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Birchfield Road Perry Barr

Astoness said:
just read this..

Big story: £320m bill for taxpayers — a Commonwealth Games legacy
Top line: As the Olympic Games wraps up in Paris, the true cost of Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games is only just becoming known. The city council has agreed to sell most of Perry Barr Athletes Village to a private investor — for less money than the authority has spent on the project. As a result, the sale will cost the taxpayer at least £320m.

Context: Perry Barr Athletes Village was meant to accommodate competitors during the Commonwealth Games. Unfortunately, construction was delayed due to the pandemic and the athletes were put up in student digs instead. Since building works completed in April 2023, almost a year after the games, the homes have sat empty.

The big plan: The development was supposed to be a positive legacy of the games and a hallmark project in the great Perry Barr regeneration, alongside the creation of Alexander Stadium and £30.9m of transport improvements. The idea was to provide lots of new homes for local people.

Of the 968 properties, 312 were set to be available at affordable prices, with an additional 99 available at a government-funded 30% discount for first-time buyers.

A nasty surprise: The project faced a blow last year when it emerged that surveyors were valuing the flats at 30% less than the council, throwing those with mortgage agreements into jeopardy. Then, earlier this year, it was revealed that the council was instead negotiating with private investors looking to bulk-buy the homes. Last Thursday, the council agreed to sell 755 of the properties to a private bidder. The remaining 213 will be kept as council homes.
.

How much exactly? The same report, to the council’s property committee, estimates that the money made from the sale won’t be enough to pay back borrowing of £142-152m. The cost of repaying this debt over a 40-year period is expected to be £8-9m per year, including interest. That’s a cost of at least £320m to the taxpayer with cuts made elsewhere to compensate — not quite the glorious Commonwealth legacy the council intended. Speaking to the BBC, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Meirion Jenkins wasn’t mincing words:

“It’s certainly a legacy. It’s a disastrous financial legacy. All we have now is a disastrous state-sponsored construction project that is going to cost the population of Birmingham very dearly, bearing in mind we’re talking about £2,000 per household in Birmingham as being the cost of this construction.”

However, Labour Councillor Sharon Thompson, deputy leader for the council and cabinet member for Economy and Skills has continued to defend the project. In a statement on the council’s website, she said:

“As someone who visits Perry Barr regularly, I know the area has been transformed in recent years and is now a destination of choice for visitors or for those wishing to relocate.

“The investment in Perry Barr has brought massive benefits locally with upgraded public transport links, the stunning redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium and this deal will now deliver better housing choices for local people."

Is the project an important jigsaw piece in the redevelopment of Perry Barr? Or is it just the latest in a long line of financial howlers for the council?
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It seems like we are reading about things like this over and over! The people doing this should be taken out of those positions because of totally lacking ability/knowledge In Brum particular you have “the fox watching the chicken coupe or maybe the inmates running the asylum”.
 
Councillor Sharon Thompson has said, “As someone who visits Perry Barr regularly, I know the area has been transformed in recent years and is now a destination of choice for visitors or for those wishing to relocate."

If that is the case Sharon, then why not sell those flats to those people that you mention are "wishing to relocate" at full market price or at "affordable prices" or 99 of them to first time buyers (with a 30% discount), rather than sell 755 of them to a private bidder?
 
“Sharon Thompson is a Birmingham City Councilor and Deputy Leader, a housing advocate, and a certified executive coach and trainer. She shares her inspiring journey from homelessness to social change and leadership…”

Sharon Thompson, JP FIoL

Sharon Thompson
sharonthompson.co.uk
 
I think it means Business Improvement District, and this could refer to Perry Barr. It looks like she is bigging up anything that could cover up the waste of tax payers money ?
 
Pedrocut said:
“Sharon Thompson is a Birmingham City Councilor and Deputy Leader, a housing advocate, and a certified executive coach and trainer. She shares her inspiring journey from homelessness to social change and leadership…”

Sharon Thompson, JP FIoL

Sharon Thompson
sharonthompson.co.uk
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Interesting, but has no training or skill sets in construction management or financial planning and real estate investment management. Looking at bids just does not get it done. As we have all watched and seen over and over. As I believe Einstein once said: “ the first signs of madness are doing the same things over and over and expecting the results to change”
 
3 Aug 2024 in the Dispatch…Dreamland.

“In the wake of the Commonwealth Games, the regional marketing agency West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) has been seeking to build a pipeline of major sporting events to Birmingham and the region. Successes so far include the European Athletics Championships in 2026, the Invictus Games the following year, plus the Kabbadi World Cup, e-sports at the NEC and urban sports championships in Wolverhampton.”
 
Pedrocut said:
3 Aug 2024 in the Dispatch…Dreamland.

“In the wake of the Commonwealth Games, the regional marketing agency West Midlands Growth Company (WMGC) has been seeking to build a pipeline of major sporting events to Birmingham and the region. Successes so far include the European Athletics Championships in 2026, the Invictus Games the following year, plus the Kabbadi World Cup, e-sports at the NEC and urban sports championships in Wolverhampton.”
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Wonderful, but at what cost to the populace? Sounds like more taxes are on the horizon! I’m sorry but based on the recent Commonwealth Games, the council is not very good at this…
 
Graham Punk said:
Does anyone remember the name of the bike shop that used to be on Birchfield Rd in the seventies ?
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have a look at this post on the below thread..it could be the one

silhouette53

Thread 'H V Powell'

Lots of people will remember the cycle dealer H V Powell.  His shop was on Birchfield Road, just past Six Ways on the out of city side.  He had a plywood cut-out of a man Iin the window pedalling a bike with a sign saying ( if my memory serves me well ) "HEART DISEASE KILLS _ PEDAL FOR YOUR LIFE !"

