Birmingham Friends of the Earth, Autumn 2018 Newsletter

Birmingham

friends of the earth Newsletter, Autumn 2018

Creating Hedgehog Habitat in your own back garden

Also Inside

10 Ethical Food Shopping

14 The Environment in the Classroom

24 A Clean Air Zone for Birmingham

Contents

Campaigns Digest

Campaigns Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Margins to Mainstream? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ‘Don’t Lose Your Bottle’ Campaign Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Ethical Food Shopping in Acocks Green. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Bringing the Environment into the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Become an Environmental Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Digbeth Community Garden Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Hedgehogs and Population Decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Volunteer in the Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Musings About Cycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lunar Festival. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 A Clear Air Zone for Birmingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Kings Heath Station to Reopen in 2021? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Diary Dates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Contact Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

By Libby Harris

Cover photo by StockSnap / Pixabay

We have had a busy Summer campaigning on air pollution and developing the next stage of our plastics campaign, along with hosting a couple of events (which I’m pleased to say were a huge success!). Campaigners have also been hard at work decorating the last few rooms at the Warehouse and after a vote we have now named our three meeting rooms!

The winning names are The Cole Room, The Rea Room and The Tame Room.

In this issue, we will take a look at the work we have been doing on air pollution and waste. There is also an update from our heritage project team who have brought our history to life this year by delving into the archives at Birmingham Central Library, conducting oral history interviews and putting together a booklet. Take a look at Bernard’s article to find out more.

Air Pollution The long awaited consultation on Birmingham City Councils proposed

2

Photo by BFOE

Clean Air Zone kept us busy over the summer. The consultation ran for 6 weeks from 4 July until 17 August. The air pollution team sprang into action to put together our response. We also attended a stakeholder meeting, council run drop in sessions and hosted two campaigns meetings. Alongside this we ran a petition calling on Birmingham City Council to support our call to improve public transport, cycling and walking which will be essential in reducing congestion and improving our air quality and 3

health. Read all about our response and petition in Martin’s article.

Energy and Climate Change The Climate Refugee campaign has been a little quiet lately whilst we plan the next phase our climate change campaign. Keep an eye out for an update over the next couple of months.

Nature Our nature campaigning has been quieter this year compared to the last few years. We have continued to campaign for a ban on pollinator harming pesticides and continued to care for our beehive in Digbeth Community Garden. In this issue Jake looks at what we can do to help hedgehogs this autumn.

Transport Our campaigning on air pollution has been heavily linked to transport and the future of our campaign will have a focus on pollution caused by road traffic. In this issue Martin, takes a look at how the campaign to reopen Kings Heath Station is progressing and how important it is to keep the pressure on.

Waste Our plastic campaign is currently evolving and we have some exciting 4

plans coming up. At the time of writing we are planning to hand in our Don’t Lose Your Bottle! petition and have teamed up with the Birmingham Film Coop to host a film Screening of A Plastic Ocean.

Check out Jodie’s article to find out about how we are expanding the campaign.

How you can get involved We always welcome new people and there are many different ways you can get involved with our campaigns. Whether you have an hour or two to spare or a whole day, please get in touch or come along to any of our weekly Monday meetings (contact and meeting details on the diary page).

Follow us on Twitter (@Bham_FOE) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/ birminghamfoe) to keep up to date with our latest campaigns news. For more in-depth information on our campaigns take a look at our website (www.birminghamfoe.org.uk)

S U P P O R T We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Air Quality, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Energy, Transport, Planning, Waste and Recycling.

You can help us to do this in a number of ways: Take part in our campaigns.

Join us as a supporter.

Make a donation.

Or you could receive our email updates and decide what you want to do when you know us a bit better.

Whichever way you get involved, you are helping to make Birmingham green and sustainable!

For donations go to http://localgiving.com/birminghamfoe

5

Margins to Mainstream?

