It’s one year since the Labour Party took control of Birmingham Council, and Councillors and candidates from across the city have been out reminding people of some of the unpopular things Labour has done in just 12 months, including:

Announced a £35 charge for Green Waste Collection from February 2014

Introducing wheelie bins across the city without proper consultation

Stopped supplying black and green bags for household and green garden waste

Tried to introduce a “Death Tax” which would have meant a charge of up to £70 to get a body released from the City Council mortuary (fortunately scrapped after Conservative opposition)

Stopped the special street collections which allowed people to get rid of bulky waste for free and lessened fly tipping

Cut over £1 million from the highways maintenance contract, leaving pot holes unfilled

Cut Community Chest funding by 60% taking much needed resources from local community groups

Reduced street cleansing by 25%

Increased housing rents above inflation

Etc. Etc.  Of course we all know the Council has to save money thanks to the mess the last Labour Government left the country in, but the details of HOW the Council is going to save money this year has been decided by the local Labour Councillors. They could have cut down on the European and Equalities Offices, they could have cut Trade Union facilities and time, they could have cut out the City Council newspaper and outside subscriptions, they could have cut absenteeism. There are lots of things they could have done – but instead they chose to do the things listed at the start of this blog post. I think they have made the wrong choices. The “Happy Birthday?” cards we have been distributing today explain that.

At the meeting, I saw the minutes from the City HLB meeting which had received the same wheelie bin presentation as was made to the District Committees. According to those minutes, a number of people at the City Board meeting raised concerns about the introduction of wheelie bins – on such matters as how would elderly people cope, where would the bins be stored in sheltered housing schemes, what would happen on alleycat routes, would residents be charged for lost or damaged bins, and the fact the City Council was railroading the scheme through, etc.

Members of the City Board were also asked to discuss the wheelie bins at their local HLBs, and feed back, and therefore this matter was discussed at Edgbaston tonight under AOB.

A number of concerns were expressed with the feeling of the meeting being that people would prefer to stay with the current black bag and recycling box system than move to wheelie bins.

Meanwhile, at the Lifford Lane household recycling centre (tip) this morning, the queue to leave rubbish was back to the Pershore Rd and it took half an hour to reach the centre to dispose of items. Possibly the lack of special bulky waste collections (withdrawn by Labour) is beginning to have an effect. In which case, just imagine what it will be like next year when many people will doubtless opt out of paying for a green bin and drive their garden waste to the tip instead. Having all those vehicles waiting in a queue, burning petrol,  is not exactly good for the environment.

The Conservative Group on Birmingham City Council held its AGM last Monday.  Our leader and deputy leader were returned unopposed. There has since been a mini reshuffle of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet and I have been moved to become the Shadow Cabinet Member for a Green, Safe and Smart City.

There’s lots happening in this portfolio (not least the roll out of the wheelie bins) so I am really looking forward to my new job.

The meeting was chaired by the local Police Inspector and issues in all four wards were covered. Cllr Hutchings and I attended on behalf of Edgbaston Ward and discussed issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour, fly tipping, parking and speeding.

Various multi-agency initiatives are in the pipe line to deal with these issues – including the use of a new police mobile speed check device, and a major operation to deal with a particular issue in the ward (more about that in due course).

As always, if anyone knows of any fly tipping or rubbish hot spots within Edgbaston Ward, email me the details and I will get our Hit Squad to deal with it. They’re here to keep our area clean and tidy.

A similar scheme operated by Whizzgo was launched several years ago – I blogged about it on December 1st 2008. That scheme operated with various points where cars could be picked up and dropped off from – and one was at the Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston (see picture below).

The Botanical Gardens drop off point ceased some time ago, and the new scheme is different in that the cars borrowed do not have to be dropped back at a designated location.

Instead customers pay by the minute for the time they drive the vehicle and don’t need to end their journey at the same location as they started.

The new scheme is run by Car2go. Users have to register and pay a joining fee. The pilot scheme will last for 12 months and will involve 250 vehicles being deployed in the city. Initially not everywhere in the city will be covered by the scheme but Edgbaston is included. For more information visit www.car2go.com/en/birmingham

A number of complaints were raised by residents tonight – about the difficulty of moving wheelie bins, lack of space to store them, the charging for green waste, and the stopping of delivery of black and green sacks.

