We’ve had plenty of sun this week, but there’s definitely a bit of an autumnal chill creeping into the mornings now. Perfect timing then for the Solihull Food & Harvest Festival this weekend. Harvest Festivals have marked the changing seasons since pagan times in this country, and whilst the way we celebrate this time of year has evolved over the centuries you’ll still be able to experience many of the traditional elements in Solihull Town Centre this weekend.
There will be plenty of music from 17 choirs, reggae bands and tribute acts, line dancing on Sunday and of course, the food itself, with an indoor/outdoor farmers market in Mell Square and tasting sessions celebrating the best of British produce. There’s even a scarecrow competition. I love events like this, I feel like the town really comes alive when it’s packed with people enjoying themselves, eating lovely food and enjoying the entertainment so thank you to Solihull BID for all their hard work organising it, I’m sure it’ll be a huge success.
Staying in Solihull Town Centre for now, and some good news for local independent makers as Mill Lane Collective has opened, giving them the chance to showcase their goods and grow their businesses. There’re candles, custom gifts, clothing, sustainable accessories and bespoke floral arrangements as well as art, stationery and cosmetics. Pop along to 5 Mill Lane and have a look at what’s on offer to support local people at the start of their business journey.
We’ve recently published the first Annual Report for the Council Plan 2025-2030, reflecting the Council’s achievements and highlights from April 2025 to March 2026. It’s been a momentous year in terms of our achievements. I’m especially proud to say that Solihull Council has been rated among the highest performing local authorities for Adult Social Care in 2026, fulfilling our ambitions to provide services that people need in the right place at the right time, and supporting adults to maximise wellbeing and independence. We have also been named as one of the UK’s strongest business growth hotspots, showing that we are an attractive place for employees to live, organisations to invest in, and people outside of the borough to visit.
We’re launching a new Here2Help advice service from 1st October, which will expand advice and support into more communities across Solihull. This will replace the existing Community Advice Hubs. Advisers will initially be prioritising urgent enquiries and people already on the waiting list, with a full slate of in-person venues across the 17 council wards being announced over the coming weeks and months.
Last week the new Best Start Family Hub Network Site opened at Monkspath Junior School. It’s very early days, the signs aren’t even up yet, but there’s already a good programme of help, support, and activities running. You can have a look at the timetable here.
The award-winning Offending 2 Recovery (O2R) programme, a pioneering initiative that has transformed lives and reduced crime across the West Midlands, has officially expanded into Solihull. We’re working with West Midlands Police and Solihull Integrated Addiction Service (SIAS) to tackle drug and alcohol dependency which often leads to repeat offending as people shoplift to feed their habit. It’s been working well across the West Midlands (as seen on BBC Midlands Today this week) so hopefully we’ll see even further success here in Solihull.
Finally, we’ve taken the next step with our Local Plan. The Draft Submission Plan will go to Cabinet next week before being submitted to Full Council for approval on Tuesday 6th October. If agreed, the plan will be published for six weeks to allow residents and other interested parties to comment on the plan. I will of course keep you updated about all of this.
Thanks for reading, enjoy your weekend.
Karen