I have no doubt that the majority of people living on Pheasey do not consider themselves from Walsall
In fact I am totally convinced the vast majority of us consider ourselves from Birmingham and 100% Brummie
I would like to know people’ thoughts on this ?
Is there enough pressure to push for Pheasey and Barr Beacon to moved into Brmingham at the next boundary review ?
Over the years the elected representatives (of both parties) of Pheasey have never offered us this move and with the current Walsall leader, deputy and cabinet member this will not happen, this has to come from the people.
Please leave your comments on this thread.
News and Views about Pheasey Park Farm 
Yes please.
And take that damn fool Mike Bird with you.
No Thanks,
Many Pheasey/Park Farm residents like myself and my family have only Black Country roots; and have lived for many years in Pheasey/Park Farm, part of the historic county of Staffordshire for centuries past. I’m no Brummie, i’m not interested in anything to do with Birmingham or Warwickshire or the enforced areas Euro-Quango otherwise known as the West Midlands, created and forced on us by unelected foreign politicians without a referendum in May 1974. At least Mike Bird, the other Conservative councillors, The UKIP local election candidate for Pheasey/Park Farm and his counting agents, could be bothered to turn up at the count to hear the result of last weeks election, unlike absolutely anyone from either Euro-Labour or the Liberal Democrats. Over 2,000 votes cast for those two parties and no one there to see them counted. Disgraceful.
Thanks Steve for the reply.
Your comments about the euro zone is irrelevant in the context of this debate .
We are not from the black country, anyone who looks at the borders of that sees they stop at the line of the M5. Most people I know on here and I like you have lived here all my life and most are Brummies.
I speak with a Brummie accent my mum does (lived here since the first house built and born on the Queslett), my daughter does.
Most work in Birmingham, we have three direct bus’s to Brum and just one to Walsall every hour and the 997 on the long route
what affection do I feel for Walsall, none at all I have to say
Hi Ian,
Where exactly did i mention the Euro-Zone in my reply?????
And yes, we are from and this is the Black Country, both historically and geographically – and it has been since the Black Country evolved.
The M5????? What nonsense. The M5 was only constructed back in the second half of the 1960’s. The Black Country and our historic County of Staffordshire have been in existance for centuries.
My family and many of my friends and neighbours in Pheasey/Park Farm have Black Country roots and in no way consider themselves Brummies.
I talk with a Pheasey accent, have lived here fifty years; and i have other Black Country relatives living here.
I went to art school in Walsall, work here in Walsall and bus routes – bus routes for Christs sake! don’t dictate who you are, where you’re from or what you believe in.
What affection do i feel for Birmingham, absolutely none at all.
we have to disagree but maybe that is why we should have the debate
in the last election you were the only local person and Jack Kelly did live here, do you really think many care about the area.
maybe have this debate and ignite people to think about the area.
Whether for or against we are in my view forgotten. We get no Walsall news, the local freesheet mentions Brum and Sandwell but not Walsall
How many use the facilities in Walsall
Why is Daisy Bank tagged onto us when they have nothing in common and square miles of countryside between us. Sandwell and Brum just yards away
Hi Ian,
Yep; We have to agree to disagree; And really, it’s pointless having this particular debate, because taking our beloved Pheasey and tacking it on to Brummie Kingstanding enemy territory, ain’t ever going to happen.
Yes i do think that many people care passionately about our area; just remember the fight to try and stop the Euro-Labour Government from stabbing us in the back and building the Bovis overspill in OUR Great Barr Park.
I don’t think that Pheasey/Park Farm is forgotten. I’m sure that both of us could list dozens of really neglected areas here in South Staffordshire and over the Queslett Road border down in North Warwickshire.
I visit and use facilities in Walsall town centre on a regular basis – and i know that many of my neighbours do likewise.
Orchard Hills was bought into the ward to create an area comprising roughly 5,000 homes, to match the size of the other 19 wards here in our Borough.
Jack Kelly – you mean the Euro-Labour local election candidate for Pheasey/Park Farm, who didn’t turn up at the count last Friday to represent the 1461 Pheasey electors who voted for him. No Euro-Labour or Lib-Dem candidates or counting agents. Zero, nothing, ziltch.
You are aware Steve that Jack was still at the Dudley North recount, but that is up for him to answer
I was at work 🙂
I know why Orchard Hills were brought in but Pheasey is a stand alone estate, always was, it is not feasible to say many go to Walsall, my experience is different. I leave for work at 8, how many do I see queueing going to Walsall for buses and not Brum ?
where do most cars go off the estate, that is obvious !
Maybe not the best point to describe this but the estate is full of villa and Blues supporters, go down the Cat on a live game, Walsall ??
