Berkeley Group (St Joseph Homes), the company selected by Birmingham City Council to demolish Ladywood, is a luxury developer worth billions. The residents of Ladywood, despite paying council tax, do not have access to a single pence to support them as they fight to keep their homes, places of worship, and businesses.
One of the only ways we receive replies from the council is by asking them questions at Council meetings. These questions need to be submitted in advance and approved by the Council’s lawyers.
Councillor Francis, the Birmingham City Council Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, responded to one of our questions last week. She is one of the named contributors on the 27 June 2023 report that announced mass compulsory purchase on demolition and has repeatedly publicly described Ladywood as deprived, a stigmatising and unnecessary description that is also largely inaccurate – depending on on the measure of deprivation used.
On 13 September, we asked, “Why has an independent and funded group not been established to support and advise residents on the process of regeneration? This is a crucial element of the resident-led regeneration that has been promised to us.”
On 7 November 2023, we received a response by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, Councillor Jayne Francis:
“We are currently in the very early stages of the regeneration programme and are gathering views on how residents would prefer to be communicated and consulted with moving forward. Once these views are collated, it will inform St Joseph Homes’ Communication and Engagement Strategy which will commence in January 2024.
The initial round of small workshops has focused on communication and we have received several ideas which will be taken forward. Between now and January 2024, we will be developing a Community Charter which will be informed from the views obtained from local residents. The Charter will set out exactly how the City Council will work with the community moving forward, including access to independent advice and support. It is very important that we do not seek to assume we know how residents in Ladywood would like to engage.
As part of the project, the City Council and St Joseph Homes will work with the local community to establish the Ladywood Community Development Trust (CDT) which will be central to our approach to partnering with the community and building local capacity.
As a social enterprise, the CDT will be run by the local community with membership from residents and businesses in the neighbourhood. The CDT will also be central to St Joseph Homes’ Community Engagement Plan. St Joseph Homes will provide the professional support from the outset to enable it to operate effectively. This will include funding for the first five years and in-kind support to establish a long-term business plan to enable it to become self-sufficient.”
There is certainly to unpack here.
Where has our support been to date?
If St Joseph funds support – can it really be independent and in the best interests of the Ladywood community?
It is also not at all early in the regeneration process, as many decisions have already been made without us – including drawing a regeneration and demolition zone that includes much good quality and new housing, rather than taking a brownfield-first approach. We should have been involved in this process but instead were seemingly deliberately excluded.
The process of exclusion continues: there were engagement workshops in October but only for a select few who could secure slots. It is now 11 November and although we have been promised by council staff that there will be more engagement workshops this month, we have heard nothing.
Ladywood Unite 
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