The Story of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

By Bernard Parry

At the time of going to press, we were all eagerly anticipating the finale of the BFoE Heritage Lottery Funded Project—the presentation of which is to coincide with Heritage Open Days 2018 and Birmingham Open Weekend on the 15th and 16th of September. As well as the Heritage presentation it is being arranged that members of the public be given tours of the newly redeveloped Warehouse.

Since the 40th anniversary celebrations in 2017, volunteer researchers have worked steadily on the allocated topics of Projects, Campaigns, Education, Publications and the Warehouse itself. Diligently reading through newsletters deposited in the archive of the Library of Birmingham, writing up their discoveries and preparing material for the display.

paper recycling and the installation of loft insulation could set an example of a greener way forward for others to follow.

From the film we also discover details of some fascinating campaigns—taking a giant inflatable whale by train to London for a demonstration against whaling for example! Commercial whaling was abolished but campaigns of those years to reduce air pollution from cars and promote cycle ways remain work in progress today.

Then, BFoE raised concerns about dangers to health from lead in petrol. Now we raise awareness of the danger from diesel particulates.

As well as the film we have planned discussions, the display of archive material, the results of archive research and much more, not to mention a great souvenir Booklet to commemorate 40 Years of BFoE at the Warehouse. The Booklet shows that in so many ways the volunteers at the Warehouse in earlier years were ahead of their time and achieved a great deal for the environment locally and nationally. We will need all of that quality and enthusiasm to face today’s challenges from greater environmental degradation to climate change.

Photos by BFOE

The planned centrepiece is the first opportunity to see a film of interviews with previous volunteers discussing the activities of BFoE in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Viewers of the film will learn fascinating details about how BFoE came to be at the Ware-house and the work involved in making a semi derelict building usable. They will discover how BFoE pioneers cooperated to produce a unique working environment. How they demonstrated that working to together on practical projects like

6

7

Don’t Lose Your Bottle Campaign Update

By Jodie Etheridge

I’m Jodie, one of the leaders on our campaign for a national ‘Deposit Return Scheme’ on plastic bottles.

This campaign has been running since January.

It’s been an exciting and busy time over the past few months and there’s lots more excitement ahead! We have been building up support for the campaign from Councillors and MP’s and we have had some successful meetings with Councillors including John Cotton and Liz Clements as well as Andrew Mitchell MP. They were supportive of us and have been able to put us in touch with some useful contacts in the Council. We really appreciate them taking the time to communicate and meet with us.

At the time of writing, we are planning the hand in of our petition to Michael Gove to ask for a national Deposit Return Scheme.

We will be going to a local post box for a photo stunt to mark this

8

important occasion! We will also be hosting the Birmingham Cooperative Film Society’s showing of the film ‘A Plastic Ocean’; an adventure documentary about plastic pollution. We are planning to hold a plastic free bring and share buffet before the film starts and there will be a couple of speakers after the film including ‘Plastic Free Moseley’.

The campaign will then be moving forward to the next stage. We are going to keep a focus on plastic bottles but widen the campaign to include other types of plastic waste. We have been looking into campaigning for a plastic-free Commonwealth Games and we have also discussed the idea of campaigning for the small plastic bags given in supermarkets for fruit and vegetables to be replaced with recycled paper bags.

Look out for an update on the petition hand in and the film showing in the next newsletter and

also for news of the next stage of the campaign. As always, a massive thank you to everyone who has been working hard on this campaign. Onwards and upwards!

If you would like to get involved please email jodie@birminghamfoe.org.uk.

Photo by BFOE

9

Ethical Food Shopping in Acocks Green Stuart Minal

Having lived in Acocks Green for many years I’ve managed (at least in my own mind!) to purchase food with a fairly ethical slant.

Of course this means visiting a variety of shops to achieve this, not just the supermarket (the existence of which, of course, being the main reason for smaller, ‘specialist’ shops closing down over the years).

One unexpected benefit of this is the rapport you build up with shop keepers and assistants. Something that just couldn’t happen in a long queue at the till of a supermarket.

