Category: Berkeley Group
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Woodberry Down
Reflections from Geoff Bell, who lived through Berkeley Group’s last major regeneration in Woodberry Down, London. Thank you Geoff for coming to speak to Ladywood Unite in Birmingham yesterday. The Woodberry Down Story Introduction I was chair of Woodberry Down Community Organisation (WDCO) for six years, stepping down in 2019, when two grandchildren arrived on…
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Happy holidays from Ladywood Unite + 2025 next steps
Ladywood Unite – 2024 reflections and plans for 2025 Thank you A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported Ladywood Unite this year. We deeply appreciate every door you knocked on, email you sent, complaint you submitted, protest you joined, petition you signed, meeting you attended, blog you contributed, survey you took, press interview you…
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Developer agreement – contradictions
Recently it was announced that the developer agreement is close to sign-off. Ladywood Unite do not support signing of the developer agreement. It is not mainly the uncertainty of the regeneration that is a problem for us – it is the prospect of what will happen to us as it goes ahead. This regeneration is…
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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: 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:…
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Questions for the council: Sole bidding. Isn’t Ladywood entitled to best practices?
Sole bidding is not best practice The bidding process as it is described in the 2023 Cabinet Report largely reflects articles 40.1 and 40.2 of the 2015 Public Contracts Regulations. Article 40.1 enables contracting authorities to “conduct market consultations with a view to preparing the procurement and informing economic operators of their procurement plans and…
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Ladywood Unite & Birmingham City Council Meeting 7.3.24
These are the views of Ladywood Unite (LU) representatives who attended the meeting on 7 March 2024. We have been told we will receive BCC’s own minutes.
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Meeting minutes from November’s meeting with Councillors, council staff, developers
In November 2023, we were promised minutes from the meeting we had with Cllr Cotton, Cllr Francis, Paul Kitson, Greg Tillotson, Planning Director, St George and St Joseph, David Stevenson, Laura Kudrna, George Smith, Marcia Wynter. These were provided to us on 4 March 2024. We were also re-sent answers to questions that some of…
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A treasure of replies from the council – timelines, CPOs, etc.
The minutes from the council meeting on 9 January 2024 have now arrived online. Thank you to all of the Councillors asking questions on our behalf! We have had some answers on right to return, masterplan, consultation, community organisers, the residents charter, project resources, and the eight principles that have been missing. What do you…
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Happy new year
New year but no Ladywood solutions from Birmingham City Council and our local political representation. We have had little to no support from our own local Councillors Bore and Hartley. Instead, we have had support from other politicians. Following the meeting of Ladywood resident George Smith with Mayor Andy Street and Cllr Robert Alden mid…
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Slides and notes from meeting with Council and Councillors
Today George and Laura met with Councillor Francis, Councillor Cotton, Paul Kitson and his new colleague, and a Berkeley Group representative. More detailed notes/names are forthcoming, and we have asked for the minutes they took. George will also share his Powerpoint slides. The meeting lasted just over an hour and proceeded as follows. We all…
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