Moseley Forum

The following is a press release sent out by SusMo after the decision on Thursday.

SusMo officers will meet next week to decide if there is an effective method of reversing the decision.

"It is with some regret that SusMo must report that the application made by St. Mary’s Church with regards to the installation of a photovoltaic array on their south-facing roof has been turned down by the Planning Committee. We are very disappointed in their decision. Just last week, Birmingham launched its ‘Green New Deal’, and the City Council signed up to the 10:10, and for the Planning Committee to instantly reject a promising microgeneration project such as this has little resonance with those commitments, and bodes ill for Birmingham’s low carbon future.

Professor John Dowell spoke on behalf of St. Mary’s Church, confirming the parish’s dual commitment to the preservation of historic buildings and energy conservation. He emphasised that the array would be subtle, and easily reversible – and that no opposition had been received from anyone who lives in the streets surrounding the church. Professor Dowell also highlighted that to reject the project would be inconsistent with Birmingham’s energy policy.

Also speaking in support was Councillor Ernie Hendricks, speaking on behalf of Moseley as a whole. While sympathetic to the issue of conservation, he felt that the solar panels would be restricted from view and the fixing of them would cause no material damage; and that on balance the project should be commended. Notably, he referenced Planning Policy Statements PPS 1, 2 and 22, and elements of Birmingham’s Unitary Development Plan which highlighted the council’s policy to encourage buildings in Birmingham to be energy efficient. He also drew attention to the West Midlands Regional Climate Change Action Plan and the City Council’s policy Cutting CO2.

Of the eight Councillors that spoke, Councillor Sharpe, Councillor Ward, Councillor Whorwood and Councillor Kooner were in favour. Conversely, Councillors Smith, Gaved and Beauchamp spoke against.

Ultimately, seven voted against, six for, with two abstentions.

After the meeting, Councillor Hendricks stressed that there was a gap in planning policy and there was room for additional planning guidance in determining applications where issues of conservation and climate change were combined.

It is now for the church to decide whether they will appeal the decision, or submit a new plan. Unfortunately, the delay may mean that the St. Mary’s project will lose the £30,000 grant that SusMo was awarded by British Gas. We very much hope that this will not be the case

SusMo and St. Mary’s would like to thank everyone who has supported the application thus far. In addition to the 24 letters of support sent prior to the Planning Officer’s recommendation, the Committee received an additional 29 from Moseley residents and Lynne Jones, the Member of Parliament for Selly Oak. We would also like to thank the Chantry Road Residents’ Association, which clarified for the benefit of the Committee that they had never opposed the application."

There were 230 applicants for the Low Carbon Communities Challenge funding and we (a SusMo and BHIOP joint bid) were not in the top 10.

SusMo volunteers, together with our partners, are very busy at present organising the energy efficiency surveys and improvements to the 20 homes and four community buildings in the Green Streets project.

We are also planning to create a Community Energy Company and will hold our first meeting about this on:
Thursday January 28th
at the Hamza Mosque, 88-90 Church Road, B13 9AE
at 7 pm.

If you would like to attend, please contact Esther Boyd, contact details on the SusMo page.

The three matters to report on at the end of 2009 are:
>The SusMo Green Streets award from British Gas, including the planning application for Photo Voltaic panels on the roof of St Mary’s Church,
>a new application for government funding from the Low Carbon Communities Challenge and
>a new petition to sign about a railway service for Moseley - Deadline to sign up by: 08 January 2010.

---

UPDATE ON THE BRITISH GAS GREEN STREETS AWARD
Details of what will be included in the Green Streets award are being progressed: Addresses of twenty houses for energy improvements have been sent to British Gas. They include households from a range of sizes, income level and backgrounds, both tenants and owner occupiers, carefully chosen by panels from the Mosque, St Mary’s Church and Moseley and District Churches Housing Association.

Consideration of the planning application for Photo Voltaic panels on the roof of St Mary’s Church was delegated to a planning officer, for decision on December 16th, but the number of letters received about this application meant that the matter will be considered at the Planning Committee, probably on January 7th. I understand that, of 24 letters received by the 16th, the only letter recommending refusal was from the Victorian Society.

---

LOW CARBON COMMUNITIES CHALLENGE
SusMo has completed a new application, for more funding to improve the energy efficiency of community buildings and homes in Moseley. The Low Carbon Communities Challenge is a government scheme by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

We have joined BHIOP (Balsall Heath is our Planet) in this bid, as our “...combined areas provide significant added value." (Keith Budden: Be Birmingham, Environmental Partnership Manager). The competition is strong as this national award will bring £500,000 to the combined areas.

The aim is to take greater control of our use of energy: through reducing the waste of gas and electricity in running our homes and community buildings and, where possible, generating energy from the sun, the air and the ground. SusMo and BHIOP will be working with other 3rd sector organisations, faith groups and community groups, in the area. We aim to harness their strengths and past success at transforming the sustainability of the area.

If we win this award, we will organise a community conference to share these initial ideas from SusMo and BHIOP with the wider community, and modify them in line with the feedback received.

Many of our community organisations already have their own environmental commitments, plans and internal working parties. These only need capital resources to make their buildings more sustainable. We will invite them to bid for the capital required. A selection panel of independent individuals with appropriate skills and knowledge will be appointed. We will take great care to ensure that the process is seen to be fair, avoiding conflicts of interest and any perceived imbalances between different sections of the community.

A similar process will be put in place for householders to achieve a balance across the area, of housing types (construction, age and size) and a range of household sizes, income level, and backgrounds.

We all know that “there is no such thing as a free lunch”: the people who receive “free” improvements to their community buildings and homes will be asked to talk to others in the community, to help with raising people’s awareness of the solutions to the problems of draughty, badly insulated buildings with inefficient heating systems.

A decision on our application, for Phase 2 of the LCC Challenge, is expected in January 2010. To see more details of Low Carbon Communities Challenge see http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/consumers/lc_communitie....

---

NEW PETITION ABOUT A RAIL SERVICE FOR MOSELEY.
I have just heard about a petition on the "number 10" website, about a rail service for Moseley see http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/TrainsBack/

Deadline to sign up by: 08 January 2010

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to return passenger trains and stations to the six miles of existing, double track rail lines between Kings Norton, Moseley and Moor Street Station in Birmingham city centre in the West Midlands.

A new, short, curving, linking line called the Bordesley Chord - connecting the Camp Hill line and the Moor Street line - would need to be constructed to send the trains in and out of Moor St Station in Birmingham city centre. This line could relieve our conurbation's over-loaded roads ...

---

SusMo END OF YEAR REPORT
An end of 2009 report, on SusMo’s achievements to date, is attached below.

Esther Boyd
SusMo Co-ordinator