Last week it was A Levels results and this week it was the turn of GCSEs. Yesterday young people across the borough found out their results and began planning their next steps into work, further education or training. I hope we can all celebrate our young people’s achievements. Exams were always a nightmare time for me when I was young, so I am really pleased it has come to an end for everyone!
I know some might not have got the results they wanted, but there’s still plenty of time to explore other paths in education, work or apprenticeships. If you want to know more about the options available, our excellent employment and skills team are running a number of summer workshops giving advice to young people across the borough. You can select a convenient workshop through this online form.
I’ve talked a little bit about the government’s new housing targets in recent messages, and my desire to protect our valuable greenbelt in the face of renewed pressure to release more of it for development. One of the key things we can do to achieve that whilst still providing the good quality homes people need is by building on brownfield sites. A great example of this is the ongoing work at the site of the former Mountfort pub in Kingshurst.
The first 25 homes are nearing completion, and they have been built using modern, energy-efficient materials with thermal efficiency at the heart of the build. This approach is good for the environment of course, but also good for the bank balance in the long term as it leads to significantly lower energy bills.
I’ve promoted community defibrillator schemes here before, so I was very pleased to see that one has been installed in Elmdon following a sterling effort by local people. Their hard work and fundraising has led to the installation of a defibrillator in a cabinet outside Elmdon Church, following support from West Midlands Ambulance Service and FastAid, a local charity. It’ll be a real asset for Elmdon, and whilst I hope it doesn’t need to be used very often, it’s wonderful that it will be in place if required.
We’ve opened the first of three children’s homes run by the Council across Solihull. It was a real pleasure to tour the house. I can honestly say there’s no sense of ‘institution’ about the place, it’s a family home like any other, designed around the needs of the children and young people who will live there with expert and caring staff on hand. The homes will, crucially, allow us more control and better maintenance of family and community links for the children than sending them out of borough. It’s also less expensive than finding private provision or paying another local authority, which allows us to focus our resources in other areas of need at a difficult financial time.
And finally, I do want to mention the wonderful work of the Shirley Ambassador Group and the Council’s Visit Solihull team to brighten up the Stratford Road in Shirley. Spiders and beetles have joined the free art trail along the Stratford Road in Shirley, thanks to funding from the UK government which has allowed the art trail to be extended.
I know painting the utility boxes has been a real hit with the local community, bringing colour to the street and deterring graffiti. Pickle Illustration worked with local residents to come up with the designs with the new ones based on spiders, beetles, snowdrops, cherry blossom and roses, celebrating the newly opened rose garden in Shirley Park.
Have a great bank holiday weekend everyone,
Councillor Ian Courts