Born yesterday?

Well, we’ve received a response from the Leader of Birmingham City Council to our petition to save Perry Park.

It’s a joke.

You’ll remember that the closing ceremony for the Commonwealth Games took place on 8th August 2002.

We received Councillor Ward’s response on 9th May 2023, a full nine months on from the games - you’d expect that in that time the Council would have put Perry Park back together ready for the community to enjoy the green space this summer, right?

Well, no, and there’s not even a hint of an apology.

Let’s take a look at what Councillor Ward says:

“…there is a need to undertake works to reinstate the Park to its former condition following the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. These works are known as the ‘reinstatement works’ which are underway.”

No argument on that first sentence - the park is in a terrible condition. But that second sentence, claiming that reinstatement works to the park are underway? Really? Let’s see…

This photo was taken a few days after we received Councillor Ward’s letter.

You’ll see the notice on the “temporary” fence says the fence line was being changed on 24th February 2023 to enable reinstatement works to take place.

You’ll also see absolutely no work whatsoever has taken place in the background since the Commonwealth Games organising committee left the site back in the autumn.

So, can we trust what else Councillor Ward says?

“The reinstatement works involve the following activities:

• Stone picking to ensure the parkland is safe for pedestrians, and maintainable (in terms of grass cutting).

• Remedial works to the bund located in the eastern section of the Park, and surrounding ground conditions. Whilst some remedial works were previously undertaken to the bund, it is recognised that further are required.

• Removal and reinstatement of the large section of the Transport Mall (formerly known as the ‘Games Family Transport Mall’) and associated drainage pits. This includes removal of the soil mounds containing materials previously excavated to make way for the ‘Games Family Transport Mall’.

• Seeding of reinstated grass areas to return the Park to its previous condition.”

Stone picking? That should be fairly straight forward, shouldn’t it? Something which could start straight away - and yet, in mid-May, nothing has even started. Indeed, grass and weeds have grown up around those stones, making the task more difficult.

Fixing the bund? The Council knew about these problems well before the Commonwealth Games began. The gravel which had fallen into the brook has at least been scooped back out, and some mesh installed to try to prevent it collapsing again. But this isn’t an issue which prevents people gaining access to the park.

Removing the transport mall and filling in the drainage pits? Ah, this is the big issue. This should, of course, have been done immediately after the Commonwealth Games concluded - there was enough time to plan to put the park back together. But now it’s holding everything else up - including replacing the children’s play area which was torn out to create that ‘Games Family Transport Mall’. But nothing has happened since last autumn.

Seeding grass? Obviously that’s not going to happen before the transport mall has been removed and those stones cleared. But that work hasn’t begun, despite Councillor Ward’s claim that reinstatement works are underway. And, of course, that grass will take time to grow before the area can be opened back up for the community.

But what’s missing here?

The fence line around most of the eastern side of the park block access to a far larger area than the remains of the transport mall. If the Council had any interest in providing facilities for its community, it could have kept the transport mall fenced off, removed the stones from the unaffected area, re-seeded the grass, and replaced children’s play equipment in time for local children to enjoy the park in the summer.

But instead, it’s not actually begun these works in this area.

It’s concentrated on fixing up Alexander Stadium, and abandoned Perry Park.

What else is missing?

There’s no reference in Councillor Ward’s response to children’s play equipment. You might think he’d be keen to make sure local children have somewhere safe to play.

Especially because we’ve been told that the Commonwealth Games organising committee paid the Council £125,000 to replace the children’s play equipment.

Anything else missing?

Well yes. Our petition asks Councillor Ward to keep his promise that the whole of Perry Park will be returned for use by the community. His response only talks about issues in the eastern section of the park.

He’s conveniently said nothing at all about the field in the west of the park, which has been kept fenced off despite being well-manicured grass.

That’s the area which the Council’s Head of Sport told everyone at a public meeting he aims to keep as formal sports pitches, even though the Council’s own planning permission states that it needs to be returned for community use.

So...

Are the reinstatement works underway as Councillor Ward states? There’s certainly no evidence of that outside Alexander Stadium - even though it’s nine months since the Commonwealth Games concluded.

Why has Councillor Ward chosen not to mention the field on the west of the park which remains fenced off despite being in immaculate condition? People living along that side of the park are convinced the Council’s sport department have made a land-grab.

And why, despite this sorry state of affairs, is there no apology - no hint of contrition - in Councillor Ward’s response? Draw your own conclusions.