As for the homes, Walsall could have stopped it that election I voted for Darren and proud to say why, what did the local councillors vote for ?
that is times past I have to say but personally speaking I think you are right many people proud of where we come from but how many of us are really Walsall, that has ever been asked as it ?
At some point I suspect a boundary review in the next 3/4 years if not sooner so maybe that is the time.
Ask the people of Pheasey Park Farm what they think instead of letting officials decide
Hi Ian,
No i wasn’t aware that Jack Kelly was at the Dudley North recount. But surely as the candidate for Pheasey/Park Farm not Dudley North, his duty was to the voters here in Pheasey/Park Farm and not to voters over in Worcestershire.
Pheasey/Park Farm is not an estate, it’s a suburb. And where do most cars go when they leave our suburb, who knows? Here, there, anywhere, everywhere.
This suburb is also full of Albion fans. I’m one of them; and so are many of the Black Country friends i grew up with and who still live here. There are also a fair few Walsall fans here in Pheasey.
Walsall Council (we now know) could not have stopped the Bovis development; only Euro-Labour’s ‘two Jags’ John Prescott could have done that – and of course, without ever visiting Pheasey, he decided to give permission to build in OUR park – on our green belt, against OUR wishes.
I’m proud to say that i’m from Pheasey/Park Farm, part of the Borough of Walsall, in the historic County of Staffordshire.
Boundary review or no boundary review, only a handful of Euro-Labour supporters are ever going to vote to link Pheasey/Park Farm with Birmingham and Kingstanding.
Pheasey defo shud be birmingham. I never say to anybody its in walsall to anyone who asks where pheasey is
Birmingham postcode says it all..brummie for ever!!
exactly. case closed
If anyone asked me where I came from my answer would be ‘Birmingham’. My parents have lived on the Pheasey too for over 55 years as have most of their neighbours. We have had this debate on numerous occasions and have always come to the conclusion that we are ‘Brummies’ Where accents are concerned we do not talk with a Black Country accent but a Brummie accent – there is a difference.
On saying that there is nothing wrong with Walsall or the people that live there. We are Neighbours, and should get on with each other accordingly. I also have friends and family in Kingstanding by on the Pheasey side and College Road side. No one classes themselves as emenies anymore. We should leave that to the immature people who have got nothing better to do with themselves than to cause trouble.
I always say i am from Great Barr which……. is in BIRMINGHAM!
Agree with Martin. I consider myself from Birmingham
My address says I live in Great Barr BIRMINGHAM! When people ask me where im from i say BIRMINGHAM! When i meet someone for the first time they will ask am i from BIRMINGHAM as i have a brummie accent. I also have friends in the area who are west brom fans who say there from BIRMINGHAM when asked. The only thing which says I live in Walsall is that stupid sign at the bottom of the Beacon road.
guys that is my view obviously and it would make for a really good debate if we were given the chance to vote for it
this is not about anti Walsall at all but about what we really are and where our hearts lie
Hi Martin,
You’re only partially right. The area of Great Barr to the east of the Old Walsall Road and Walsall Road and south of the Queslett Road is indeed in Birmingham, North Warwickshire. However the area north of the Queslett Road east from the Queslett Gate of Great Barr Park, i.e. Pheasey/Park Farm is in South Walsall, South Staffordshire; and the large area of Great Barr west of the Old Walsall Road and Walsall Road and north of the Queslett Gate heading west is in West Bromwich or if you’re a Euro-Labour party member or voter, ‘The People’s Republic Of Sandcastle, sorry Sandwell’.
Tyler, i’m Pheasey Albion through and through. I’d say i know pretty well most of the Baggies fans around here and i’ve never met one yet who would class themselves as a ‘Brummie’. There are a few Albion fans in the general area who live on the North Warwickshire side of the Queslett Road, not Brummies, but they do of course live in Birmingham. I think the signs at the bottom of Beacon Road and along the Queslett Road are fine. We should have more of them. Walsall For Aye! Staffordshire For Aye!
P.S. If you’re who i think you are Martin then no doubt you’d say Scotland For Aye! – And why not.
Steve, just had it confirmed that the Martin above is not the one you are thinking of !
Is this really a debate that is going to get anywhere? If it is about “what we really are and where our hearts lie”, then the generality of what the debate is about means there’ll never be any logical conclusion! People have a vast divergence of ancestory, culture, religion, ethniticy etc that trying to tie down exactly where they come from is, I would suggest, impossible.