Acocks Green doesn’t enjoy what you might call a fully ethical shop like Indigo Wholefoods in Moseley or Revital in Solihull, and I do

sometimes use these two places if I’m in the vicinity of either of them.

However, I’d rather not make special journeys to these places, racking up travel costs and contributing to polluting the air. ‘Shop Local’ is the watchword, (or words!) for me, and walkable from home. The only supermarket in Acocks Green centre at the moment is Aldi, as the Sainsbury site is currently being turned into a Morrisons (long story, and it’s taking ages to complete).

Anyway, as I say, Sainsburys is closed so I’m now getting my MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) fish from Aldi and beans and tomatoes from the newsagent or The Spa by me. Not organic unfortunately, but supporting local business which keeps money in the area.

Other places I use are as follows: Hughes Green Grocers Owned and run by a lovely guy, most things are sold loose and you fill up the brown paper bags yourself. This is my favourite place to food shop. Way more choice, particularly fruit wise, than your average supermarket. Of course some things come in a plastic punnet but most is loose. So you are supporting the local shop and pretty much avoiding single use plastic. I grow my own veg so half the year I’m pretty much just buying fruit here.

Holland and Barratt Only been in Acocks Green for 2 years, but have quite a nice fridge and freezer selection of veggie and vegan food (‘beef’ and ‘chicken’ alternatives, falafels, pies, milk alternatives and organic porridge and muesli). They are keen to give you things for free that are near the sell by date too, rather than throwing them out, thus reducing unnecessary waste.

Greggs Not what springs to mind perhaps for an ethical shop, but they have an unprecedented set of workers benefits and profit sharing for a

10

large UK wide company, and do sell lovely veggie three cheese pizzas and vegetable pastry slices. Not to mention fresh wholemeal bread.

These shops pretty much cover my needs, and as mentioned above, if I need a few tins or a loaf of bread, I’ll support my local newsagent.

MSC fish from Aldi (unfortunately).

There is a lot of debate about the true environmental worth of MSC fish, but it’s certainly the best option out of the ethical fish labelling options (‘Freedom Food’ and ‘Dolphin Friendly’ are very vague and have weaker rules).

Slightly off the subject, it’s also worth mentioning the fantastic clothing repair shop, June’s Alterations, who even make cuddly toys and Jeffries hardware shop, who always support all the local initiatives of the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum like the Village In Bloom award and Christmas Lights fund and also sell things loose like brackets, nails, screws and so on.

To sum up, wherever you live, try and support your local small shops, avoid plastic wrapping and look for the words organic and Fair Trade.

Photo by paulbr75 / Pixabay

11

Bringing the environment into the classroom Fay Holland

On 25th July, the Climate Action Network West Midlands (CANWM) held the last in their ‘Further, Faster, Together’ workshops, exploring the topic of low carbon education.

Photo from PxHere

Speakers shared their experiences of four different climate education projects. Henry Greenwood from the ‘Green Schools Project’, recounted his journey from classroom teacher to supporting pupil led environmental projects in schools. Ash Sharma from SKIPs told attendees how he had come to develop a range of books to help pupils and their families learn about environmental issues. ‘Uprising’s’ Mikayla Jones talked about the Environmental Leadership Programme which connects young people aged 19-25 with sustainability leaders and supports them to create their own social action campaign based around the green issue of their choice. Finally, Ruth Tetlow and Fiona Morgan introduced ‘Small Footsteps’, a project bringing together children from different faiths to learn about the importance of protecting the natural world.

Discussion moved on to CANWM’s climate charter which calls

12

for environmental issues to be embedded throughout the education curriculum. It was agreed that promoting awareness of environmental issues among young people while they’re still at school was vital as they are more likely to take those habits and attitudes into later life. Many people were understandably concerned about protecting the status of climate change in the curriculum, with one person suggesting that legislation would be the only way to ensure all pupils receive teaching on the subject.

The Green Schools Project had found that it can be hard to compete with all the other demands on school leaders’ time and attention. Making environmental initiatives part of

school performance measures was suggested as a way of combating this, though that may not be popular in a sector already grappling with workload issues and a complex system of oversight.

