Eye on Moseley

When the people of Moseley speak they speak loud. When the people of Moseley speak they usually say “We don’t want it”.

For those people that quite literally didn’t want a new Tesco this week has brought good news. Across Moseley, people with a keen interest in local history are delighted that the derelict site in the middle off our fine shopping district has been saved for future generations.

When plans for a new shop/medical centre/sheltered housing first came to light, residents were quick to write a list of things that Moseley doesn’t want. This includes:-

• Better shops
• Access to medical treatment
• Jobs
• Economic development
• Contaminated land being cleaned

The preservation of the derelict site means that the massive rat population will not need to be rehoused, local drug users will not need to find somewhere else to shoot up and Benzene can continue to leak from the disused petrol station into the wider area.

The main complaint against the proposed plan was outlined to us by a local historian, “What most people don’t realise is that this site is dripping with local colour. Did you know that this is the very spot where Oswald Mosley first saw a meteorite thus giving our village its name? Is better access to medical facilities really a fitting tribute to the father of British fascism?”

The claim that the development of a new Tesco would have brought new jobs and economic development to Moseley was disputed by a mother we spoke to “I’m not having Hugo working in a shop, he’ll work in new media like his Dad, where he’ll speak incomprehensible babble and learn to dress like a twat.”

Concerns that  the collapse of this plan will leave residents with nothing to complain about are a worrying reality.

If it weren’t bad enough that Moseley residents only had two weeks to give their views on the proposed CCTV scheme it now seems if you gave the wrong answer your views will be disregarded.

As you no doubt know, in addition to being able to make a response, to the consultation, online you could also get forms to complete in a number of businesses around Moseley.

One such business is the Prince of Wales pub. Keith Marsden, the licensee, spoke quite eloquently at the recent Forum meeting and expressed a view that not all businesses supported this wanton waste of tax payers money.

It now appears that Cllr Martin Mullaney has decided that all responses collected in the Prince of Wales should now be disregarded. Why has he reached this crazy conclusion? Because he claims that attempts to talk to people about the implication of the scheme have fixed the results.

Providing people with information so they can make an informed decision is apparently contrary to the spirit of this already corrupt consultation. It should be noted that it is not claimed that any false responses have been completed, no, just that information has been given to residents.

If the Ward chooses to disregard the views of residents on such spurious grounds then it will be a sorry day for all of us.

The unseasonal summer weather and the unusual prospect of a Birmingham City Council climb down have had Moseley residents giddy with excitement. In some cases they’ve taken to the streets with unseemly displays of public eating.

It was clear from the beginning that placing security cameras in such a middle class area was always likely to be unpopular. The weight of evidence, from research, indicates that such surveillance is only truly effective when spying on more working class populations. So when people from as far afield as Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath met to show their displeasure at the three million pounds spent on a network of cameras, nobody really expected to have any impact our decision makers.

It is fair to say that almost all of us shocked to hear the news that the police had agreed to turn off their cameras and stop spying on us. There was even a substantial bonus to the local bag industry when it was agreed to cover every single one of the hundreds of different cameras, thus reassuring the public and keeping the cameras warm.

In an unfortunate twist  it now seems that our celebrations might have been entirely premature. The gesture of covering the cameras might actually have been a step too far. It appears that the so called Human Rights Act could also apply to the rights of  camera operators.

A police representative told us, “Ok, it’s a fair point that we didn’t ask anyone before we put them in. To be honest we thought it would be a lovely surprise for everyone. I think I can put my hand on my heart and say that next time we buy you something like this we will ask you first.”

He went on, “The whole bag thing has gone a bit far. I’ve got camera operators that are suffering real distress, it’s inhuman, they can’t see a thing through that thick waterproof fabric. We’ve sought advice and we think it is against the law.”

A dubious legal expert confirmed this for us “Some operators cannot tell whether they are looking up or down and that is effectively torture.  We need consistency. If we don’t let the security services kidnap people and send them to Syria with a hood over them then we can’t do almost exactly the same thing to police employees. They must be removed”

The Safer Birmingham Partnership did confirm for us that none of their employees are currently being tortured in Syria.

They are also looking for someone that wants to buy a couple of hundred very specific bags.

Moseley residents have been pampered over the last 18 years with the lovely Lynne Jones as our MP. Lynne had(s) a mind of her own and at least seemed to be attuned to the way that Moseley sees itself.  She opposed the war and could be seen at the Farmers Market. Very much a local MP.

It seems that we’ve now done something to piss the Labour party off. In return for giving them an extra seat for nearly two decades they have rewarded us with Roger Godsiff. Wooo, cheers.

Roger’s campaign seems to have largely consisted of not bothering to visit his prospective constituents.  He doesn’t attend hustings on the tenuous basis that he might come into contact with other parties.

He also seems to have an increasingly bizarre line of leaflets. Probably his most reprehensible being this latest one that claims that the Liberal Democrats want to give paedophiles the vote. This is jaw dropping in its ignorance.

Ignorant in that he doesn’t understand how the European Convention on Human Rights work and ignorant in that he doesn’t recognise that the average Moseley voter probably thinks this is actually a good idea.

It also quite maliciously seems to link pictures of Cllr Jerry Evans with notorious murderers. We are convinced that Jerry has never murdered anyone.

People should note that there a lot of people standing in Hall Green this year and a vote for anyone other than Roger would be a stand against ignorance.

[edit]

It appears the people of the Hall Green Constituency have spontaneously come together to tell Roger they don’t like his dirty campaigning.

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Even after all these years Moseley and its residents still have a singularly amazing power to demonstrate small minded thinking.

Most people think of Demaines as either the place that sells tasty bacon sandwiches or even the all conquering best takeaway in Moseley in Bloom. Unfortunately this civic mindedness isn’t enough for some people.

It seems that the Moseley Forum, or people linked to them have decided that this isn’t the sort of business they want. They have been reported to Birmingham City Council for an apparent breach of planning law. This breach is to have tables and chairs to sit down on.

As a result if you fancy a nice cup of tea or a bun there is now nowhere to sit down. It seems that similar complaints have also been made about the Java Lounge.

The rank hypocrisy of this is astounding. On the one hand the development of Tesco is opposed because of the impact on small businesses whilst those same people are trying to undermine the businesses they purport to support.

It does make you wonder why anyone would bother to invest time and money in this community when all they get in return is the contempt of our unelected representatives.

Fortunately Cllr Emily Cox is doing her bit to get this resolved and hopefully keep these businesses alive. We’re sure she would appreciate you emailing her your support.

The news that a local trader would roll over like puppy, when faced with the wrath of the Moseley Society has not received universal support.

The decision  to change the name of the off licence on St Mary’s Row to Moseley Booze was greeted with typical consternation.  Well heeled residents mobilised in the way that only well heeled residents can. They took to the Council Chamber and made their demands.

The licensing committee to appeared to agree that such a name could only send out the “wrong message”. The compromise of Moseley Wines seemed to satisfy everyone.

Well almost everyone. It quickly became apparent that calling somewhere Moseley Wines would begin to imply that they sold wine. Anyone who has visited the said establishment will know that they don’t really sell wine. They actually sell booze; and plenty of it.

Ironically in an attempt to stop the wrong message being sent out, the powers that be have caused the wrong message to be sent out.

Clearly something had to be done. Using such a controversial name was always likely to sully the good name of Moseley in the minds of visitors. Probably much more than the same off license appearing on national TV selling gas to kids.