The Local Government Boundary Commission has today published its final recommendations for new ward boundaries in Birmingham. Previous drafts proposed a ‘Monyhull Ward’ which covered the small Monyhull Grange Estate and Druids Heath but despite Druids Heath having a population almost 5 times the size of Monyhull it was set to be wiped off the map.
MP Steve McCabe teamed up with local Councillors and the local community to tell the Boundary Commission this was not good enough and they are really pleased that the Commission have listened.
Druids Heath is now concentrating on its next battle, the fight against the closure of Baverstock School. As with the boundary changes, local residents, councillors and Steve McCabe have teamed up in a campaign to ‘Save our Baverstock’.
Steve McCabe MP said:
“I am really pleased the Boundary Commission have listened to local people about the new Druids Heath Ward. Druids Heath is a close knit community and forms by far the biggest part of this ward so it seemed ridiculous it wasn’t even recognised in the new name. That’s also the case with the new Brandwood and Kings Heath ward where we were in danger of wiping centuries of history from the map because those making the decision lacked local knowledge. Once again I’m glad that local people have had their voices heard.
“Name recognition is important but there’s not much point in persuading a bunch of bureaucrats to change the name of an area if another bunch can come along and close the local school. This is about localism and people power, neither I nor the local community are going to let them close our school without an awful fight. It’s just plain wrong that young people in this area should be forced to travel miles for their secondary education. What they deserve is a high quality, well managed and well-resourced local school that gets great results. That’s what I want and what the people of Druids Heath want and that’s what we are determined to fight for.’
For more information on Birmingham’s new ward boundaries visit: http://www.lgbce.org.uk/current-reviews/west-midlands/west-midlands/birmingham
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