Held by Zoom at 3.30 pm on Sunday 18th October 2020.
Present: 38 members attended including the committee. Councillors Karen McCarthy and Brigid Jones also attended by invitation, as did Barry Toon of CP4SO. The meeting was chaired by Andrea Hickman and minutes were taken by Liz Robinson.
Apologies: Colin Goodman, Adrian Jones, Les Sparks and Doris Turland.
- Welcome and apologies
Andrea welcomed the members and guests to SPPOA’s first Zoom meeting and thanked Amanda for managing the Zoom technology. She pointed out that the pandemic has had the positive effect of making us more aware and appreciative of our immediate community, and highlighted SPPOA’s commitment to defending the covenants which prevent over-intensive development, and to actively supporting our Conservation Area status. She also mentioned that we aim to improve our communication with members and that we delivered our first newsletter just before lockdown. She then listed the apologies received. - Election of Principal Officers
The following officers were proposed, seconded and elected or re-elected:
Chair: Andrea Hickman
Secretary: Liz Robinson
Treasurer: Martin Hinchliffe - Minutes of the 2019 General Meeting
The Minutes of the 2019 meeting had been circulated to members earlier in the year. They were accepted and will be signed when contact is once again permitted. - Matter arising
There were none. 5, 6. Annual Report and Matters Arising the following items from the Annual Report were considered for discussion:
(i) Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP). Two members of the committee who had put an enormous amount of work into preparing the report, Richard Batley and Ann Davies, summarised its purpose and content. The draft is a substantial document of some 15000 words, with a pre-defined structure, which members of the committee have submitted to Birmingham City Council’s conservation officers. When they have responded and commented on it, a revised version will be put out for consultation and eventually accepted by the Council and placed on their website to be publicly available, for example to developers, and to become a supplementary planning document. Not only does it summarise the history of the area’s development including of individual buildings, and its current character including open spaces, trees and views, but it also identifies opportunities and threats such as parking, traffic, houses in multiple occupation. Ultimately, planning applications will be assessed against this document, which therefore is of great significance to the future of our area.
(ii) Planning White Paper. Members’ attention was drawn to the summary given in the Annual Report, and were reminded that Steve McCabe MP’s survey has been circulated so that members can give their views on the proposed changes to local planning law. Birmingham City Council’s response will be overseen not by the Chair of Planning Committee, Councillor Karen McCarthy, but by the Council Leader, who deals with policy. Karen urged members to respond to the consultation if they wanted their role in the planning process expanded, rather than reduced in the way proposed in the White Paper.
(iii) Community Partnership for Selly Oak (CP4SO). Barry Toon brought members up to date on three of the issues currently of concern to CP4SO. First, several major planning applications either currently or about to be available for public comment. The University of Birmingham Life Sciences development close to the new Sainsburys has implications for parking and traffic but will bring employment opportunities. An application for a 1200 bed student block on the old Sainsburys triangle site, as well as one for 600 to 800 beds on Elliott Road would extend student accommodation beyond Bournbrook and have major implications for the demography of the area. There is yet another application for large-scale student accommodation on Pershore Road, on the old BT exchange site. Councillor Brigid Jones pointed out that she has been mis-represented by the developer as approving this development. In fact she opposes it. One further site due for development is the Goodman’s Yard site on the Bristol Road, for which an application is expected but not yet submitted.
The second issue highlighted by Barry concerned the spread across Birmingham, including Selly Oak, of converting student rental accommodation to ‘supported housing’ for people who need support such as asylum seekers, homeless people or those with substance abuse problems. The concern is that some landlords accept the lower regulation and higher rent associated with such provision, without providing the support the tenants need, which can lead to antisocial behaviour. A series of meetings to discuss this proliferation is being held across Birmingham and we will be told when a date has been arranged for one in Selly Oak, which will involve Steve McCabe MP. Finally, Barry told members about the Community Development Trust set up by CP4SO as a not-for-profit organisation to provide 20 family houses in a scheme around the Selly Oak Library and Bournbrook recreation ground - Annual Accounts (2019-20)
Members had seen the accounts in the documents circulated in advance of the meeting. - Matters Arising
There were none. - Election of Committee
Andrea asked if any members present would like to join the Committee, but there was no response. Two retiring members of the Committee were warmly thanked for their diligent and passionate service to the Committee over many years: Colin Goodman and Ann Davies. The remaining members of the Committee were re-elected en bloc, unopposed:
Javed Arain
Richard Batley
Lis Broome
Amanda Martin
Diane Rance
The meeting then voted on the proposal which had been circulated in advance: ”The AGM to agree that the SPPOA Committee can from the date of the 2020 AGM co-opt Associate Members on to the committee, to be annually renewable.” The vote was carried unopposed. Following this, two associate members, Bernard Walsh (in absentia) and Trisha Weller were co-opted onto the Committee, and welcomed. - Any other business
(i) Karen updated members on the advertising banner which has been attached to railings at the corner of Bournbrook Road and Bristol Road after the demolition of its previous framework. The Council’s property services are checking on whether they can demand that it be taken down.
(ii) Flooding on Bristol Road at the corner of Bournbrook Road has returned after being successfully cleared last winter. Karen will report this to the street inspector. A member stated that she had already reported this and been told that the gutter had been cleared. The meeting finished at 4.40pm
You can download the report below