More informal ways of influencing what goes on in schools were explored, such as engaging with governing boards, providing resources and training to teachers and highlighting the potential savings of better energy efficiency.

Building links between schools and community groups with green skills to share has exciting possibilities for transforming the place of environmental issues in Birmingham’s schools and making them part of the day to day life of the city’s children.

Photo by mcconnmama / Pixabay

13

Become an Environmental Leader Stephanie Green, UpRising Birmingham

19–25?

Apply for the Environmental Leadership Programme at www.uprising.org.uk/apply

The free UpRising Environmental Leadership Programme (ELP) will give you the knowledge, skills, networks and confidence to reach your leadership potential by planning and delivering an environmental campaign of your choice!

Campaigns Last year, 40 environmental campaigners set out to make Brum a better place! FoE volunteer, Alice Grennan was part of the Bloomin’ Brum campaign, which received funding from Birmingham Civic Society to create a sustainable 14

so proud given the challenges I had overcome. UpRising has taught me that if an idea is well planned and a group is committed to delivering on their goals, much can be achieved. I used to struggle to complete tasks because I couldn’t visualise the end or how to get there, but now I have learnt ways to stay focussed and motivated to achieve results. As well, I believe learning networking etiquette is vitally important for the professional landscape where networking can be a gateway to new opportunities.”

green space for a youth centre in Erdington. Follow them on Instagram @bloominbrum.

FemEco partnered with FoE to provide DIY cosmetic workshops to empower consumers to make informed choices and protect the environment at the same time! Read more on their blog: femecobrum.wordpress.com.

Benefits Maryam, a member of FemEco, had this to say about the programme: “Having suffered from depression for multiple years, I was overly negative about my abilities and my capacity to influence change.

I wanted to be shown that my view was pessimistic rather than realistic. Since I had so little belief in myself, sharing my opinion was daunting; however, [the accepting atmosphere of UpRising] encouraged me to challenge myself and face my fears. I was dreading the Dragons’ Den pitch because I didn’t feel that I could

Photo by Bloomin Brum

keep my nerves under control [long] enough to be able to deliver a speech. I feared that I would embarrass myself by trying, so I wanted to tap out! I spoke to my coach who provided me with some breathing techniques that I could use to regain control of my nerves.

When it was my turn to give our speech, I felt much calmer than I had ever felt while presenting and was able to speak clearly and confidently. I would never have thought that something so simple could make such a difference! In the end, my group won the best presentation award, which made me

Would you recommend UpRising?

“Definitely yes! Not only will young people make valuable connections and learn about employment opportunities, they will also develop their confidence which will enhance their abilities to network and speak in public. This programme has taught me that my voice is relevant, and I can make it heard and affect change in my community.”

Apply today!

ELP runs fortnightly from October to July and offers free coaching & mentoring. All you need is a passion for the environment and a willingness to learn. There are 35 places. Apply by October 2 to claim your spot!

15

Digbeth Community Garden Update Adam McCuskar

We have had a busy time during the summer. As well as our routine monthly workdays, we held Digbeth First Friday parties each month (which we will be held until the clocks go back) and we have hosted another two groups of NCS (National Citizen Service) volunteers. We are pleased with our new outdoor kitchen area and have expanded the stage and seating area too.

This year has seen us get involved in a bit of outreach at the Meena refugee centre in Hockley, and with the Northfield Art Forum Garden.

On 2nd June we hosted a Guerrilla Gardening Talk & Walk, which I’m pleased to say was a success.

Unfortunately, over Winter/Spring, one of the garden’s bee colonies died off due to the extremely cold temperatures we saw this year. However, the other colony is thriving, feeding on first the sallow pollen, then birch and all the flowers

16

popping up, including flowering turnips, borage bluebells and daffodils.

We are growing a lot more annual veg and salad this year so come along to volunteer days to take away a share of the produce. First Fridays have had a live drawing element so far this year, and the walls are slowly becoming colonised with both artwork and grape vines.