I drove my dad silly asking for my first proper bike which I had for Xmas 1964.   It was a Triumph 'Rodeo' and cost £20 9s 6d  ( on the never never of course !! ) financed through Raleigh Industries Gradual Payment Scheme.  Of course all the kids up our yard were begging "...
  • Appreciate
 
Astoness said:
have a look at this post on the below thread..it could be the one

silhouette53

Thread 'H V Powell'

Lots of people will remember the cycle dealer H V Powell.  His shop was on Birchfield Road, just past Six Ways on the out of city side.  He had a plywood cut-out of a man Iin the window pedalling a bike with a sign saying ( if my memory serves me well ) "HEART DISEASE KILLS _ PEDAL FOR YOUR LIFE !"

I drove my dad silly asking for my first proper bike which I had for Xmas 1964.   It was a Triumph 'Rodeo' and cost £20 9s 6d  ( on the never never of course !! ) financed through Raleigh Industries Gradual Payment Scheme.  Of course all the kids up our yard were begging "...
  • Appreciate
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Bought my Viking Severn Valley there. Mr Powell was always wonderful. He lived on West Drive which was at the end of Radnor Rd where I lived,
 
Astoness said:
have a look at this post on the below thread..it could be the one

silhouette53

Thread 'H V Powell'

Lots of people will remember the cycle dealer H V Powell.  His shop was on Birchfield Road, just past Six Ways on the out of city side.  He had a plywood cut-out of a man Iin the window pedalling a bike with a sign saying ( if my memory serves me well ) "HEART DISEASE KILLS _ PEDAL FOR YOUR LIFE !"

I drove my dad silly asking for my first proper bike which I had for Xmas 1964.   It was a Triumph 'Rodeo' and cost £20 9s 6d  ( on the never never of course !! ) financed through Raleigh Industries Gradual Payment Scheme.  Of course all the kids up our yard were begging "...
  • Appreciate
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Thank you
 
Richard Dye said:
Wonderful, but at what cost to the populace? Sounds like more taxes are on the horizon! I’m sorry but based on the recent Commonwealth Games, the council is not very good at this…
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The athlete's village at Perry Barr was the main topic on BBC Midlands News last night (see link below). A report is to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 21/1. Debts of between £142m and £152m were expected to remain unpaid. The report added: "The cost of repaying and servicing this debt over a 40-year period is expected to be £8m to £9m per annum (interest and repayment)".

www.bbc.co.uk

Birmingham City Council criticised over Commonwealth Games athletes' village legacy

Hundred of homes remain empty in Perry Barr, despite being completed in 2023.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Barbara Tarbuck said:
I remember Birchfield Rd in the 60's. I used to work at Maison Celeste. A hairdressing salon. We used to play jokes on the new apprentices, sending them next door (a hardware shop, for a glass hammer or ' along weight' (wait!)) Further to the left was a cafe where we used to go for a lunch or mince pie (Byrons, I think it was called) To the right of the hairdressers was the cinema. One day I met a blind date there. I came across him on Radio Caroline. He was training to be a Doctor. John Cunningham....wonder if he ever made it! He took me to the YMCA and afterwards for a coffee.
On the opposite side of the road there was a butchers, a handbag shop ++ you had to use the underpass to get there.
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Barbara do you remember a jewellers in the shopping precinct in the 1960s?
 
i could be wrong but i dont think i have seen this one before...i think it could be rare as it shows a photo of the properties on the side of birchfield road that are few and far between..also a map to go with it showing no 224 which was simpson and son fruiterers corner of heathfield road and birchfield road...caption says queueing up for potatoes...think they were scarce during ww1map 224 heathfield road pot shop.jpg

lyn

thumbnail - 2025-09-17T235601.061.jpg
 
Astoness said:
i could be wrong but i dont think i have seen this one before...i think it could be rare as it shows a photo of the properties on the side of birchfield road that are few and far between..also a map to go with it showing no 224 which was simpson and son fruiterers corner of heathfield road and birchfield road...caption says queueing up for potatoes...think they were scarce during ww1View attachment 209445

lyn

View attachment 209447
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Lynn are you on my FB History Group?
 
carolina said:
Thanks Lyn its just a few photos I have put recently on my group have appeared on here with the same info I put on mine.
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think photos get passed around carolina...i know that hundreds i have posted on the forum(many of which i own the copyright to) have been posted on facebook but i dont mind if it gives people pleasure i am happy to share and we never know what may turn up :) i am always on the lookout for anymore photos of your ford st...

lyn
 
Astoness said:
think photos get passed around carolina...i know that hundreds i have posted on the forum(many of which i own the copyright to) have been posted on facebook but i dont mind if it gives people pleasure i am happy to share and we never know what may turn up :) i am always on the lookout for anymore photos of your ford st...

lyn
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Thats fine Lyn I thought it was unusual as I remember you saying you werent on facebook, I think You probably have got all I had for Ford Street. I have this one which someone sent me which was our backyard at No 4 this was the lady who had it before us Mrs. Holder. 1758293184225.png
 
thanks for the photo carolina...if ok will post it on the ford st thread unless we have it...pretty sure ive got all the photos of ford st that you have but like i said im always on the lookout for any that you may not have...they are out there somewhere :)

lyn
 
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