Carnival licence up

Birmingham Carnival's licence application to run the event in Perry Park on August 2nd has now been submitted.

We checked today and notices of the application have not been posted around the park and on the Walsall Road as is required. We've spoken to licensing and have been assured this will be put right (It's up to the organisers to do it, not the licensing department).

One of our major concerns this year has been that the noise problem from 2007 is put right. The second is that traffic and parking management is got right.

This is the first time the Carnival has had to submit a separate application for this event and there is likely to be a hearing in mid-July.

Residents have until June 30th to submit comments. They have to write to the Licensing Section, Crystal Court, Aston Cross Business Village, 50 Rocky Lane, Aston, Birmingham B6 5RQ.

We are currently working on our response and will publish details soon.

Pictures from Turnberry Park fun day

As predicted a terrific day for the first event in this park for some years. Special thanks must go to the Booths Farm Neighbourhood Forum for organising it, in particular to Melvin and Pauline Martin.
Pictures show: Perry Beeches Marching Band;
Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Mike Sharpe with the winning car, a a sparklingly immaculate E-type Jag, along with his wife Thelma, Ray Hassall, Melvin Martin, Jon Hunt, John Spencer of the BFNF;
Ray Hassall and Mike Sharpe inspecting the winning car;
Karen Hamilton, Ray Hassall and greyhounds.

Fun day tomorrow

Things are looking good for tomorrow's Cars in the Park and Fun Day at Turnberry Park, Great Barr.

Today's weather is brilliant for this kind of event, nice and warm with cloudy intervals. Tomorrow's forecast is identical.

We're expecting dozens of classic cars, a big car boot sale, free rides for children and hundreds of people.

The event marks several milestones for the community around the park. It is being organised by Booths Farm Neighbourhood Forum, which had spent much of the last two or three years fighting a critical right of way case. In the end, the Forum was successful in making someone remove fencing that had been erected to block off a right of way and absorb some shared land. This left legal bills and the Forum will be fund-raising to pay those bills.

In addition the "swamp" area of the park has been restored to its original use for football and ball games. We agreed some £20,000 of community chest money to pay for drainage here and you can see the work in the background of this picture.

Whilst Perry Hall Park and Perry Barr Park are wonderful parks dominating our ward, Turnberry Park is the most accessible green area for most people so over the years we've put quite a lot of effort into developing it. The footpath that crosses it was lit for the first time a few years ago. Some people walk through it to use the Queslett Nature Reserve which lies just beyond the other side of the motorway (which is behind the trees on the right).

Access is via an entrance facing Calshot School or you can park at the neighbourhood office on Beeches Road and take a short footpath through a wood to the park.