Our First Friday parties will be coming to an end for this year at the end of October. However we will continue to hold our monthly workdays (3rd Saturday of the month) so please come along and get involved.

Illustrations designed by Freepik. Photo by BFOE

Keep up to date with the latest developments:

Twitter @DigbethGarden

Facebook www.facebook.com/ digbethcommunitygarden

Website https://digbethcommunity garden.wordpress.com

17

Hedgehogs and population decline Jake Yeates

Hedgehog populations in Britain have declined by 50% since the year 2000. As you can naturally deduce, this is the equivalent of the UK’s human population reducing from 60 million to 30 million in just 18 years.

The causes of hedgehog decline are many, all of which are attributable to the evil monstrosity of humanity.

Of course, the increase is the size of fields reduces the number of hedges (their natural habitat).

This dates back to the Enclosure Act of 1801, but in recent years small farms (and, thus, hedges) have disappeared on a huge scale. Hedgehogs cannot move around such large fields, so cannot survive there.

The use of herbicides and pesticides on pastures reduces the number of invertebrates (hedgehogs’ natural diet).

Pesticides in any invertebrates may also poison the hedgehogs.

You may remember the campaign against the badger cull of a few years ago. Sadly for hedgehogs, this was effective. Badgers’ numbers have risen significantly.

Badgers are hedgehogs’ main natural predator, so many more hedgehogs have been killed for food. Of course, hedgehogs need to move around to find food. If a busy road disrupts their route, then they either cannot move or may be killed in crossing.

These new urban developments (esp. housing), which pop up everywhere, have fences instead of hedges between the houses and gardens, so hedgehogs cannot move between gardens to forage for food.

Finally, the seemingly unstoppable trend for people to pave over their front gardens (to park their monstrous cars), and to put decking in their rear gardens significantly reduces hedgehogs’ natural foraging areas.

What we can do to help Most importantly, ensure that hedgehogs can pass through from your garden to the next door garden (and/or behind your house); Feed them: hedgehogs benefit greatly from a shallow dish of water and some wet dog or cat food.

DO NOT give hedgehogs milk. They are lactose intolerant.

To prevent other animals from stealing the food and drink, place food and drink in a large (plastic or wooden) box with a hedgehog-sized door cut into it. This will prevent foxes and cats from stealing the food.

You could make a hedgehog shelter out of bricks and paving stones.

Long live the hedgehog!

Photo by Hrald

18

19

Volunteer in spotlight Sanjive Mahandru How long have you been volunteering?

More than 2 years. I was introduced to FOE by Eileen (a friend), who made an impact on my life and the actions I take. She was white, middle class, and ahead of her time. The opposite of me.

What do you do at BFOE? Nothing important or useful! I go to the meetings, heckle, make their life difficult, and then go home.

What do you think is the most important environmental issue?

Slowly but surely my health is being affected by the air I breathe in Birmingham. My brain feels the air quality and I taste the metals in the air. I worry for our children and their future health.

Best green tip/advice: Meditation, yoga and vegetarian diet. Love, love and more love.

Forgetting yourself and your physical body, smiling more and not sitting on the fence.

20

And a good tip for natural face care?

White part of banana peel- good face moisture—the white inside peel part of the banana, moisture the face—leave for 10 minutes then wash off with cold water. Good for sun protection—the natural way— full of vitamins and minerals.

Photo from Sanjive Mahandru

Musings about cycling A poem by Sanjive Mahandru

Our addiction to cars. Do buses smell? Do we feel safe or is it may be below our status to travel on buses or public transport generally?

More roads we build, the more we use them the more congested they become the more pollution we breath in, more people die.

40,000 plus breathing humans die every year in UK from pollution- officially, but it could be a lot more. Lack of foresight and maybe common sense in how we plan our transport system. Are we lazy or just uninterested in how we commute from a to b? Are you leaving it to other people or government to make the changes, albeit late, and a bit forced when we are planning our journey to work to see friends or family?