For example, I grew up on Pheasey, my dad originated from Swindon, my mom from Handsworth. My grandparents lived in Newtown and Great Barr. I went to Barr Beacon (which comes under Walsall) but mainly went out in Birmingham. As a a kid I would cycle around the Arbo (Walsall) and Kingstanding (Birmingham). Whilst my family home remains in Pheasey, I lived in Coventry for 3 years and now live in Walmley. I honestly can’t answer whether Walsall or Birmingham are closer to my heart – they are just names of geographical places, both of which have a significance to me.
So let’s just enjoy and appreciate the great place of Pheasey and not argue about to which town or city it belongs. It belongs to us. We can continue this debate, but I suspect that it’s cul-de-sac and we may as well then go onto argue over which colour we like best….
I understand what you are saying slaphead but it matters to me because I can not truly say I am a Brummie, it may be stupid but that is how I feel about it I have far more loyalty to Brum than I do to England for example
Pheasey/Park Farm is in Birmingham which is why it has a ‘B’ postcode. Also Steve, Walsall is not in South Staffordshire (historically, it may have been) and hasn’t been since 1974, when it was transferred into the West Midlands county. The West Midlands is made up of seven metropolitan boroughs – City of Birmingham, City of Coventry, City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and . . . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . . Walsall. The Birmingham/Walsall border is past the entrance to Barr Beacon on the Beacon Rd heading towards Aldridge.
Hi Kevin,
The West Midlands. You of course mean the enforced areas Euro-Quango dreamt up by some unelected foreign bureaucrat in either Brussels or Strasbourg and which the (then) EEC told Edward Heath he had to impose on us in 1974, because the (then) EEC had decided to carve the United Kingdom up into 12 regions to be ultimately controlled directly from Brussels/Strasbourg. So today we have Scotland, Ulster, Wales and 9 other regions; no mention of England. You won’t find the word England on any map issued by the European Union. Postcodes don’t necessarily dictate which area you live in, for example Stone Cross in West Bromwich or if you’re a Euro-Labour member/voter ‘The People’s Republic Of Sandwell’, has like Pheasey/Park Farm a B prefix postcode (B71). Let’s meet up Kevin; and i’ll take you to a couple of pubs in Stone Cross to meet up with some of my Baggies mates living over in that neck of the woods and you can tell them that they apparently live in Birmingham and that they’re all Brummies. Their response should be interesting to say the least!!!! (and probably extremely violent)
Pheasey/Park Farm is not and never has been a part of Birmingham, hence the reason for this debate. The border between Walsall and Birmingham is not, as you incorrectly suggest, past the entrance to Barr Beacon????? It is in fact the Queslett Road, just look in any Birmingham and Black Country AZ street map. The border is clearly defined there along the Queslett Road. It’s on page 47 of my copy of the AZ.
One of UKIP’s long term aims is to abolish the ‘enforced areas quango’ (West Midlands) and return all areas to there historical counties. The term ‘Sandwell’ will also be turfed into the rubbish bin of history.
That should have read ‘their historical counties’. And Kevin thanks, you’ve given me what i consider to be an ace of an idea. Let’s scrap the ‘B’ prefix postcode for the whole of West Bromwich and replace it with a ‘WBA’ prefix. I think that a lot of our good neighbours from Whitecrest to Bearwood, from Cradley Heath to Yew Tree will be more than happy to see that happen. What do you think?
And while we’re about it, let’s dump the ‘B’ prefix for Pheasey/Park Farm and have a ‘WS’ postcode prefix instead.
Slaphead, hello. I was impressed by what you had to say, but like Ian i’m really bothered to say the least whether Pheasey/Park Farm Is a part of Walsall or some some or other neighbouring area.
The issue of post codes is irrelevant. Parts of Cannock have a WS post code and parts of Lichfield also have a WS post code yet they are certainly not part of Walsall and would not thank you for saying so.
Other parts of Walsall have a WV post code which is Wolverhampton yet they have been part of the municipal boundary of Walsall for over 40 years (they also have 01902 numbers as PPF has 0121. There are parts that have 01543). PPF has always been part of Aldridge and until recently the road name plate at Scott Arms said Birmingham Road Aldridge UDC (Urban District Council)
Originally I am from the edges of the Black Country I grew up in Willenhall but Steve I am sorry PPF is not in the Black Country, it maybe municipally but I have argued in regional arenas that Barr Beacon is not in the Black Country and hence neither is PPF or Aldridge (where I live now and my family are growing up).
Most people in the PPF area put there address as Great Barr. Great Barr is pretty much split between Sandwell, Brum and Walsall in a similar way that Darlaston is split with Sandwell and Willenhall with Wolverhampton.
