Author: marcodinu
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Unanswered questions at the Scrutiny meeting
On September 11, the Ladywood Regeneration was discussed at the Homes Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The answers given to councillors’ questions raised further concerns about the regeneration. The context “A report without context is very difficult to understand,” the Chair of the committee noted at the beginning of the meeting. The report submitted to the…
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(Mis)Understanding Ladywood: Concerns about the feedback reports
In August, the Berkeley Homes team shared a report following their ‘Understanding Ladywood’ workshops held over the summer. These workshops were presented as providing an “opportunity for residents to meet the project team and help shape the early direction of the masterplan”. The report raises significant questions about what lies ahead for Ladywood residents. Displacement…
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The charter and other unanswered questions
The signing of the Development Agreement between Birmingham City Council (BCC) and St Joseph/Berkeley Homes, formally announced on April 30, marks a new chapter in the Ladywood regeneration. The commitments made—including delivering 20% affordable housing, minimising demolition, establishing a Steering Committee, appointing an independent advisor, and holding further consultation before finalising the Residents’ Charter—were presented…
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Questions for the council: Community charter – another survey
BCC invited further feedback on the draft of the Community Charter. While the newsletter sent on August 28 referred to the survey, council officers in contact with Ladywood Unite have failed to mention the survey in their communications. This omission is a serious shortcoming. The survey will close on December 2. You can fill the…
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Questions for the council: consultations and the community charter
BCC invited more feedback on the draft of the Community Charter. The newsletter that was sent on August 28 read: “The charter has been developed in collaboration with the community after extensive consultation. We held a series of workshops in October and November 2023. After these workshops took place, we ran an online survey in…
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Questions for the council: optimism bias and financial risks
The regeneration of Perry Barr cost the council £325 million, in addition to £171 million in government grants. At the beginning of August, the council agreed to sell 755 homes to a private developer. However, the amount received won’t be enough to cover the entire cost of the project, with the council still expected to…
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Questions for the council: the community charter – some questions to ask
Here are some comments and suggested questions you can raise in the upcoming charter workshops. These comments and suggestions are ordered according to the structure of the charter itself. A summary of the list of questions can be found below for download 1. Welcome Sharing Power Powered by People is an official BCC policy. In…
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Questions for the council: when the future depends on the meaning of “viability”
Just over a year ago, Birmingham City Council (BCC) voted to award the regeneration of the Ladywood Estate to St Joseph, a subsidiary of the Berkeley group. For many residents, the news came as a shock. Since then, the future of the neighbourhood has remained uncertain, and the lives of residents precarious. What does the…
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Questions for the council – a matter of human rights
Further scrutiny and evaluation of the council’s human rights considerations is needed There is a substantial lack of clarity and explanation about why BCC “decided that, on balance, it is in the general public interest and of benefit to the community to make the CPO [compulsory purchase order] over and above the interest of the…
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Questions for the council: Not much about equality
We have serious concerns about the quality of the Equality Analysis in the 2023 Cabinet Report. The 2010 Equality Act, section 149, 1(b) states that: “1. A public authority must, in the exercise of its functions, have due regard to the need to: b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected…
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Questions for the council: what happened to democracy?
The regeneration has been consistently characterised by a democratic deficit since its very early stages in 2019 and 2020, when residents witnessed a general breakdown of democratic representation and BCC’s failure to fulfil its duty consult ahead of the bidding process In June 2019, Ladywood councillors issued a first leaflet pledging their commitment to help…
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Questions for the council: let us talk about the “community engagement”
In its recent responses to Ladywood Unite queries, BCC stated: “Within, the proposals St Joseph put forward, they committed to appoint a Community Engagement specialist and this is still a commitment that that St Joseph intend to honour” This is something that is reflected in what the 2023 Full Business Case (Appendix 2: B5) stated:…
Ladywood Unite 