Are we travelling for the sake of travelling? Maybe New York or Paris for the weekend by plane—just for the weekend because we have the time and the money.

Every minute of the day some child in the world is dying because of lack of food. Maybe if we have time to think we should cycle, walk more. Or maybe sit still and do nothing. Do we really need to travel as much?

Cycling is fun and a spiritual exercise for me, I like to feel the wind, rain, and the sun on my face. I feel a bit free.

Public transport, cycling starts with you. Maybe we need to think about it a bit more, in what we do!

Everything else is just a illusion, including you!

Illustration designed by Freepik.

21

Lunar Festival Molly Luke

Every summer a dedicated team of BFoE festival volunteers take a phone charging and lock-up service to a number of music festivals across the country to raise vital funds for our campaigns work. This year, and for the first time, we were invited to Lunar festival in Tanworth in Arden, to run a campaigns table alongside a phone charging station in return for providing some campsite stewarding across the site. We don’t usually campaign at festivals so this was a totally new arrangement for us, but we thought it would a great opportunity to see how our campaigns stall would go down at a larger festival.

On Friday we set up our campaigns table under glorious blue skies and on Saturday came a torrential downpour that did not stop for the remainder of the festival. I was joined by nine fantastic campaigns volunteers who all worked incredibly hard to run our campaigns table and stewarding posts with a smile despite the relentless rain. The BFoE phone charging team also did a brilliant job 22

and were a great source of support for us, making tea when needed most and putting up a new gazebo in record time when our sun shelter could no longer take the weather.

We were a bit disappointed by the lack of interest in our campaigns table, though we did manage to gather a fairly good number of petition signatures over the course of the weekend. If we do it again next year there is a lot to consider in terms of what style of campaigning works in that kind of environment. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone and it was a great opportunity for our campaigners to get to know our festival volunteers. A huge thank you to everyone that helped both at the festival and in the run up to it, we did a fantastic job!

Illustration designed by Macrovector/Freepik. Photos by Libby Harris.

23

A Clean Air Zone for Birmingham Too little too late?

Martin Stride

Birmingham City Council has recently asked everyone for their views on a proposed Clean Air Zone (CAZ) to tackle harmful levels of air pollution. It will have already chewed over everyone’s comments and submitted its proposals to government by the 15th September deadline. But will its proposals do the job?

What’s the problem?

Road traffic is responsible for a range of pollutants the most significant being nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). Every year in Birmingham, the EU legal limit for the annual average level of nitrogen dioxide of 40 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) is breached at a number of locations, both in the city centre and in the suburbs. Although the levels of PM 2.5 do not exceed the EU legal limit, they do exceed the more stringent World Health 24

Organisation (WHO) limit. The WHO has identified that both PM2.5 and NO2 are harmful to health even at very low levels. These pollutants can trigger strokes and heart attacks, worsen heart and respiratory diseases and can cause lung cancer.

Why now?

Client Earth, a non-profit environmental law organisation, has taken the UK government to court over its failure to comply with the EU legal limits for NO2.

The government lost on appeal and must now take positive action to tackle illegal levels of air pollution.

The court ruling requires average annual NO2 levels to be reduced to below the legal limit in the shortest time possible. The government has delegated responsibility to local authorities and has identified five cities which must introduce a Clean Air Zone by 2020. Birmingham is one of these cities.

Photo by BFOE

To reduce the NO2 levels by enough, Birmingham City Council must implement a package of measures, the most controversial of which is a Clean Air Zone where the most polluting vehicles, including cars, will be charged to enter. The boundary of the charging zone is defined by the Middleway (A4540).

We strongly support the charging zone and the proposals to include cars since they account for more than 80% of total road traffic and are responsible for more than half of the air pollution produced by road vehicles.

However the charging zone alone will not be enough and additional measures such as bus priority

corridors will be necessary. Even then, the air quality modelling predicts that compliance will not be achieved until 2021. We feel that this is totally unacceptable and is not soon enough; people will be exposed to illegal levels of air pollution for much longer than necessary.