Ian I agree it is not anti-Walsall at all because quite honestly if I am on holiday and people ask where I am from I will say Birmingham. Unlike many in the ‘Black Country’ I do not have a complex about the big city that sits next to the 4 ‘Black Country’ Boroughs and I have said to people in Birmingham that Walsall is the gate way to Birmingham. There are areas such as Willenhall, Darlaston and Aldridge who would not dream of putting Walsall on their address they would just leave it at their town. Do people in Sutton Coldfield put Birmingham on their address? I do not know.
If Birmingham does not succeed as a city then the rest of us, regardless of who we pay our council tax to, will fail. No other town/city in the West Midlands can hope to, or should try, to compete with Brum. What we should make sure is that a big city like Brum is a success and other areas can feed off that success. We must also make sure that Brum is not an insular city that does not allow neighbours to take advantage of successful events.
My roots are in the industrial Black Country but also in Finchley and Hemel Hempstead. My Children’s roots are in Yorkshire and the Black Country but their future is in….wherever they want it to be.
The important bit is where our future lies and our success lies in a successful city – Birmingham. Identity is a very difficult thing to determine. Pheasey or Park Farm (Nether Hall Park), Great Barr or Birmingham, Aldridge or Walsall, England or Britain? To be fair there is a bit of them all in all of us depending on where we live (or represent).
I have spent a long time trying to put PPF on the map hence the attempt at a welcome sign that says welcome to PPF in the Borough of Walsall and also the change in Ward name only to then be extended down the Sutton Road. Pheasey Park Farm for my experience IS Pheasey Park Farm. Not Brum or Walsall or Aldridge but a community that is proud and connected through family and friends in a way that I believe is not reflected in Walsall Borough.
I would be interested to know what people would like in Birmingham Neighbourhoods that is not in PPF and also what is good in PPF that is not in Brum. Remember also PPF is approximately 10,000 people in a population of 250,000 as part of Brum that would be 10,000 from over 1million people.
And just one point Ian for clarification I have a constant record of voting against the development on St Margarets and your insinuation is unfounded.
well this debate is a good one to stir some feelings up, its also rather technical….where do you draw the line with this….i was born on and lived on the park farm estate until very recently shipping out to oz. we used to joke with our mates in the horns that we gave pheasey a bit of class with and we would say that park farm was a totally different estate…..obviously we were joking before anyone gets on their high horse. after reading most comments escpecially steves i think its clear there is a difference of opinion in different age groups. steve says he has lived on the pheasey for 50 years therefore your obviously alot older than myself. ALL my friends off the pheasey proudly class themselves as brummies! you must be a bit gutted steve as i’d say the pheasey is almost full of brummies now, with many homes in recent years being bought by people wishing to move out of kingstanding/perry barr. having no affection for birmingham is only shooting yourself in the foot, i think birmingham has and is developing into a great city to be in (check crime stats against manchester, liverpool, london, and you’ll see that brum isn’t as bad as people think) and if you confine yourself to the boundaries of walsall….i think that would be enough to commit suicide!!
back to the subject in question, i cannot comment on the political side of things as i don’t know enough about it and dont really care to be honest. all i can say is that when people ask me where im from i say birmingham, and have felt like a brummy all my life, i was born at home in my parents house and my passport has always said birmingham, not walsall/aldridge or staffordshire and i have never…once felt a connection with any of the latter areas..but thats just me. as for bringing football teams into it…thats just a bit lame, theres probably a fair few man utd fans on the pheasey aswell…does that mean we live in salford then….of course not!
Hi Adrian,
We’ll also have to agree to disagree. I’d say that Pheasey/Park Farm and Aldridge are in the Greater Black Country. UKIP are the only political party at present proclaiming and supporting the Greater Staffordshire and Worcestershire Black Country area; as for example evidenced in some of our General Election leaflets delivered to homes and businesses right across the BC over recent weeks.
Like yourself i don’t have any complex about Birmingham; i’m just not that interested in the place and have never on any occasion ever told anyone i’m from that particular City.
Your remarks regarding Birmingham succeeding as a City (or not) are interesting, but an important part of an altogether different debate. Personally; and i’m sure that all of us involved in our current debate, could agree on this point, i would not like to see any part of the United Kingdom ‘fail’ to any degree whatsoever.
Hi Paul, Nope’, i’m not gutted, as many of my neighbours are definately not Brummies; and Pheasey/Park Farm is definately not just full of Brummies. I have neighbours from Glasgow, Oxford, Gibraltar, Omagh (County Tyrone) Smethwick, West Bromwich, Hamstead and various parts of Walsall, both North and South. Other neighbours however do have roots in Birmingham and hail from Witton, Lozells, Aston, Erdington, Nechells, Kingstanding and Handsworth; If they still class themselves as Brummies, well that’s fine, but there are many of us here who do not.
