being unable to sit in our garden during the summer and having to live next door to a building site where nothing positive has happened for weeks. Complaining may result in nothing, but I thought it time to enlighten people in this once-beautiful village. Many thanks to those who may have taken time to read


this.


Sheila Evans Barnt Green


How is this ruling democratic? Dear Editor – At the rear of our estate there has been a long-running planning application debate: residents in Lickey Square wish to build five houses in their back gardens which will then tower over three or four houses on our estate. The district council’s planning department has repeat-


edly refused planning permission. The issue went to appeal and we have learned that the appeal has been successful. My objection was that the proposed development has


major topographical issues because of the steep slope of the land, while many mature trees have preservation or- ders on them which makes the development extremely difficult. This is also, in fact, a “garden grab”. This type of development is specifically mentioned in


the National Planning Policy Framework and reiterated in the Bromsgrove District Plan (pages 83 and 85) which states that such plans are “likely to be unacceptable and will be refused”. The issue was specifically mentioned by the Secretary


of State for Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons on March 26, 2015 when he said he


continues overleaf WHERE’S VINNY?


NINE-YEAR-old Kavya Maganty, of Barnt Green, was the latest winner of a Mini Vinny in our monthly competition. If you want to win one


for yourself, you’ll need to try to locate the little hedgehog hiding some- where in this magazine (the one shown above is just a guide!). Just tell us where he’s hiding via phone, email, post


or Facebook – please include your contact details, especially if leaving a voicemail message – and we’ll draw a winner at random. The closing date is midnight on the 18th of every


month. We’ll let you know if you’ve won and you can collect your Mini Vinny from our office – and pose for a photo with your prize!


TheVillageView . . . W


extra sense of the idyllic. This mood was reflected in a recent letter to a


national newspaper by a 93-year-old man remembering the summer of 1939, a time when he and his friends regarded the Adolf Hitler they saw on cinema newsreels as a figure of ridicule. Their happy summer came to an abrupt end on


September 1st as the Nazis invaded Poland and Hitler could no longer be treated as a joke. The 93-year-old correspondent’s point was that no one believes it is going to happen . . . until it does. So should the world be holding its breath as nuclear


sabres are rattled between Trump Tower and Pyongyang, with China and Russia glowering on? Especially as once-great Britain is attempting to sever ties with much of the framework created to maintain peace between Europeans since the end of the Second World War? We have been here before, of course, but with the


possibility of just about anything being declared in 140 characters or less, with no filters and no guidance, without the time-lag required for sense to prevail, something could go terribly wrong. Even here in our villages, we see wars of words break out on this new technology as opinions, prejudices and bias that didn’t previously reach the light of public view can now thrive in the oxygen of being decried. Alvechurch Village Society has a Facebook group which it has, with very good intentions, opened to all in the parish, not just the relatively few people who are members of the society. It has proved to be very useful in finding lost dogs,


keeping villagers aware of problems on the roads and trains and helping those looking for a plumber or someone to help them to lift a fridge. But inevitably, it also sometimes empowers those less-than savoury views that may have been previously hurled at TV sets in living rooms or muttered in the corners of pubs. Last month, the Alvechurch Village Society member


who volunteered for the unenviable task of moderating the views expressed on the Facebook page felt she had been threatened by a user who disagreed with something she had posted. This is a terrible thing to happen in one of our


peaceful villages, and in times past we would have asked: “What is the world coming to?” Unfortunately, with the examples being set daily


by those in power, this now appears to be the world in which we all must live.


The Village September 2017 19


ith the rest of the world apparently heading to hell in a handcart, these quiet days of summer in and around our villages have perhaps had an


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68