Solihull is one of the best places to live in the country and the best in the West Midlands. At least according to a recent poll of thousands of British people. The actual title of the study was ‘the most envied lifestyles’, which is perhaps even more gratifying as it suggests something more all-encompassing than nice houses. I agree, as I am sure many of my fellow Silhillians will, that our fine schools and parks, our thriving town centre, great shops and restaurants, and many other factors make our town and our borough an enviable place to live.
I have already mentioned our schools – I hope everyone, teachers and pupils, old and new alike, have settled back in well after the summer holidays. For some students, thoughts will already be turning to what will follow when they leave school; so it was gratifying to see strong results for local universities in recently published guides. In a recent message, I outlined my concerns about the financial burden placed on young people going on to higher education. One way to reduce the costs is to live at home, so having top class institutions like Warwick, Birmingham and Aston within easy reach is extremely valuable. There are a number of different league tables that rank based on varied criteria, I have chosen to share this particular one because it is very comprehensive.
Not everyone chooses to go on to University; last week’s message outlined a number of different opportunities available to young people in Solihull. This week I want to highlight Solihull College and the broad range of courses they offer, including many specifically tailored to get people into good jobs when they leave. For anyone thinking about what to do when they leave school, or feeling listless having left in the summer and looking for a next move, there are a number of events coming up targeted at different people. There will also be a presence at our upcoming apprenticeship show.
I would also like to cast the spotlight in the direction of the WMG Academy for Young Engineers (WMGA) in Fordbridge. Supported by the University of Warwick and many illustrious partners from industry, they offer a career-led education for 14–19-year-olds with a focus on placements and making students ready for the workplace or further training. As far as I’m aware, the academy and its sister institution in Coventry are unique in the way they are set up to feed directly into our engineering industry, something we in Solihull can be very proud of.
One of the great engineering challenges that faces all of us in the coming years and decades is the need to reduce our consumption of plastics. Microplastics, the tiny remnants of our discarded packaging and all the other plastic products that now populate the world, end up in the oceans. From there they build up in sea creatures and our water and now, it seems, in our brains (paywall). It is impossible to avoid plastic entirely, as it is now so ubiquitous in our lives and everything we consume; however, I do think we should all be considering more what we buy, attempting to reduce use of plastics where we can. Who knows, maybe the solution to the problem of microplastics will be developed by one of our local graduates?
Sticking with environmental matters, we have published our Air Quality Strategy. It outlines the steps we’ll be taking across the next four years to improve air quality across the borough. It’s something we need to be very conscious of, especially in the face of the government’s increased housing targets. Our borough contains the Meriden Gap, the green buffer between Coventry and Birmingham. Air quality is something that may well suffer if we are forced to concede that pristine green belt land is in fact grey belt and must be built on. I have spoken about this before, and I will do so again as we seek to protect the green lungs of the region from development.
Finally, I had a wonderful visit to Flooid’s new regional head office and innovation hub in Solihull recently. It was a pleasure to meet their CEO, Martyn Osborne, to talk about what they’re bringing to our borough with their incredible new facility. They are genuine technology pioneers in their field and operate on a global scale, a great example of the kind of rapid-growth tech businesses that we already have several of in Solihull - and we are always keen to welcome more.
Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend.
Councillor Ian Courts