the Bournville Lane Baths open day, with queues stretching all the way up the street.

The numbers of people just go to show how much interest and affection there is for the derelict baths. It would be wonderful to see this fine building restored but local residents need to ask themselves what price they are willing to pay for this to happen.

Our councillors tell us that this is a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and imply that this is only possible by welcoming a large developer such as Tesco. However, a massive supermarket will also bring more congestion, more pollution and more shop closures. Tesco themselves predict that the Co-op would lose around 40% of its business. It’s hard to imagine that Co-op could survive such a downturn and the store would therefore close, transferring the dereliction from one side of the Pershore Road to the other.

It’s also worth remembering that although Stirchley would be getting a brand new community  centre it is ultimately only a replacement for what already exists. The chronic lack of facilities in the area would only be marginally improved. Moreover, anyone who peeked inside the baths today and dreamt of seeing the historic interior restored would have been sadly mistaken. Only the facade and the chimney would remain and everything else would be demolished.

As for the money it is simply not true that only a company like Tesco can provide it. Funds for regeneration exist at a local, national and EU level and there are examples all over the country where imaginative partnerships have brought real improvements for communities. What Stirchley needs is commitment from the council and a vision that doesn’t depend on being bailed out by Tesco’s deep pockets. In fact the dereliction has only been exacerbated by wrangling over the development site. It is Tesco who have fenced off the site and boarded up houses, while parcels of land are also owned by Co-op and Sainsbury. Imagine what could have been possible if this land had been free for developments that the community actually needs?

We believe that the council should reconsider and finally give Stirchley the attention it so badly requires. Our councillors have now received the results from the public consultation we held in July and hopefully it will give them food for thought. Whatever they decided to do now will define Stirchley for the next fifty years. Yes, it would be great to see the baths restored but we believe that the people of Stirchley deserve much, much more

Soon to be lost? Inside the baths

.

The City Council plans to regenerate building as a community centre.  According to the Birmingham Mail, Councillor Nigel Dawkins said that the renovation would be paid for by either Tesco or Co-op, “Part of the purpose of this visit is to involve local people in our plans to convert it into a community centre for Stirchley and for them to be involved in giving us ideas“.

Councillor Dawkins’ admission that the Tesco development is not a done deal is very revealing.  We at Another Stirchley Is Possible certainly believe that the fight  isn’t over yet and will be campaigning to get the council to reconsider their decision to mind Tesco as their preferred developer. While nothing is signed there is still plenty of scope for protest.

In the meantime we want to be as constructive as possible, whatever happens. In this spirit we will be accepting our councillors’ invitation and presenting them with the findings from our consultation (see the posting ‘Residents Have Their Say’ below). It would be great to have as many people come along to the Baths to either make their concerns about Tesco known and to offer ideas about what would be best for the people of Stirchley. The more we make our presence known the harder it is for the council to ignore us. So come along to the Baths and let your councillors know what you really think.

Very sadly we have learnt that Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has decided not to call-in the application for the proposed Tesco superstore.

This is despite being inundated with letters of protest from local residents and businesses, as well as receiving a ten page report from Another Stirchley Is Possible outlining the many failings of the planning process. Lynne Jones (MP for Selly Oak) also felt that the proposal met the criteria for a public enquiry on the basis that such applications, ‘could have significant effects beyond their immediate locality’ and ‘may conflict with national policies on important matters’. However the Department for Communities and Local Government took their decision on the basis that, ‘the issues raised do not relate to matters of more than local importance’.

One has to wonder how the government expect their own policies on sustainability and community accountability to be implemented if they refuse to intervene on such ‘local’ matters. It’s also worth mentioning that the decision was taken at break-neck speed, even faster than the city council expected. The application will not return to committee and approval is now solely dependent on a legal agreement between the council and Tesco.

We will now be pursuing other ways in which to protest, including taking our complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman. We will also be looking into ways in which we can influence the development of the scheme, including the replacement of local facilities, and help the area prepare for the arrival of Tesco should it go ahead.

Thank you to everyone who wrote to the Secretary of State. It’s a massive shame that the decision hasn’t gone our way. Having said that, the battle isn’t over yet so watch this space for updates and ways in which you may be able to help.

She also recommends the report we submitted to Hazel Blears, highlighting the many failings of the city council’s planning report. In the conclusion to her letter Lynne Jones writes:

Whilst Stirchley needs investment, it has a good range of independent shops and Cotteridge is a rare example of a suburban shopping centre in having several independent greengrocers and butchers, as well as two smallish supermarkets.  All this is threatened by the proposed development, which will also affect traffic enroute beyond Birmingham as well as other centres in Selly Oak, Kings Heath and Maypole and so I hope you will agree that it demands greater scrutiny and meets the criteria to be called-in.

