On December 6, MP Shabana Mahmood published the results of her survey on the Ladywood regeneration.
The findings are unequivocal:
- 86% of respondents reported that the regeneration has negatively affected their mental health, with 60% stating it has affected them very negatively.
- 71% oppose the regeneration plans and state their opinions remain unchanged over the past 12 months.
- Over 7 in 10 people rated the Council’s work on the regeneration as “very bad.”
The regeneration has severely impacted the mental health of residents in the Ladywood regeneration area. The looming threat of demolition has prevented residents from investing in their homes, carrying out renovations, retiring or making plans to stay in the area long-term, or even selling their homes to move elsewhere.
In light of these findings and the community’s experience of regeneration so far, we are dismayed by MP Shabana Mahmood’s conclusion, particularly her call to speed up the regeneration process.
MP Mahmood has “asked the council to move to finalise their agreement with Berkeley Group, to give residents certainty heading into the new year.” This is a troubling request.
Residents’ sense of uncertainty and the worsening of their well-being have nothing to do with the fact the agreement with Berkeley has not been signed.
Residents’ sense of uncertainty and the worsening of their well-being are a direct result of the type of regenerations that Berkeley group provides, the way the Council and political representatives have imposed regeneration plans, and the threat of demolition on the community of Ladywood.
The survey was designed in collaboration with members of Ladywood Unite and with input from experienced researchers at the University of Birmingham. It is puzzling that MP Mahmood has chosen to overlook the damning picture her own survey paints of the regeneration and the Council’s performance.
This appears to be yet another instance where political representatives and the Council choose to ignore residents’ concerns, pushing forward a regeneration plan that lacked community input from the very beginning.
Who is responsible for this worsening in residents’ well-being and mental health in Ladywood?
From the early stages of the regeneration, the Council and political representatives have contributed to the decline in residents’ well-being through their lack of engagement, and through an inconsistent approach where commitments have been either undelivered or not delivered in the manner promised.
Commitments made in 2019 by political representatives and outlined in the Council’s own official documents have turned out to be empty promises. For instance, the Council pledged in the February 2019 Cabinet Report that “the existing community is retained and involvement in the development of the neighbourhood” and that the regeneration would deliver “new, high quality social housing” However, these commitments were absent from the June 2023 Cabinet Report and, despite repeated calls and demands from the community, subsequent documents, including the ongoing draft of the community charter.
The Council has systematically overlooked the mental health impact of the regeneration on residents. Instead, it has treated mental health concerns as merely a matter of communication. In the Council’s 2023 Equality Assessment, it acknowledged that “older residents may have more difficulty securing a mortgage should they wish to move elsewhere” and that “there could be a specific impact on emotional wellbeing of older residents and those who have lived on the estate a long time, who are more impacted upon by the change”. Yet the council did not commit to provide for any specific measure to deal with such financial and emotional impacts. The only proposed provision was to provide relevant information and BCC communication about the CPO process.
The same was stated regarding individuals with disabilities. The document acknowledged that “it is possible that individuals with disabilities may feel have less agency over the change happening to the area, especially if they are being relocated”. Yet, the only proposed provision concerned communication: “Communication will be open and transparent from the start”, the document promised.
Unfortunately, communication has neither been open nor transparent. While the Council is required to fulfil its public sector duty, residents were excluded from the long-listing and shortlisting of potential development options for the Ladywood Estate back in 2019.
When the regeneration was finally announced, the news caused shock and frustration. At the meeting on July 20 2023, residents were locked out of the venue, unable to hear how decisions about their community, families, and homes were made without their involvement. This was a direct cause of the Council and Councillors not considering the potential impact on thousands of people, deliberately booking a venue that could contain just over 100. At least one of our local councillors told us in advance of the meeting that they knew it would be busy but did not take action to rectify this.
The council’s initiative aimed at involving residents over the past year—workshops, surveys, and the draft Community Charter—have further alienated residents, causing further distress and anxiety.
The Council has conducted engagement workshops, two surveys, and a series of charter workshops aimed at producing a community charter. However, the draft charter bears little resemblance to residents’ concerns and demands. The workshops primarily served as a platform for Council officers to present their perspective on the regeneration, and the resulting draft charter mostly reflects the Council’s own agenda. As one Council officer admitted during a meeting with Ladywood Unite representatives that residents’ feedback had been “cherry-picked.”
Eventually, an event focused on well-being with Mind was held in December. However, this came too late, after a prolonged period during which potential mental ill health and other well-being issues had already begun to emerge or develop.
Still, we have yet to see an updated version of the charter or the ‘You Said, We Did’ document. The community has not been provided with a clear timeline for when the community charter will be finalized, or how residents’ feedback will be incorporated into the final version. Meanwhile, the details of the Development Partnership Agreement, which is believed to be on the verge of being signed, remain unknown to the community.
The timing of the preparation of these documents, along with their apparent likelihood of being finalized within the same timeframe, leaves little to no opportunity for community scrutiny or response. This further undermines trust in the council and heightens uncertainty, anxiety, and resulting mental ill health.
Regardless, the Council claims that its consultation process has been extensive, but it has provided no evidence to substantiate this. No consultation data has been shared, nor has the Council demonstrated that residents’ feedback influenced the charter’s development.
The draft charter states that the Council has been “listening to and working with the Ladywood community” to “ensure the community is treated fairly, offered choices, and assured about what [residents are] entitled to.”
We have serious doubts about this claim.
Residents’ demands and the legitimacy of their right to community and to stay in the area have been constantly undermined. The cabinet member for housing, Cllr Jayne Francis, is on record as saying that the Council “want a different type of neighbourhood”. This would indicate they are unhappy with the existing residents.
To make matters worse, councillors have been largely absent, failing to address residents’ concerns. The Council has also been opaque about critical issues, such as the existence of a master plan. It has played with language, describing consultations as “engagement” to avoid statutory obligations. The Council’s own “Powered by People” approach has been consistently watered down in documents. Shifting power to communities is a key principle outlined in the Powered by People policy. However, measures to ensure this shift of power to the community are notably absent.
We are thus deeply concerned that MP Mahmood’s invitation to finalize an agreement with Berkeley Homes, the Council’s chosen development partner, reflects a political agenda that prioritizes bypassing planning regulations and dismissing residents’ concerns over addressing the hopes and aspirations of the Ladywood community for their future.
The Ladywood regeneration has become a symbol of top-down decision-making that disregards the voices of those most affected. We urge MP Shabana Mahmood and the council to:
- Halt any agreements with Berkeley Homes until genuine, community-led consultations have taken place
- Share the power to make decisions at every level of the regeneration with the community and deliver the Council’s “Powered by People” principles in full.
- Provide transparent data on past consultations and ensure residents’ feedback directly shapes the regeneration plans.
- Address the severe mental health impacts with tailored support, not superficial communication efforts. Any such support must understand the various mental, physical, and cultural needs of a highly diverse neighbourhood
Residents deserve to be at the heart of decisions about their homes, their community, and their future. It is time for political representatives and the council to listen and engage.
Ladywood Unite 
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