As for ‘bringing football teams into’ this debate being ‘a bit lame’? Maybe? – But then i didn’t start that particular part of the argument; Ian did a few days back. I just responded to a remark he made that excluded myself and a large number of friends and neighbours.
I lived in pheasey for the first 11 years of my life and think I went into Walsall town centre 2 or 3 times but went into Brum most weeks. I suppose the fact that my Dad grew up in the heart of brum meant that there was no way that I would ever consider myself anything but 100% Brummie.
I must admit, when explaining to people where I come from I say that it’s on the border of walsall and Brum.
Hi Lucy,
My dad was from Oldbury, my mum is from Smethwick. All of my other relatives hail from West Bromwich, Bearwood, Pheasey/Park Farm, Smethwick, Oldbury, Walsall Wood and Lower Gornal. There are no Brummies in my family; and no members of my family have ever lived in Birmingham. I have lived in Pheasey/Park Farm for over fifty years, i’m 100% Black Country born and bred, 100% a Staffordian; and proud of the fact.
Good debate but I agree with Steve – keep Pheasey as Walsall. Please do not tag us onto KS under Brum for goodness sake! Also Paul, you know me and I certainly do not class myself as a Brummie!!!
I caught the end of a Local Neighbourhood Watch meeting yesterday evening at Beacon Church and fell into conversation with some of the members. We were talking about the area in general, Park Farm, Pheasey, Netherhall, Orchard Hills; and one chap said that he’d left Kingstanding 40 years ago to move to Pheasey/Park Farm and was so relieved to have done so. I mentioned this website and some comments on here about taking Pheasey/Park Farm out of Walsall and tacking it on to Kingstanding and the gentlemen in question and everyone else in the room were not best pleased to say the least at the thought of that particular prospect!!!!!
Why do you think it would mean we have anything to do with Kingstanding Steve ?
the fact is the Ward boundary next to us is actually Oscott, which in many ways is the same as Pheasey in demographics. The reality is moving to Birmingham would not mean anything changes except we pay taxes to Brum, Pheasey would still have an individual identity.
Hi Ian,
Myself and most of my friends and neighbours here in Pheasey/Park Farm see Oscott as a long but unfortunately very narrow buffer zone between our suburb and Kingstanding.
I’ve now mentioned your wish to detatch Pheasey/Park Farm from Walsall and tack it onto Birmingham to a number of people locally and it’s gone down with everyone i’ve discussed the matter with about as well as a raw rat sandwich.
If you’re really serious about pushing your quite frankly barmy idea, i suggest that you put yourself up as the Euro-Labour local Borough Council election candidate for Pheasey/Park Farm next May, with your boundary change ‘masterplan’ at the forefront of your election address to voters.
Quite a few people locally have i know been waiting a number of years now to be able to discuss local issues such as Euro-Labour dumping hundreds of houses in their green belt, pretty well at the bottom of their back gardens, with a truely local Euro-Labour council election candiate; I’ve also been waiting to see one of you put yourself up as a candidate and go knocking on doors and leafleting along, let’s say for example, Park Farm Road, Foxwood Avenue and Crail Grove; but somehow i think i’ll be waiting a good few years more yet before that actually happens!!!!!
Yes it will be Steve because given my job there is no way I could take on a campaign and campaign to win.
As for St Margaret’s as you very well know the Labour party locally were against it and it went through due process.
the fact the site had been neglected for so many years is a shame on the previous Labour, Tory and Tory/LD administrators.
A forward looking council would have seeked park status for the area to be managed between the three local councils as it affects people on all three sides.
Hi Ian,
Yes, a number of people who were in the Pheasey/Park Farm branch of the Labour Party were against any housing/building development whatsoever in Great Barr Park; and a good few of us left the party because we felt we were being betrayed by the Labour Party both in Walsall and Nationally over the issue. Myself, Darren Porter and Bill Newman to name but three.
I was about the first to feel that we were going to be stitched up by the party over Great Barr Park; and i was unfortunately proved right – and that fact combined with a sudden switch to a rabidly pro-European Community (as the EU was then called) policy by Labour from a very anti-EC – let’s leave it tomorrow – position, was enough for me to cut up my membership card and leave the party.
Bill and Gloria Newman, Reg Steele, Frank Ingram and Mr Lambourne (can’t remember his Christian name at the minute) were as i recall, all really unhappy about the u-turn regarding the EC, especially Mr Lambourne who was even more anti-EC than i was!!!!! (and that was saying something!!!)