I was interested to hear one resident say that when the Councillors’ wheelie bin survey had come round, some of her neighbours had said they would be in favour of them – but she felt sure they would change their minds once they realised they had to pay for a green garden waste bin (which she was intending to go home and tell them). Our survey had a response rate of over 80% against wheelie bins, so it’s interesting to hear a resident say that some of those few who said “yes” initially might now be changing their minds.

After the wheelie bin discussion, the subject of the closure of Edgbaston Police Station (recently announced by the Labour Police & Crime Commissioner) was discussed and residents were rightly angry about it.

With the introduction of wheelie bins and the announcement of the closure of Edgbaston’s Police Station, it seems Labour politicians are currently making a number of decisions which are unpopular with local residents.

Good turn out and an excellent venue with interesting speeches and good networking opportunities. And being at the cricket ground made me feel (hope!) that perhaps spring/summer has come at last!

I have no idea who was responsible for it, but they clearly have little idea about journalism. Putting out a press release (as they did) which highlighted a few people from neighbouring authorities who apparently love their wheelie bins, was always going to open up the Council to ridicule.

A Labour Group who once brought us country wide fame (or should that be shame) with their Winterval press release, seems to be lurching from one PR disaster to another at the moment where wheelie bins are concerned. (e.g. the wheelie bin consultation which asked what your sexual orientation and religion was – but didn’t ask if you wanted a wheelie bin. That bit of Birmingham Labour stupidity made the national press.)

The comment from one resident that the thing she loved most about her wheelie bins was (wait for it!) the wheels, was probably the most laughable line. But the whole thing was just so clumsy. Whoever came up with that idea for a press release ought to have put it straight in the bin!

One resident quoted reckoned she recycles more now she has a wheelie bin, and Cllr McKay stated on the radio this morning that increasing the recycling rates was one of the main reasons wheelie bins are being introduced. That might have worked in Walsall – I don’t know what system they had prior to their bins. But in Birmingham we already have a very efficient recycling system.

Currently five twelfths of the recycling in Birmingham is green waste. It goes to make a nutrient rich soil conditioner which is used for agriculture and land reclamation as well as an ingredient in composts that you buy at the garden centre.

When Birmingham’s Labour Group introduces a charge for collecting green waste (as they plan to do in Feb 2014), the amount collected is bound to plummet. In other Councils which have done this, usually only one household in 5 opts in to the scheme. That means we will lose 80% of five twelfths of our recycling overnight.

We’re going to have to recycle an awful lot of something else, in order to get back to where we started, let alone start increasing the overall amount we recycle.

But Labour are going to limit the amount we can recycle to what we can fit in one recycling wheelie bin, unless it’s cardboard (not paper – just cardboard) or unless we opt to have a second recycling wheelie bin and I don’t think many people will do that. Currently Birmingham runs a system where you can apply for as many recycling boxes as you like, and put out as much as you like – in the boxes, or in your own boxes. I usually put out three/four boxes of paper and one of bottles and cans.

I’ve seen the new recycling bins (one was brought to the District Commitee). There’s no way I’ll get all that paper in one. So I will be recycling less, not more. And I won’t be the only one.

Now imagine that you have a load of paper which you can’t fit in your recycling bin. But you have a rubbish wheelie bin which takes more than one black sack did – so you have spare capacity in that. What are people going to do? I strongly suspect many will dump their excess recycling into the black bag rubbish wheelie bin. Which means that things they would have recycled under the old system, will end up being incinerated under the new system. How is that going to increase recycling rates?

These are serious questions which need to be addressed. Labour Councillors should be spending their time on that, not trawling round neighbouring authorities desperately seeking out people who are prepared to tell the press they love having a wheelie bin because it’s got wheels!

I talked to them about Birmingham City Council and how it is run, and they in turn told me about their School Council.

They are currently putting in bids to a pot of money for improvements they would like to see in the school. They had some great ideas – clearly some budding politicians of the future!

With Phil Bradbourne MEP on a previous St George’s Day

Happy St George’s day!

It was good to see the flags flying when I was leafletting in Basrsham Close this afternoon.