My Meeting with the Leader and the Chief Executive of BCC
This morning I had my first meeting with the new leader of Birmingham City Council John Cotton (a Royal Town resident) and Deborah Cadman, the chief executive.
While I have regular meetings with Birmingham City Council on behalf of the Royal Town, this was my first with new leader, elected 6 weeks ago.
While the meeting inevitably focussed on the current Birmingham City Council financial problems it was also an opportunity for me to support the Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council in seeking to run more of our local affairs.
It was also an opportunity to press the case for a different ownership structure for Sutton Park to ratchet in more investment and more local involvement.
I also raised the importance of dealing with the midland Lodge in the park, Benjamin Stones old home, which is falling down and needs action.
In general terms, I expressed my strong support both for more effective working between our two councils and the importance of insuring that the Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council is responsible for running more of our local affairs in the Town.
Progress on the Gracechurch
Leader of Town council Simon Ward, head of Solihull based developers, and me in the Gracechurch centre which has been sold to BPG & SAV Group as announced in my message last week.
The regeneration of our Town Centre is taking a very long time and is extremely frustrating for local residents as well as your Member of Parliament!
I spend a huge amount of time on this every week, as does the Town council and its leader Simon Ward, as well as Councillor Ewan Mackey, deputy leader of the Conservatives at Birmingham City Council, and the local Town and City councillor David Pears.
We believe the sale of the Gracechurch centre is a very significant moment in driving forward the Master Plan which will deliver the mixed economy of housing, retail (national and local) and community facilities, which is where the town centre’s future lies.
As I mentioned before, this is one of my 4 key objectives for the Royal Town in the run up to our 500th anniversary in 2028 (the other three are a complete regeneration of the role of our Cottage hospital, a new and exciting phase in the life of our great Town Hall, and the regeneration and reinvestment in our Sutton Park).
These are not my only objectives by a long haul, but these are the 4 pillars that our town needs to achieve in the run up to our 500th anniversary as a Royal Town (2028).
Of course the £25million which Andy street our brilliant regional mayor and I secured from the government and the taxpayer announced earlier this year is the bedrock of the plans for our town centre. But the purchase by this group has the potential to be a key way station in the journey to regenerate totally our town centre and to put rocket boosters under that process.
RSS Ltd
It was great to meet recent investors in Sutton Coldfield Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) today.
This is a Welsh company who specialise in making and supplying lifting equipment such as hoists, beams and hooks.
They opened their Midlands branch in Minworth in March because of their success in winning hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of work on HS2 and have capitalised on this by making inroads into other markets like Jaguar Land Rover. The Government's investment in HS2 won't just transform connectivity and travel, although we have that to look forward to in years to come.
HS2 is already generating business locally, with dozens of companies in my constituency joining the 2,500 nationally that are helping to build the railway right now. Thank you to Sean Maslen and Jake Folkes for telling me how they came to end up in Sutton Coldfield.
Craig Williamson, one of our very own, shining at the special Olympics
I was delighted to learn the success of one of our very own from Sutton Coldfield, Craig Williamson, at the special Olympics. Craig has just returned from playing for the British Hockey team in the Special Olympics, winning gold.
Craig was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Condition, Reactive Attachment Disorder and low muscle tone as a young child.
This has not stopped him from engaging in lots of different sports and activities, thanks to people who are prepared to work with Craig and give him opportunities to access activities in his own ways. He is now a Sports student at the Sutton Coldfield campus of Birmingham Metropolitan College.
Craig is a fine example of the talent which comes out of Royal Sutton Coldfield and what can come about from a supportive community.
His mum said that she was incredibly proud watching him come into the Olympic Stadium behind the Great Britain sign wearing his full kit. Craig had the privilege to play within a supportive, friendly and inspiring team, coached and cared for by superb coaches. They played matches over 7 days against countries including Pakistan, Paraguay, Egypt and Bulgaria - truly worldwide. Craig played in midfield and scored 10 goals during the competition. In the final, Great Britain played Bulgaria and won 4-2.
Community Games – Sunday only
Due to adverse weather conditions, Saturday’s Community Games are cancelled, including the much-anticipated tug of war.
Sunday’s events will process as planned.
Scroll down for more information on the games.