As we all now know, Lord Bovis Of Hull (to be) Euro-Labour multi-millionaire toff about town John Prescott, signed the paperwork to allow his wealthy pals from Bovis to dump hundreds of homes in our green belt Great Barr Park without ‘two Jags’ even ever visiting Pheasey/Park Farm.
We can both agree on the fact that every Euro-Labour and Conservative/Liberal Democrat run Council administration locally have completely neglected Great Barr Park and Great Barr Hall since 1978, which i agree has seen totally shameful behaviour by all the politicians concerned with regard to poor decisions made in relation to the park and hall.
See Steve, i can not really comment on the going on’s at that time I had been a party memeber for a few years but only had just started to go to the branch meetings, whilst Bill was still councillor and I was not involved.
However on your last point it is the very reason I feel we have been neglected, the Park and Hall could have been made into something special. Just off the M6 junction, easy access f the motivation was there from Walsall they could have put something together.
It was the council’s neglect that led to the eventual home. I would ask the question who took the bovis money and what happened to it ?
None of it as far as I could see was given to the local people and estates that is th ones bordering the park from Pheasey, Scotts and what I call Park Hall.
Hi Ian,
You were obviously attending meetings when Bill Newman, who of the remaining Pheasey/Park Farm Labour branch members at that time, refused absolutely and to his credit, to alter one jot his totally anti-Bovis, anti/development/building homes in Great Barr Park stance; And as a result he was, as everyone locally is aware, de-selected as a Councillor/Local Council Election candidate for Euro-labour for the Pheasey/Park Farm Ward, in what Bill and Gloria and many other people consider to have been a totally ‘rigged’ selection board process.
I agree with you that the park and hall could have been, in fact could be, turned into ‘something special’ – the complete restoration of the hall for starters, using identical building materials to those used from the 1700’s to early 20th century. With easy access as you correctly say from the M6, with the right motivation Walsall Borough Council could transform the hall and park into a tourist attraction, visited by people from all over the globe.
Yep Ian, money. Some people must have, as you correctly intimate, made money, probably a great deal of money from Bovis being allowed by Euro-Labour to desecrate OUR park. You’re right none of that cash was given to anyone living locally i’d say. So who, obviously asides from the builders, did profit by the Bovis carpetbaggers concreting over OUR green belt????
I’d really like to know the answer to that question like yourself and probably everyone else here for miles around.
Steve, I only went to I think two branch meetings with Bill so I can not possibly comment on the politics at that time apart from the general stuff.
However you can not say that Bruce was in favour of it he and Tom Watson were supporters of the Gt Barr action committee (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greatbarrhall/gbhac.htm)
I guess most if not all of the money went to the the NHS but unfortunately that fight was lost.
just got to make sure no more is built, Bovis will be back at some point, especially if as promised the Tories try and free up the planning process and make it quicker.
Hi Ian,
Bruce George and Tom Watson were not supporters of the Bovis application – well so what. The pair of them were about as useful as chocolate teapots in the fight to prevent the overspill from being dumped into OUR park. Mmm; One minute you want to know where a lot of the Bovis money went to in relation to the Great Barr Park ‘development’ – and the next you’re guessing that it went to the NHS. I think i’d guess again, being the completely jaundiced cynic that i undoubtedly am.
We can agree totally that absolutely no more homes must be built anywhere in Great Barr Park. And you’re right, Bovis will almost certainly be back to rip up and concrete over more of our green belt in the park at some point. UKIP, as i’m sure you’d fully expect the party to, are keeping a watchful eye over the park, both at local and MEP level; and will be active in fighting any further house/apartment building anywhere inside GBP, easier planning process or otherwise. It’s somewhat ironic that i left the Labour Party over building homes inside Great Barr Park and Labour’s disgraceful u-turn regarding it’s position on the European Community (now European Union) from anti-EC/EU to rabid supporter – as it will be a UKIP member of the European Parliament, Mike Nattrass, who will be at the forefront of any fight to stop Bovis if they attempt another green belt land grab here in the next few years!!!!!
I have just posted in the Great Barr Hap blog about the current ownership which no doubt you knew about
Therefore it appears the future is non exisitant for the Hall, the only fight left is to make sure no houses are built.
the question is whether all three councillors agree with this stance
If they do agree how does the future lie for the rest of the land ?
Hi Ian,
Never say never with regard to the future of the hall. Some of us are simply not going to give up the fight to save GBH, however long it takes.
I obviously cannot speak for the three Pheasey/Park Farm councillors, but no doubt they will give their respective views on the subject of keeping any further house/apartment building out of Great Barr Park at some point.
