Alas, the demolition brigade is now setting about the razing of Hall Green’s historic Highfield House. We hope that Stone Developments are satisfied with themselves and their work on this ‘position potential product’ as they describe it in their atrocious sales-speak. This destruction is legitimised vandalism and it remains a total disgrace.

Those members of the Planning Committee that voted for the demolition and those officers that recommended it should be ashamed of themselves. A building that was of historic importance to the area has been sacrificed on the altar of profit motivated mediocrity to be replaced by another intensive development including yet more flats.

As if there weren’t enough in the area as it is, with many remaining unsold. Perhaps that will prove to be a sting in the tail. The sad scene at the corner of Highfield Road and Robin Hood Lane underlines the necessity of preserving all that we have got left.

The Inaugural Meeting of Hall Green Preservation Group was held on March 20^th at Hall Green Library. Michael Wilkes, Paula Smith and 30 residents attended. In a lively and constructive meeting, many valuable contributions were made. The formation of HGPG was seen as highly desirable after the Planning Committee’s appalling decision that will lead to the loss of Highfield House and its replacement with a dense modern development including flats. Maximum protection should be sought for all remaining buildings of interest in and near Hall Green. In addition to the statutorily listed Sarehole Mill and the Church of the Ascension, these included: The Bulls Head (Stratford Road, around 1840); the Friends Meeting House (Hamlet Road); the late Victorian semis (‘the Hamlets’) in Hamlet Road and Fox Hollies Road; the former farm workers’ cottages in Paradise Lane and Cambrai House.

HGPG activities should extend beyond our ward to cover buildings of importance to the area. Amongst examples nearby buildings were: 264 Wake Green Road, the childhood home of JRR Tolkien; ‘Millmead’ in Wake Green Road (20^th century but may have been built using medieval materials); The Chalet (and Tudor barn) in Green Road; the Charles Lane Trust Alms Houses in Fox Hollies Road; the Foster Trust residential bungalows in Gracewell Road. It was noted that a small area includes Tolkien’s house, Millmead, the bungalows, the Chalet and Sarehole Mill making the area of particular value.

The meeting was advised that all pubs and churches in Hall Green had a degree of protection (the extent of this should be clarified) and that buildings earlier than 1840 apparently carried automatic statutory protection. Clarification of such protection was needed and the date may change. The meeting agreed to extend the reach of preservation to wider elements of our built and natural environment. Suggestions included: Four Arches bridge in the Dingles; the ‘middle path’ in the Dingles (arguably of great antiquity); the medieval hedges in Webb Lane, Paradise Lane, Robin Hood Lane and Scribers Lane. In liaison with The Shire Country Park Friends, the preservation group would also keep a close eye on elements of The Shire Country Park, which includes historic Moseley Bog with its Bronze Age burnt mounds as well as its Tolkien connections.

It was also noted that Hall Green had two interesting railway stations - Hall Green and Yardley Wood. Hall Green station would reach its centenary this year (for which a celebration will be organised in the summer) as would Yardley Wood (which may already be protected to some extent).

It was agreed that a comprehensive list should be made and, following the realisation that Local Listing carried trivial penalties and was easily overcome by developers and apparently little regarded by some planning officers, the precise nature of any apparent protection should be thoroughly investigated. It was noted with regret that there seemed to be little will in the Planning Department to support residents in their preservation efforts or even to enforce existing regulations.

It was noted with disappointment that Sarehole Mill had not been awarded capital funding from the Council for the de-silting of the mill pool. It was also noted that if funding was not found in the near future, milling would cease and that Birmingham would then have only one working water mill. It was suggested that if the flow of water was sufficient the mill could make its own electricity, adding to green credentials.

The rules covering Conservation Areas should be examined. Hall Green had one such area (Miall Road and part of School Road). Other areas could possibly be identified but so much building work and alterations were going on that essential features were being lost. This applied to the terraced farm worker cottages in Paradise Lane. The meeting noted that the materials of which a building was constructed could be of considerable interest. Apparently, little could be made of this at present since the materials belong to the owner who may do as they please.

An insidious process of ‘manufactured dereliction’ could be discerned. Developers first destroy the garden of a mature property. Then the property itself declines rapidly for reasons on which the meeting could only speculate. The claim is then made that there is nothing worth preserving and planning permission follows. In this way, the distinctive character of an area is lost. Gardens should therefore get early protection and that whatever force the Mature Suburbs Policy may have should be rigorously applied.

HGPG committee and sub-groups will draw up a full list, identify priorities, establish the nature of the various forms of protection and outline pro-active and reactive courses of action. Many people volunteered to be active within the group and a register of contact details was taken. People would be kept informed and there would be general meetings from time to time.

Michael Wilkes (as Vice Chair and still stiff from a lengthy litter pick in the Dingles in the morning!) and Paula Smith took part in the Annual General Meeting of The Shire Country Park Friends on Sunday afternoon on 30^th March. The Friends have had a very productive year and there were very informative presentations at the AGM from committee members representing Priory Fields, The Dingles, Moseley Bog, Greet Mill Meadows and Burbury Brickworks.

