Dear Editor, RE: Letter from Councillor Peter Douglas Osborn – Protecting the City’s Historic Environment.
I was delighted to read that the anti-graffiti squad have been out in the Ideal Village Bordesley Green Conservation Area. How wonderful that they can do exactly as they please despite an Article 4[2] Direction and the only result is the anti-graffiti squad is sent out.
So Peter may be interested in the following:
Moor Pool Estate was given an Article 4[2] Direction a couple of years ago. The amount of construction work which has gone on since, carried out by one person, is phenomenal.
He has managed to ruin three houses and is about to start on a fourth. What is so clever about him is the fact that he has had refusals from planning for all of the works which he has carried out.
What is also interesting is the fact that over the two years the planning officer/conservation officer/enforcement officer et al have been begged, nay implored, to take action. The works are all completed and I suppose the next item will be the issuing of Completion Certificates from Building Control.
Greenfield Road Conservation Area, Harborne, was signed off on 17 February 2009. It has taken 20 years to get this far and in that 20 years the whole of the area has been eroded beyond redemption. However, again, the interesting fact is that we are now in April and not one of the residents of the area have been informed of the decision.
Protecting the city’s historic environment, my back leg! Perhaps if Clive Dutton were not so taken up with The Big City Plan he may be able to get the relevant officers to do the work for which they are getting enormous salaries, paid for by the people of Birmingham who are certainly not having their historic environment protected.
Moor Pool and Greenfield Road await the arrival of the anti-graffiti squad.
Mrs A Yorke
Chairman Technical Committee, The Harborne Society