Our campaign has also received the support of local journalist Adrian Goldberg. In his column in the Birmingham Mail he writes:

Creating an additional 120,000 square foot of shopping with parking for 567 cars in the midst of this congestion is madness, and blatantly runs counter to the council’s own policies on sustainability. Stirchley needs major regeneration for sure, but that won’t be achieved by creating longer tail-backs, more frequent traffic jams and extra pollution. And that’s why the nation’s favourite grocer should give Hazel Blears food for thought.

Remember there’s still time to make your objections known to the Secretary of State. Click on the previous post ‘OBJECT NOW!’ for a sample letter and the necessary contact details. If you have already done so then thank you for your efforts.

Despite Birmingham City Council doing extremely little to keep residents informed of developments we have now discovered that the planning committee have referred the application to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. She will decide whether to call in the application for further inspection or let it be approved. She will do this in the next two weeks. We think she needs to call it in and we need your help to persuade her.

You can find a letter below which you can either copy and send or use as a template for your own. Individual letters do have more impact but time is against us. We need to get as many letters to Hazel Blears as possible. Send you letter to Rt.Hon. Hazel Blears, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU. You might also like to send a copy to Lynne Jones MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA (jonesl@parliament.uk).Dear Secretary of State,

Application S/0372707/OUT (Renewal of application S/0175202/OUT)

Proposed Tesco superstore on land at Hazelwell/Pershore/Hunts Road, Stirchley, Birmingham

I am writing to object to the proposed development of a Tesco superstore in Stirchley, Birmingham. The council planning committee have overlooked, ignored or openly contradicted a plethora of planning policies in the following ways:

1.      Failure to commission a comprehensive retail impact assessment (including centres such as Cotteridge, Kings Heath and Selly Oak)

2.      Failure to commission a health impact assessment

3.      Failure to commission an environmental impact assessment

4.      Failure to commission a social impact assessment

5.      Amending the Stirchley Framework in 2002 without due consultation

6.      Accepting Tesco expenditure capacity assessment in conflict with BCC Unitary Development Plan

7.      Accepting an oversized retail development including provisions for car parking 32% larger than the maximum guidance in conflict with national, regional and local planning guidance

8.      Accepting the generation of additional car travel and as a consequence additional carbon emissions in conflict with national, regional and local policy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment

9.      Accepting the generation of additional traffic congestion to an already overstressed road network

10.  Accepting a retail scheme despite recognising that there wasn’t the expenditure capacity to support that additional retail floorspace alongside existing retail floorspace.

11.  Failure to follow national, regional and local planning guidance regarding the delivery of sustainable patterns of development

12.  Allowing significant change of centre hierarchies through a single planning application rather than through the development plan process as stated in national planning guidance

13.  Failure to consult communities affected by this retail development

14.  Failure to consider consequences of approval as regards the extent to which the proposal is likely to remedy any deficiencies

It is true that Stirchley is in decline and needs regeneration. However this decline is largely due to the huge levels of traffic passing down the narrow high street, combined with Tesco ‘land-banking’ large areas of land and blocking any other developments. The proposed supermarket would only exacerbate these problems. In the meantime the pressure put on the surrounding shopping centres would spread the decline up into Cotteridge and beyond. If these businesses close it will mean more travel, more congestion, more CO2 emissions and less choice. This looks even more dubious in light of both the white paper on community control and the sustainable communities plan.

I believe that the people of Stirchley have been very poorly served by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee. Consultation has been appalling with some local retailers not even being made aware that the development has been proposed. I hope you agree that further investigation is required and call in the application for a public enquiry.

The public consulutation we held on Saturday 12th July was a great success, with lots of people coming to find out what we are doing, object to Tesco and offer their suggestions for a better Stirchley. To see the results click here.

One point that seemed to keep coming up was a presumption that the Tesco’s development is a done deal. It most certainly is not! Birmingham City Council may be minded to approve the application but it still has to go to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Hazel Blears). We have to act quickly but there’s still time to make your objections known.

We’ll be letting you know how to do this soon.

In the meantime, scroll down to see more pictures from the event.

We want to find out what the people of Stirchley would like to see in their area, so we’ve decided to hold an open day at which you can tell us your ideas. We’ll then take those findings and campaign to make them happen. 

A new sports centre? Different types of shops and public spaces? More affordable housing? We’d like people to be as ambitious and imaginative as possible. So drop by and give us your vision for an alternative future.

If you can’t make it then leave your ideas here or email us at: anotherstirchley@live.co.uk