We believe that the CAZ is just a starting point. It should be part of an ongoing process to continually drive down air pollution to levels substantially below the legal limits and should not be just a ‘tick-box’ exercise to achieve compliance.

The city council should urgently investigate various other options so

25

that all areas of the city meet this legal requirement by 2020. These should comprise bolder measures including whether further areas of the city should be covered by the CAZ charging zone. This may be as additional separate charging zones and/or extensions of the Middleway boundary of the proposed CAZ in order to tackle areas where NO2 levels breach legal limits. However, the overriding aim should be to reduce NO2 levels to below the legal limits as soon as possible, whatever combination of measures it takes.

We are urging the council to take bolder action which must include the following:

1. A city-wide Clean Air Zone by 2020 2. Quick, clean and reliable public transport across the entire city, with road space reallocation in favour of public transport

Kings Heath Station to re-open in 2021?

3. Cheap and easy-to-understand fares on public transport enabling seamless journeys using more than one mode 4. Vastly improved safe and attractive cycle and pedestrian networks across the city 5. A city-wide public cycle hire scheme Photo by MichaelGaida / Pixabay

Martin Stride

What’s next?

The city council will be launching another public consultation in late Autumn on the additional measures required to reduce the NO2 to below the legal limit. So watch this space!

To see our full response to the city council’s CAZ consultation go to birminghamfoe.org.uk/consultation-responses/.

Illustrations designed by Freepik

26

Back in 2007, Birmingham Friends of the Earth (BFoE) ran a campaign calling for the re-opening of railway stations at Kings Heath, Moseley, Balsall Heath and Hazelwell on the Camp Hill line. Although the line is used by freight trains and express passenger trains, it does not have a local train service. The only way to reach these parts of Birmingham is by heavily congested roads such as the Alcester Road where the 50 and 35 buses are routinely delayed

in traffic. By plugging these suburbs into the local rail network, they become more accessible by train so that locals and visitors alike have an alternative to driving. This can then reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.

BFoE collected over 1500 signed letters from members of the public in support of the campaign and presented these to the city council.

At around the same time, the city council produced a feasibility study in 2007 which showed a positive 27

business case for a service every 20 minutes into Moor Street via a proposed short curve or chord linking the Camp Hill line with the Leamington Spa to Moor Street line (see map). There was optimism that things would start moving soon. Fast forward to 2018 and we are still waiting!

So what happened? The financial meltdown in 2008 followed in 2010 by the start of a period of austerity which persists to the present day certainly did not help. In such a climate, many public transport projects were shelved. Since there was some expectation that the scheme would eventually go ahead following the positive outcome of the feasibility study, campaign pressure waned and attention turned elsewhere, while the city council had bigger fish to fry.

Then came the West Midlands mayoral election of May 2017 in which the successful candidate, Andy Street included the reopening of the Camp Hill line stations as one of his key election pledges.

However following his election, little seemed to happen. In March 2018, he made a press announcement where he explained his proposal to reroute the existing Hereford

28

to Birmingham New Street service that calls at Selly Oak and University to serve the reopened stations on the Camp Hill line, although Balsall Heath was not included. Many people questioned whether his plan was possible or even desirable given that the train service could only be hourly or, at most, half hourly at peak time. The 2007 feasibility study and all other previous studies had consistently indicated that a service into Birmingham New Street would not be possible given the lack of capacity on the station approaches.