The Shire, extending for about four miles along the River Cole and with satellite areas, is one of the most interesting and varied country parks in the midlands. It takes its name from associations with JRR Tolkien and has an intriguing cultural, industrial and agricultural history. It has a wide variety of habitats and wildlife (including around 80 species (some rare) of birds, rare heathland, and a wide range of plants that include meadow flowers and orchids). Ancient agricultural use leaves traces at various points. The outstanding ridge and furrow field in the Dingles probably dates from the 11^th century. There is evidence of agricultural use in Anglo Saxon times in Priory Fields and there are Bronze Age burnt mounds in Moseley Bog.

The four main pools are at Priory Fields (described as a Mill Pool but made as a fish pond - the once nearby mill was a windmill), Trittiford pool (the original name of which was Titterford, meaning ‘place of small birds’) the Mill Pool at Sarehole and the pool at one end of Moseley Bog (originally a garden feature). The bog itself (the probable basis of the Old Forest in Tolkien’s works) was once a feeder pool to Sarehole Mill.

An open-air performance area (a grassed mini-amphitheatre) in a natural setting - the Withywindle Arena - is being prepared by volunteers near to historic Sarehole Mill (withy is an old word for willow). Members of TSCP Friends have also taken part in three weekend litter picks recently to leave the park looking its best. With so little open space in Hall Green, we should make the most of this lovely and historic green environment on the edge of our area.

Just a few weeks after the first of the public demonstrations of support for retaining Highfield House, bitterness was tinged with sadness for local residents as the Planning Committee voted to approve the application to build flats and houses at 187 Highfield Road and demolish the historic house. “The committee should be ashamed of themselves,” said Councillor Michael Wilkes. “Nobody wants this apart from the developers, planning officers (who again recommended approval) and those councillors who voted for it. If I never see another planning officer in Hall Green it will be too soon,” he continued.

“Despite passionate appeals from Liberal Democrat members, who all voted against, the Conservatives, belying their name, all voted in favour, two Labour members voted in favour and the rest of them abstained. In our view, members have a moral duty to support the public interest. If they do not, what is the purpose of being an elected representative?” Ward colleague Councillor Paula Smith said: “Local people fought very hard to preserve this house. It is a very sad sign of the times that we see yet more of our history thrown away for the sake of profit”. Cllr Jackie Hawthorn commented: “There are those in positions of power who have learnt nothing from the mistakes of the 1960s. The decision is lamentable.”

Your councillors are now setting up the Hall Green Preservation Group that will seek to protect and list all our remaining historic buildings so that the tragedy of Highfield House will never be repeated. This is essential. A malign circus has developed. A locally significant property, long cared for, is sold for ‘development’ either because the owners die and offspring don’t have the same values or, as with Highfield House, the managers of a Housing Association do not hold to traditional values. First the garden is destroyed with trees cut down - in the case of Highfield House a stand of poplars and a rare variety of apple of Victorian vintage - and a proper environmental assessment rendered impossible. The condition of the property then rapidly and mysteriously deteriorates - one can only wonder how. Meanwhile the target besotted Government threatens penalties for failure to grant planning approvals at a rate of knots and continues to ensure that the law, weak as it is, is biased in favour of developers. Planning officers, fearful of possible legal costs of standing up for the community and heedless of the extent of public feeling, disregard their own conservation advice and recommend approval. Local listing, with its feeble penalties, is seen to be worthless. The majority of members on the Planning Committee then, perhaps after crocodile tears, lamely comply and reward the developer with approval. Yet another building - in the present case, Highfield House with a unique and intriguing history - is then torn down to be replaced by yet more high density flats and housing.

Despite the clear moral obligation on elected members to fight for their constituents, Lib-Dem Councillors striving to cut through this malign circle are said to be ‘stirring it up’ or, as in a nearby ward, are even threatened with the Standards Committee for exposing another case of startling deterioration suffered by a historic building. “It is not just our history that is being lost but our very identity as communities,” said Councillor Wilkes. “We must show this up for what it is and marshal our communities in defiance”. The associated file, HighHous.pdf, 

highhous.pdf

is a slide show in Adobe Acrobat format and has pictures of the interior of Highfield House just 18 months ago. We could weep for that which was lost.

There’s growing concern (but no action from the Government) about the way that members of the public are used as profit fodder by banks and privatised utilities. Having had a bit of a read, I wrote recently in The Birmingham Post:

In a compelling novel, The Historian, a surprising number of librarians turn out to be vampires (rest at ease Cllr Whitby, this isn’t about intentions for Centenary Square). Few would turn to this mild profession to find bloodsuckers, there being a richly populated necropolis of bankers, power companies, fuel firms and telecomm providers. BT clearly has the contagion with its recent hike in charges for those, typically thrifty and older people, who do not wish to be drawn into direct debit.

The corporate ethics and social responsibilities of yesteryear are but a memory and national government similarly usurps its citizens - security of data about individuals is discarded for petty cost cutting. So where are we to find the vampire slayers? Enter the unlikely (potential) heroes in the form of local Government.

We need not resort to garlic or even Christian icons and, in taking the brakes off devolution, we could avoid a stake through our global city’s innocent local heart. We must ensure that our services put the ordinary people first, bemused and exploited as they are, and we should restore former services such as a Municipal Bank that would offer a simple and trustworthy alternative to the financial creatures of the night. Oh for the days when we also had our own water, gas, buses and a visible police force. Now there’s a line-up that would ward off the bloodsuckers.