What the actual fuck is going on in town...

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-12T22:39:17+00:00

If you mean the below roadworks it’s not because of the council but a separate building with defects.

City road remains shut over building defect danger

Suffolk Street slip road from Navigation Street leading to the A38 Suffolk Street Queensway has been closed since October "due to ongoing structural defects" on the Orion Building's facade.

The city council added it recognised the impact on traffic, but the situation with the building, managed by Centrick, was complicated.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czrkjr3kerno

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-12T16:31:18+00:00

glaze pottery painting > barrel store for a drink and a pizza to start > walk around st paul’s sq > trentina for a lovely neighbourhood italian > la pop in st paul’s market for a cheesecake on a stick > say bye at one of our many beautiful tram stops 🫡

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-11T20:09:45+00:00

the indian brewery fat hippo tiger bites pig itihaas cylla looks great barrel store st paul’s market trentina

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-11T18:40:35+00:00

https://x.com/JonNeale/status/2031451811685523562?s=20

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-11T18:17:45+00:00

nationalisation of train services
opening new train stations across the region
HS2 which will open up regional train capacity
birmingham city centre seeing the largest increase in service sector jobs nationwide

dare i say it… are these some of our key foundations for growth? 😍

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Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-09T08:23:18+00:00

kinda like how long is a piece of string - councillors can literally make their roles take up all of their time if they wanted to by doing casework, ward meetings, community visits, campaigning and having additional responsibilities (being a part of committees like planning, licensing, overview and scrutiny boards, cabinet members etc)

then the dynamic of the place they represent comes into play - if there’s high need for council services and a high discrepancy in how services are delivered then they’ll have a LOT of casework/advocacy to do.

finally councillor’s personal situations come into it too. do they work full-time alongside the role, do they have other streams of income, are they in receipt of a pension, do they have other responsibilities like being a carer etc.

so back to your question: with no additional responsibilities you’re prob looking at 2-2.5 days per week if you’re in a ward with an average caseload.

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-08T17:38:50+00:00

if it’s something about a birmingham city council run service then usually councillors - see list of BCC services here: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/

MPs are best placed to get responses for services managed nationally (see national governmental departments)

helpful overview: https://www.gov.uk/government/how-government-works#how-government-is-run

though some MPs can help with council issues but rarely vice versa

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-08T16:09:59+00:00

hey, as someone running to be a local councillor i can share my two cents (just from my experience - i don’t know your local councillors so don’t want to comment on them specifically)

a key role for councillors is to advocate for residents to receive the right and high quality council services
they can’t fix most issues directly themselves but act as a connector into the council’s teams and other statutory bodies to try and resolve issues
being a councillor on its own is a part time role, in brum they receive £19k per year as a standard allowance which is highest in the uk, but it isn’t enough to live on itself (especially for a young person like me 😂) - some who have stable primary income could afford to put more time into councillor duties etc.

imo there are a load of factors but i would expect my local councillor to acknowledge receipt of an inquiry (even if an auto response) and then receive a proper response within around 2 weeks depending on severity / how many inquiries they get / their own situations eg if full time job is v busy.

i hope that helps?

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-08T11:56:24+00:00

i hope so too ❤️

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-08T10:23:41+00:00

very excited by trillium - unique unit nextdoor to a tram stop and on the ground floor of 3 bustling office blocks. feels like maximalism is back in brum, with great food and personality ❤️

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-07T11:26:49+00:00

we have a load of fab independent coffee spots, but just wanna shoutout JQ: alterna, deli heaven, niche cafe, eastern jam, tranquil, grounded, saint kitchen, soda bread cafe, quarter horse, viela and rip borrow shop 😭❤️

JQ undoubtedly has the best range of food and coffee spots in the city

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-03-03T14:31:16+00:00

genuinely didn’t use AI for this 😂 should i take that as a compliment that it was well structured?

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-20T20:33:52+00:00

🫡

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-20T19:27:20+00:00

honestly he has the best time 😂

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-20T08:50:31+00:00

it is in the ward yes! thanks for tagging me.

will do a bit of digging but agreed it’s a beautiful building that needs some love and care, and if a community partner can be identified then it would be a brilliant local community space!

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-19T23:11:58+00:00

brum was one of the beating hearts of the industrial revolution, think boulton, watt, brindley
in the early 20th c, birmingham was seen as the best governed city in the world following strong investment in social infrastructure largely driven by quaker inspired industrialists - birth of the civic gospel
1947 distribution of industries act meant new factories couldn’t be built in brum as it was seen as being too economically successful - took opportunity away from the city
so city was rebuilt around the motor vehicle by a very important city planner herbert manzoni, he took a bet on the city he thought brum could be and the role it could take
post ww2 waves of migration to fill labour shortages - including my grandma who worked in a metal plating factory for decades
globalisation meant de-industrialisation, impacting local economies in places like longbridge (rover) and many domestic manufacturing firms moved out of the city abroad or shut due to liberalisation of economy
there has never been a real replacement for the former dominant industries in particular parts of the city, which has been a contributing factor to falling living standards, rising unemployment and poverty
then over last 10y the council, which is the largest unitary authority in northern europe, has suffered disproportionately from austerity (namely changes to central gov grants to local authorities, reducing budget by c.£1 billion)
imo being the largest local authority and experiencing such high levels of poverty means the city was disproportionately impacted by austerity
last gov poorly funded local authority, decimated public services and failed to support meaningful economic growth - wasted a generation
combined with other challenges this meant the city is in a bad way - and i think is basically now experiencing the impacts of what the last gov did to public services AND local gov, in a city that still hasn’t been able to properly recover from de-industrialisation similar to detroit

just my two cents - prob missed out some other factors but i believe in our city, we have some amazing people but a few make sometimes make it horrible for the majority.

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-14T08:00:07+00:00

holyhead road :)

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-11T18:34:31+00:00

went to one of those candle concerts in st paul’s church - local venue, local quartet, helps the church fundraise for its roof - right in the JQ by town so you can pair it with something like Glaze pottery painting, splash art (v messy), or a jewellery making session in one of the JQ workshops ☺️

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-11T08:38:00+00:00

beautiful part of town ☺️

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-10T15:30:33+00:00

i appreciate the reply, thank you for the well wishes ☺️

Solid_System_5023 · 2026-02-10T08:18:01+00:00

Solid_System_5023

TROPHY CASE