Following the Government’s announcement the playground is now closed until further notice.

Parish Councillor Mike Small yesterday joined members of Dickens Heath Scouts to plant saplings, provided by The Woodland Trust, on the Village Green. This makes Dickens Heath officially the first to work with Solihull MBC on their campaign to plant more trees in the Borough.
Well done to all involved!

On March 4th 2020, members of the Parish Council were delighted to attend the official opening of The Hub, a new community premises located at Dickens Heath Community Primary School. Borough Councillor Ken Hawkins and former pupil Max are seen cutting the ribbon. The facility has been a very long time in the planning, and it is great to see The Hub finally open.
Dickens Heath Scouts have been looking forward to basing themselves at the facility, and there are plans to set up a Youth Group based at The Hub in the near future – with the Parish Council funding a youth worker.
The Parish Council would like to thank everyone who has contributed towards the success of this project.

Good afternoon,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to announce the cancellation of Vélo Birmingham & Midlands 2020 that was due to take place on Sunday 21 June 2020.

HM Government are strongly advising against mass gatherings and non-essential travel and even if it is possible that the situation may have improved by June 21 (which seems far from certain), working restrictions and self-isolation recommendations mean that we are simply unable to complete the work necessary in the next few weeks to ensure that the event could proceed safely and with minimum support from and/or disruption to local emergency services, whose vital work is rightly focused on supporting public health needs through these exceptional circumstances.

Vélo apologise for any inconvenience caused, particularly to those that made specific arrangements around the event and associated road closures. You can find more information about the cancellation on our website at www.velobirmingham.com 

To confirm, Vélo Birmingham & Midlands ­will not be taking place on Sunday 21 June and there will be no road closures associated with the event.

Vélo are now committed to ensuring that people are informed and updated about the cancellation, and we kindly ask you to assist us in informing any local residents and remove any leaflets or information you may have put up within your Parish.

Thank you in advance for your help and support in communicating this.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on route@velobirmingham.com

On behalf of the whole Vélo Team, we want to wish you well over the coming weeks and months.

Many thanks,

Emily

The Vélo Birmingham & Midlands Route Team

DICKENS HEATH LIBRARY

Last night’s parish council meeting saw a reprieve for Dickens Heath Library. Alison McGrory, Assistant Director at Solihull Council, agreed that Dickens Heath Library is a special case and more work needs to be done with the local community to ensure the opening hours meet the needs of the community. The council wants communities to think of libraries not just as a place, but as a building that has books that the community can use.

As well as 24 local residents, Borough Councillors Richard Holt and Ken Hawkins were present. All heard a smashing speech from a young resident about how he and his friends use the library after school and the proposed changes would stop that.

The Parish Council and Borough Councillors look forward to working with the Library Service and residents to ensure our library meets the needs of its growing community.

In the meantime, the two petitions will be presented to Solihull Council at its next meeting (Thursday 27 February). If you have not signed the hard copy you can do so at the parish council office or via the online petition (link attached).

Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s Parish Council meeting, and who signed the petitions to object to the reduction in Library opening hours. Thank you to the residents who spoke up so passionately about how important the Library is to them, and in particular to the young man in Year 6 who conveyed what the Library means to young people. The Senior SMBC Library Officers in attendance acknowledged the strong feeling of the community and agreed to carry out a wider engagement with residents – to find out when residents would like to use the Library, as current opening hours do not necessarily suit most residents. A small working group will be formed to progress this – a number of residents in attendance put their names forward to join this, with members of the Parish Council and SMBC Officers.

Once the working group has been set up, further information will be posted – so that as many residents as possible can have their say on the future of our Library.

Borough Councillor Ken Hawkins has set up an online petition so that residents can sign to support retaining current opening hours at the Library. SMBC propose to cut the opening hours on Tuesdays and Saturday afternoons – full details in an earlier post.

You can sign the petition at:

https://www.change.org/p/solihull-metropolitan-borough-council-retain-dickens-heath-library-opening-hours?fbclid=IwAR3h1XOGdUWUEVNGfMT4YB34iTpwtgSwuAaNVSHMNDLOhssnH91QW9iwu_E

Big Hours Cut Proposed at Dickens Heath LibrarySolihull Council have proposed the cutting of Dickens Heath Library opening hours by 26%, to just 14 hours per week, from 1st April 2020, bringing back the September 2019 plans that the Parish Council successfully opposed and were deferred at that time. The Parish Council was especially disappointed as only last April their Offices were sold, the mortgage paid off, and they co-located into the 1st Floor of the Library as a cost saving partnership for us both. This move had been long in arranging and was aimed at safeguarding the Community Library with the Parish Council now paying 45% of the building’s expensive running costs. The proposal to then reduce Library opening hours came as a huge disappointment and strong representations were made, supported by Cllr. Ken Hawkins, leading to the plans in the Library Review being further deferred by Cllr. Rolf, on 27th January, until June for further local consultation. 
We now need Community Action to support our Dickens Heath Library Campaign – here’s how: At the next Parish Council Meeting there are two Senior Solihull Council Officers – Kate Bunting (Libraries) and Alyson McGrory (Asst. Director) – attending to explain the proposals and hear the Parish Council/Community Views.  To “REVERSE THE PROPOSED CUT IN OPENING HOURS” – Public attendance at 7.15pm on Tuesday 11th February at the Library would greatly help.  To Sign the Petition to support the Parish Council at our stand at the Food & Craft Market at the Village Hall 10.00am to 12.00noon on Saturday 8th February (note this is a new time for the Craft & Food Market this month only). A copy of the petition to Solihull Council is attached in case any concerned residents would like to collect signatures from family or friends etc. and return to Dickens Heath Parish Council c/o Dickens Heath Library by 22nd February.  Email personal representations direct to Cllr Alison Rolf, the Cabinet Post Holder, at Solihull Council at alison.rolf@solihull.gov.uk 
The Proposed New Opening Hours are – Monday 2.00pm to 5.00pm (cut 1 hour) Tuesdays Closed (cut 3 hours) Wednesdays Closed (as now) Thursdays 10.00am to 1.00pm & 2.00pm to 6.00pm (1 hour increase) Saturday 10.00am to 2.00pm (cut 2 hours) 
We say it makes little sense to have a costly Library building as a public asset open for just 14 hours a week, particularly given that the Parish Council  is now sharing the use and costs.