The Cinema
As I indicated last week in my ‘stop press’ note, the Empire cinemas, the owners of Royal Town’s cinema, have gone through and are now in the hands of the receivers.
Although this is unfortunate news, we need to do everything we can to turn it into an opportunity. This week I have been in touch with the administrators, BDO, to ensure that the interests of the Town are pursued. In particular, we will want to ensure that the £200,000 of planning gain from the sale of the car park is preserved for the benefit of the Town and the cinema.
I will be keeping close to the administrators and also welcome thoughts and ideas from my constituents, and in particular the very strong support group whose determination to see the return of our cinema in a stronger and better form I greatly welcome.
I have also been speaking to the Cinema Theatre Association, the national body for the study and protection of historical cinemas, this is their website: Cinema Theatre Association (cinema-theatre.org.uk).
I have also been in touch with Mark Way, the managing director of Odeon Cinema Group but their interest is unlikely given the lack of fit with their current portfolio. They are however watching the situation closely and will be in conversation with the administrators going forward.
Many of us feel the loss of the cinema which is a causality particularly of the covid pandemic.
I share the local determination that we do everything we can to secure a new era and a new phase for what is one of the first purpose-built Odeon in the mature house style anywhere in the UK, which led to a number of imitations. Our cinema is historically perhaps the most important single cinema in the development of the Odeon house style.
Town Centre pop-up cinema
Not at Wimbledon but in Sutton Coldfield’s town centre today when umbrellas were order of the day for the Town’s first free pop-up cinema, funded and organised by Visit Royal Sutton Coldfield BID. The BID represents 400 town centre businesses, and the event will run from 14th-16th July and showing films and the Wimbledon finals. The trial project will influence decisions on future activities adopted in the town centre.
Baptist Church
I am looking forward to giving my annual talk to the churches in the Royal Town tonight at 7:30pm at the Baptist Church. I will report back next week.
YogoJo visits parliament
On Tuesday, I took part in the meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Yoga in Society which was held in the Houses of Parliament. It was a very exceptional meeting mainly since we talked about the importance of injury prevention and reduction of risk of concussion amongst children and adolescents playing rugby.
The speakers during this meeting were young players from Sutton Coldfield Football Rugby Club who shared their exciting stories of practicing Pitch Ready, a yoga-based programme developed by Joanna Fletcher, CEO of the YogoJo Foundation, a yoga teacher and mum of 3 rugby players, Jacob (15), Alfie (13) and Freddie (10). They were her inspiration to keep kids and teens safe on the pitch and let them enjoy playing the game that they love.
Joanna explained that Pitch Ready includes physical movements promoted by the Rugby Football Union and it also brings elements of breathing techniques, mindfulness aspects, and relaxation-based practices. The young players shared how practicing Pitch Ready improved their post-match recovery, helped guard against injury and improved general flexibility.
Geoff Fletcher, Chairman of Sutton Coldfield and Ryan Stewart, Director of Rugby confirmed that they noticed how yoga-based practices indeed have already improved players performance and most importantly gave them every conceivable advantage to succeed free from injuries and with improved body stabilisation especially around shoulders and hips.
From the next season they are taking on a whole club approach and will incorporate yoga into players’ training. Matthew Weaver from Leicester Tigers Academy highlighted that the mental side of rugby is as important as the physical side. Rugby needs clarity of thought as it may be a stressful and anxiety driven sport. By embedding yoga into rugby, it helps young players deal with their emotions in a constructive way and have a positive experience of playing rugby.
I am very supportive of this initiative and going to help Joanna and Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club engage with Sports England and the government to bring resources needed to take the vision forward.
From left: Chris Bradley, Joanna Fletcher, Geoff Fletcher, Ben Caddick, Alfie Fletcher, Jack Harvey, Freddie Fletcher, Alfie Sweeney-Fitzgerald, Andrew Mitchell MP, Will Maynard, Pheobe Weaver, Jacob Fletcher, Jayden Bradley
Topical Questions
On Wednesday, I took questions from the House with my colleague Kemi Badenoch MP, Minister for Women and Equalities. I mentioned that
educating girls is one of the top priorities under the British Government’s international development strategy—indeed, it is the way to change the world. Over the last five years for which figures are available, the British taxpayer procured a decent education for more than 8 million children in the poor world.