Politics and football teams shouldn’t come into it. Just look at the service Birmingham provide for a higher council tax and having to leave plastic bin bags in the street. Ask the people of Sutton Coldfield about the joy of becoming a forgotten part of Birmingham.For your information it is Pheasey/Park Farm previously Aldridge and Brownhills which is now Walsall. My wife and her mother have lived on the estate for 51 years and object to having Birmingham Post Codes and Telephone numbers. The bigger an organisation gets the worse it gets. As for cheap comments about watching the saddlers on TV i can’t remember Sutton Coldfield Town being on either.
I have lived in Birmingham and have many friends who envy me for being able to pay our council tax to Walsall. We have three good councillors and have better facilities than Birmingham. Labours latest choice as a candidate for Parliament was a bit dubious but due to the good folk of places like Darlaston she got in-I’m sure Pheasey didn’t vote for her but i’m sure that you must have been pleased with the result. Perhaps a more worthwhile campaign might be to get us back in the Aldridge & Brownhills constituency where we belong and then we might get an MP that we actually voted for! As for people going to Birmingham more times than Walsall I go to Lichfield more times than either. Should I fight for us to be part of Lichfield? Tamworth has a Birmingham Postcode but do they want to be part of Birmingham? I very much doubt it.
I like both places but if you suceed with this can we dump our rubbish bags at your house as the Birmingham Collection record is abysmal?
Up the Saddlers!
Thanks Mike for the comment.
A lot fo that has been covered in the debates above but when you look at Pheasey just as a thought do you include Orchard hills as part of the voting procedure ?
Because please remember before the residents there were added on the Pheasey and Park Farm Estate during the years always voted at least one if not two and once three labour candidates
before OH was added on can you remember a time when we had three tory councillors, maybe in 1983 or so but I was only 11 !
as for council Tax for comparable housing brackets on Pheasey it is cheaper in Birmingham
Band B (my house) for 2009-2010
Walsall – £1,149
Birmingham – £962
Hi Ian
Thanks for setting up this blog, very impressed however it did take much reading to find a credible point to your campaign to move Pheasey into Birmingham; a £187 saving in tax.
May I suggest the debate would open up to more than the ramblings of 3 (bat Mike) should you summarise the negative reasons of PPF being within Walsall and the positives for moving to B’ham. I am sure more will comment on your accuracy/misgivings.
For what its worth I can think of a few for’s & againsts’, mostly of little importance; my conclusion is to remain as we are.
I will produce a further article in the next two weeks Kevin with the pro and cons and see what is replied to off the back of the observer letter I sent.
Hi Mike,
You raise some interesting points in your comments, for example, the fact that Birmingham’s long suffering residents have to use bin bags for their household and garden waste, as opposed to the three sturdy wheelie bins available to all Walsall residents.
As a probable result of having to use bin bags rather than bins, Birmingham residents in many areas (including Kingstanding) have been plagued for years with much reported problems with infestations of rodents – a problem happily, as far as i’m aware, not shared by residents here in Pheasey/Park Farm and the wider South Walsall area in general.
I have a good number of friends living in Sutton Coldfield; and to a man and woman, all of them resent the ‘current’ situation of being trapped inside Birmingham; and long to see the day when Sutton regains the independence the Town and people had stolen from them back in 1974.
Like yourself, your wife and mother-in-law, myself and my family also resent having a Birmingham postcode and telephone prefix code.
You’re correct with regard to the Euro-Labour vote in Pheasey/Park Farm in the recent General and local elections. The percentages of votes cast for Euro-Labour in Park Farm and Pheasey were very low; The majority of votes cast for Euro-Labour locally were actually in Nether Hall Park and Orchard Hills.
I’d be more than happy to see Pheasey/Park Farm back as a part of Aldridge/Brownhills – and like yourself i visit/shop in Lichfield far more often than i visit or shop in Birmingham.
Come on you Baggies!
Hi Ian,
If your Euro-Labour local election candidate, any of his counting agents – anyone in fact from the Pheasey/Park Farm Euro-Labour Party had actually bothered to turn up at the count for the local elections in Walsall on May 7th, they’d have seen that a majority of the Euro-Labour votes cast here were from Orchard Hills and Nether Hall.
As you know full well, the reason the Euro-Labour vote has collapsed in Park Farm and Pheasey, is because Lord Bovis of Hull (John ‘toff’ Prescott) signed the paperwork to allow the Bovis ‘carpetbaggers’ to concrete over OUR green belt Great Barr Park.
Face facts Ian, Euro-Labour let the good people of Pheasey/Park Farm down badly with regard to the Bovis application – and as a result Euro-Labour are ‘toast’ in PPF now and for the foreseeable future!