Despite all the publicity, there was no sign of a concrete commitment from the Department for Transport which stated only that it would ‘carefully consider the proposals’.

answered when Councillor Lisa Trickett publicly announced at the meeting that the stations now had a target opening in 2021 and that notices had already been served on landowners occupying the station sites. This announcement took many people by surprise. There then followed a riveting question and answer session with Councillor Trickett. The main points to emerge were:

Frustrated with the ongoing media hype and the complete lack of any commitment by the Department for Transport, a small group of local residents got together to form Friends of Kings Heath Station (FOKHS) in April 2018 to focus on the reopening of Kings Heath station.

 the main means of access to the station would be by foot, bus and taxi;

In June 2018, FOKHS held its first public meeting attended by around 70 people, posing the question: ‘What is the Future for Kings Heath Station’? That question was quickly

 the station would not be a park and ride site, so there would be minimal parking provision. Measures would have to be taken to ensure that the surrounding streets would not form a de facto park and ride site;

 the service would initially be hourly (half hourly at peak times) and run into New Street;  a higher frequency of up to every 20 minutes would only be possible once a curve had been constructed (sometime around 2026) enabling the service to run into Moor Street.

Even though the plans for reopening the stations are now progressing, there is still a need for FOKHS to keep the pressure up and ensure that:  The scheme still happens as soon as possible and is not side-lined;  the Camp Hill chord is built as soon as possible to enable the train service to be frequent enough for a congested urban area;  the layout and design of the station is what the community wants.

If you would like to be updated on the progress of the campaign and the stations, you can sign up to the Friends of Kings Heath Station email list at FriendsofKHstation@ gmail.com or check out the Facebook group ‘Re-open Kings Heath Station’.

Illustration designed by Freepik

29

Diary Dates Campaigns meetings Mondays 7:30pm

8 October Nature walk event planning 15 October Action Meeting: Plastic

pollution discussion 22 October Action Meeting 29 October Action Meeting 5 November General Meeting 12 November Action Meeting 19 November Action Meeting 26 November Action Meeting These all take place at The Warehouse and are open to everyone whether or not you have been before. We have two types of meetings: 1. G eneral meeting: First Monday of the month and involves an update on each of our campaigns 2. A ction meeting: Skills share or interactive discussion, or an activity which supports one of our campaigns.

Please email info@birmimghamfoe. org.uk for up to date details. Our meetings are open to everyone whether or not you have been before.

30

Contact Us BFoE events

Friends of the Earth (Birmingham)

Contacts

15 October Discussion Meeting: Plastic Pollution, 7:30pm, The Warehouse October BfoE Pub Quiz (Date TBC) Fundraiser, 7pm, The Spotted Dog 17 December BfoE Christmas Party, The Warehouse, 7pm

The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham, B5 5TH Tele: (0121) 6326909 Email: info@birminghamfoe.org.uk Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/ birminghamfoe Twitter: @Bham_FOE Instagram: birminghamfoe

Campaigns Co-ordinators Poppy Buckingham & Molly Luke Campaigns Support Worker Libby Harris General Manager Richard Bickle Treasurer Margaret Lynch Air Pollution Poppy Buckingham Climate Change & Energy Molly Luke Economic Libby Harris Nature Mark Hawkins Planning Benjamin Mabbett Waste & Recycling John Newson’s Newsletter Editor Catherine Palgrave Newsletter Graphic Designer Shannon Lattin Website Editor Libby Harris Talks Libby Harris & others Administration and Facilities Offer Nasreen All enquires and callers welcome

Other events 18 November Tread Lightly 2018, 2-5pm Guru Nanak Gurdwara, 128-130 High St, Smethwick, B66 3AP

Farmers’ markets Kings Heath 1st Saturday of the month 9am–3:30pm Solihull 1st Friday of the month 9am–5pm New Street 1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month 10am–4pm Sutton Coldfield 2nd Friday of the month 9am–3pm Harborne 2nd Saturday of the month 9am–2pm Birmingham University 4th Wednesday of the month 9am–2pm Moseley Last Saturday of the month 9am–3pm

Friends of the Earth is: • The largest international network of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.

• One of the UK’s leading environmental pressure groups.

• A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.

Birmingham FoE We campaign at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through: • Lobbying • Education • Empowering others to take action • Participation and representation through public fora.

31

Need to hire a meeting room this fall?

Why not try one of our newly renovated spaces?

Get in touch at meet@birminghamfoe.org.uk

Birmingham

friends of the earth