You can watch the debate here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2626ecff-0b5a-450c-91c1-f26027bb2819?in=12:00:07
Westminster Hall debate on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Overseas Aid
On Wednesday I spoke in the Westminster Hall Debate held by Sarah Champion MP, on how aid can support sexual and reproductive health and rights overseas.
If you like, you can watch it here:
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/41575d8a-1026-4e5b-bc82-fc1968a97dc5?in=16:00:12
APPG for Extreme Poverty
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Extreme Poverty held a meeting in the House of Commons, in which they invited me to speak and answer questions. This was an example of the great benefits of the All-Party Group where different political parties have sane, constructive and worthwhile discussions about pursing a common ambition.
The Rwanda Plan and asylum seekers
This week parliament was dominated by the Bill, and there was a record 18 votes on the trot on Wednesday night.
I thought the defence of the government policy was extremely well put by Ken Clarke in the Telegraph, which you can read the full article here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/09/mps-must-give-the-rwanda-plan-a-chance/
In it he said:
‘I am a lawyer and have a huge respect for the law - abiding by the rule of law is one of the most important underlying principles of our constitution - but we cannot simply produce a lot of legalisms to shoot down the Rwanda scheme without making any suggestion whatever of a practical kind that is likely to have an impact on a great national problem, which we share as part of a global issue.
We do need a solution to this problem and the only one on offer is the extraordinary one put forward by the Government - that we simply cease to entertain illegal immigration and instead deport to safe places.
Importantly, in all the debate about the Government's Illegal Migration Bill, no one has advanced an alternative.
I have listened keenly for an idea of how else we might deal with the mounting issue of irregular migration, but answer has come there none.’
Sutton Coldfield Fire Station Open Day
Sutton Coldfield’s Fire Station's open day is on the 22nd July 10am - 4pm.
The open day will give the community the opportunity to meet their local firefighters, see demonstrations, receive safety information, there will be face painting, funfair rides, food and more.
This year also sees WMFS consulting on their three yearly Community Risk Management Programme (CRMP). Visitors on the day will be able to be part of this consultation which enables WMFS to set their priorities and come up with a plan to make our communities safer, stronger and healthier.
MHRC Locations
Please see below the visits scheduled for the week commencing 17th July 2023 of the BCC Mobile Household Recycling Centre.
· Mon 17/07/2023 Bodington Road B75 7ES 07:00 12:30 Sutton Mere Green
· Tue 18/07/2023 Walsh Drive B76 2NS 07:00 12:30 Sutton Reddicap
· Wed 19/07/2023 Slade Road B75 5PG 07:00 12:30 Sutton Roughley
· Thu 20/07/2023 St. Andrews Road B75 6UG 07:00 12:30 Sutton Trinity
UK Parliament Week
This year UK Parliament Week (UKPW) is taking place from 6-12 November.
Sign up for your free kit and explore @UKParliament and how to get involved on the issues that matter to you.
UKPW is a great way to find out about UK Parliament and get a better understanding of the crucial work Parliament does.
#UKPW ukparliamentweek.org
Summer Concert at St Columba’s
Birmingham Male Vice Choir are performing some wonderful music next Saturday at St Columba’s Church.
Please see below for details.
Walk for Parkinson’s
Trent Valley Line Summer Upgrade
From Saturday 15 July to Sunday 23 July, along with Sunday 9 and 30 July, Avanti West Coast will be running a reduced service on the West Coast Main Line as Network Rail carry out major upgrade work to the Trent Valley line. Customers making journeys in this period are strongly advised to plan ahead and check the Avanti West Coast website before travelling.
Royal Sutton Coldfield Community Games 2023
Outdoor Cinema in the Parade
A cinema will be opening in Sutton Coldfield this summer - a pop-up version in the Parade showing films and sporting events from Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 16 with the films to be shown set to be announced nearer the time.
The pop-up venue will feature a large cinema screen, deckchairs to sit back in, a grass floor and white picket fence. And it will show a ‘selection of films and this year’s men’s and women’s Wimbledon tennis finals’, with those days featuring morning movies.