Hi Kevin,
Don’t you think that £187 is a small price to pay to live in our green and pleasant suburb of Pheasey/Park Farm; and a distance away from Kingstanding, Perry Common, Witton, Aston, Lozells, Newtown, Handsworth, Castle Vale, Chelmsley Wood, Nechells, Ladywood, Small Heath, Highgate, Lee Bank, Bordesley Green, Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Alum Rock, Washwood Heath, Gravelly Hill, Ward End, Saltley, Balsall Heath, Hay Mills, Winson Green etc etc?
Cheers Steve.
“majority of the Euro-Labour votes cast here were from Orchard Hills and Nether Hall”
Now Steve I can not comment as I was not there but we came 2nd in that election with over a thousand votes, you saying we got that many for Orchard Hills ?
come on Steve, I know Bruce may have voted along with Lisa and a couple of labour members from OH but not that many !!
Hi Ian,
I was out on the stump right across Pheasey/Park Farm for a month leading up to the elections and i got to speak to a large number of voters over that period. I didn’t encounter one single person anywhere in Park Farm or Pheasey that said they were going to vote Euro-Labour in either election and neither did i see one single Euro-Labour poster in any window in either area. In fact all of the comments regarding Euro-Labour i heard there were negative and the majority of those are unrepeatable here.
There were plenty of Euro-Labour posters and flyers in evidence in windows right across Orchard Hills; and i spoke to a lot of people there and in Nether Hall that said they were intending to vote Euro-Labour in both the local and General elections. I was out leafleting and talking to people with Derek Bennett next door in Paddock and we heard a similar response there too.
Support for Euro-Labour right along the Sutton Road from the Three Crowns to the Broadway appeared pretty strong to me; and without a sizeable vote in Orchard Hills and Nether Hall i honestly think that Euro-Labour would have finished in last place in Pheasey/Park Farm behind the Lib-Dums.
I thought the same over 20 years ago. I wrote to the Local Government review body that was discussing political boundaries in 186/87. Jeff Rooker the Perry Barr MP replied that Pheasey was not really part of Walsall.
The area was traditionally in Staffordshire but Pheasey has only really existed since the 1930’s (when the estate was built?). In 1974 I believe we became part of the West Midlands and moved into the Walsall council area from the old Aldridge Brownhills.
I certainly believe that the majority of Park Farm and Pheasey people would consider themselves as Birmingham people. The bus transport links are geared for travel to Birmingham rather than Walsall although the latter have improved. I would bet the Birmingham Mail sells better than any Black Country paper in the local newsagents. When I say I am going to “town” I never mean Walsall.
I doubt if any campaign would really make a difference. Birmingham is the biggest local authority in the country and I doubt if anyone in power wishes to see it bigger. I don’t feel part of Walsall but I think that our local government will be based there for some time to come. If Pheasey/Park Farm residents want change the situation then local people should put themselves up as candidates for the local elections but even if elected the party machines would attempt to strangle their few voices as the status quo probably suits our existing representatives.
Hi Duncan,
You didn’t say when you gave your views above, whether or not you actually live in Pheasey/Park Farm? – And the only person you seem to have asked (and about twenty five years ago) whether PPF is a part of Walsall (which it most certainly is) or some other place over in North Warwickshire, is Jeff Rooker.
Jeff bloody Rooker!!!!!! – And his connection to Pheasey/Park Farm is what exactly?
The last time i looked at the Electoral Register for my home suburb of Pheasey/Park Farm (in May), i didn’t see Rooker’s name there!
Pheasey/Park Farm is in Staffordshire; always has been, always will be. The enforced areas Euro-Quango (West Midlands) created by unelected foreign bureaucrats; and which Edward Heath forcibly imposed in 1974, is recognised and beloved of few people outside of the anti-British, pro-EU LibLabCon and some of their ever decreasing band of supporters.
The main bus route through the suburb actually runs from Walsall to Birmingham and back again, so how exactly is that service – and i quote you – ‘geared for travel to Birmingham rather than Walsall’?
I’m also a firm believer in the old Black Country saying ‘If you want to know what’s really happening in Birmingham (as well of course as home BC territory) then buy a Wolverhampton newspaper (i.e. the Express & Star).
Why would anyone in their right mind purchase the PC, no-news Birmingham Mail, when the jam-packed, no-nonsense, no punches pulled ‘Star’ is available. Many of my neighbours buy the ‘Star’; i don’t know anyone in PPF who wastes their money on the Mail.
If you do live locally Duncan; why not put yourself up as a candidate in the Borough elections next May on a ‘Pheasey To Birmingham’ ticket?