On Wednesday I sat in the hot seat on BBC Radio WM for an hour and took questions from listeners and the presenter, Ed James. I’m going to give a little summary here so you can see what other Solihull residents wanted to know, and the answers I gave.
Georgina from Chelmsley Wood got us started, asking about the difference between the southern and northern parts of our borough when it comes to things like getting potholes fixed and streets cleaned.
Firstly, I made it clear that whilst people talk about a north/south divide that’s not how I view Solihull and not how I want anyone to view it. Services are delivered fairly and if you report a pothole in Chelmsley Wood, it goes through the same system as one in Balsall Common. We treat every area the same. I also talked about the exciting Pride in Place project we have, with £20m of funding available over the next 10 years being managed by local residents, for local residents. I’ll be in touch with Georgina to arrange a time for her to show me round her area so I can see the cause of her concerns in person and make sure those issues are dealt with.
We moved onto Mell Square, I know lots of people had asked about it, but Ed played me a voice note from Lee in Solihull. Getting new residents into Solihull Town Centre is vital to secure the future of leisure and retail, driving footfall to our town centre. It’s also important that we build in urban areas, we have to build homes elsewhere in the borough to meet housing targets and that means sacrificing green space, which we want to avoid wherever possible. The plans for Mell Square, which will be delivered in phases, combines town centre living with modern commercial spaces which are attractive to businesses.
I was also asked about the Post Office as part of this, and all I can say for now is that they’ve had a lot of interest in that town centre franchise and it’s up to Post Office ltd to progress that, but I am hopeful and confident that we’ll see progress on this soon. I know it’s a vital service and I want to see it back as soon as possible.
I then spoke to Sharon in Solihull, who asked about business support. Whilst it might not directly apply to Sharon, we do have the new Indespoke space in the town centre, but we also have lots of existing support for entrepreneurs and small business through our own teams and the West Midlands Growth Company.
Steve asked about the police station closing. I’m pleased to say that the police aren’t leaving Solihull, just moving to a new and more fit-for-purpose space on the Council House site. Ed and I talked a bit about concerns around anti-social behaviour, and I made the point that there’s a collective responsibility. As a council we provide activities like the new summer youth hub and the expansion of our Youth Bus provision. But there’s also a question to be asked of the parents of these children and young people who might be hanging around causing trouble, everybody has to take responsibility.
After that, Amina called to talk about SEND support for her child. I agree that it often takes too long for a diagnosis, our health service is under significant pressure on this front but we want to see improvements made. I talked about our brilliant local SEND support groups like Solihull Parent Carer Voice and Our Voices Heard, and I’ve promised to follow up with Amina directly so I can understand all the details of her situation properly and see what I can do to help.
Then we heard from Lisa in Shirley who asked about recycling. I was happy to reassure her that we recycle everything we are able to, and the waste which can’t be recycled is sent to a special plant to be converted to energy. It’s timely as well, as we started deliveries of food waste caddies this week ahead of the new collections in October. I’m excited to see if it will help me reduce my own food waste and whether we as a borough can waste less food and maybe save a bit of money in the process. The question also gave me a chance to plug our excellent waste collection reminder service.
Peggy, also in Shirley, asked about speeding in the local area. I wasn’t surprised to hear this, I’d reported it to the police myself the day before. We’re seeing boy racers doing a loop around using the Stratford Road and surrounding smaller roads. We need greater police enforcement on this. Traffic calming measures are important, but often they just move the issue to the next road. It needs to be stopped at the source with police action. I know they’re stretched, but it’s a big concern for a lot of our residents and puts people in danger.
I then spoke to June from Chelmsley Wood about concerns she has regarding her care payments. Again, as it was a specific situation I’ve committed to sorting this out off the air with June and her family and our Adult Social Care staff will be in touch with her.
Finally, Sarah shared her feelings about protecting the greenbelt and ensuring there is adequate infrastructure in place before large developments are built. I agree with her entirely, I hope the new National Planning Policy Framework reflects that when it arrives later this year. We need better co-operation between developers who are working on separate sites in the same location and an infrastructure first approach that means schools, roads, GP services and everything else residents need are strongly considered in the planning process.
If you want to listen back to the whole thing, it’s the first hour of the show on this link.
In other news, Citizens Advice Solihull Borough (CASB) has been awarded a multi-year contract to deliver community information and advice services across Solihull.
Following a robust and competitive tender process, Solihull Council has selected CASB as its chosen provider to deliver the new service from 1 October 2026. The current provider will continue to deliver the existing service until this date.
Before I go, I just need to mention the recent fires we’ve seen in some of our parks. The fire service have been working hard as the hot and dry weather means grass areas can catch fire easily. Please be extra careful with cigarettes and anything else that could cause a spark. Remember, deliberately starting fires is never a prank or joke - it puts lives, wildlife and communities at serious risk. Thanks to nine-year-old Carter, who has made some excellent posters to highlight this important issue.
Thanks for reading, my column is going on a summer break now, it’ll be back in September.
Karen