Berkswell Parish Council

Welcome to the Berkswell Parish Website

Agenda for annual meeting to be held on 17 May 2012.

Community Governance Review (CRG)

The results are in from the first round of consultation on the Berkswell/Balsall Parish Governance review requested by Balsall Parish Council.

This is an extract from the report published by SMBC:

_"A total of 442 responses were received – 33 from residents in Balsall Parish and 409 from Berkswell Parish. It is clear from the responses that there are two main issues of concern to local people arising from this review, namely: a). The boundary between Balsall and Berkswell parishes, which currently bisects the village of Balsall Common; and b). The governance arrangements for the settlements of Chadwick End, Fen End, Meer End and Oakley, which are currently in the parish of Balsall.

29 respondents said they were in favour of changes to the boundary between Balsall and Berkswell parishes to bring the whole of the village into a single parish. Among these responses were representations from the Balsall Common Village Residents Association Committee and the past Chairman of Balsall Common Village Plan.

Suggestions for new arrangements include creating a new Balsall Common Town Council with the West Coast Main Line as the boundary with Berkswell Parish; moving the boundary between Balsall and Berkswell Parishes to the railway line; moving Lavender Park into Balsall Parish; creating a new (third) parish comprised of the built up area of Balsall Common.

A number of people said that the triangle bounded by Windmill Lane, Kelsey Lane and Kenilworth Road, which is currently split between the two parishes, should be entirely within Berkswell Parish.

All of the other responses stated opposition to any significant changes to the Balsall/Berkswell boundary. It is evident that the majority of those who responded feel that there should be no substantial changes to the boundary between Balsall and Berkswell parishes, however a number of people (27) said that there could be scope for some minor changes to remove anomalies such as the parish boundary cutting through property curtileges (including Chapel Drive, Hathaway Close, Turnpike Close, Kerly Close, and Wellfield Close), and bringing the Balsall Common shops into a single parish.

Among the responses opposing any substantial change are representations from Berkswell Museum Committee, the Berkswell Society, the St. John Baptist Parochial Church Council, Berkswell Church of England Primary School, Catchems Corner Residents Group and Berkswell Parish Council.

Breaking down the responses from Berkswell Parish residents shows that 145 separate letters objecting to a change in the Balsall/Berkswell boundary were received from people in the Riddings Hill area; 115 from the area around Meeting House Lane, Station Road, Sunnyside Lane & Barretts Lane, and 98 from the area around Kelsey Lane, Kenilworth Road, Waste Lane and Windmill Lane.

The view expressed unanimously by people who attended the Berkswell Society’s public meeting on 19th March (over 70 people attended) was that they would oppose any changes to the current boundary of Berkswell Parish. The public meeting in Balsall did not produce such a clear outcome, although a number of people indicated that they felt communication about the review had been poor and insufficient time had been allowed for responses to the consultation."_

A Solihull Council meeting took place on Thursday 19th April to discuss the matter further and to vote on the recommendations contained in the reports, which included changes to the Berkswell boundary with some properties moving to Balsall Parish (properties affected are in Chapel Drive, Elm Grove, Green Lane, Hathaway Close, Station Road, Turnpike Close). The recommendations were accepted at the meeting so a further round of consultation will commence shortly. For further information about the meeting, what happens next and to read the reports in full please click here.

More information on the next stages will be published on this website as soon as they are available.

A positive outcome for Old Waste Lane residents

In October 2011 SMBC published a list of suggested gypsy and traveller sites, one of which being Old Waste Lane, Balsall Common.
This led to the formation of the Berkswell and Balsall Common Residents Against Inappropriate Development (RAID) group, and decided to appoint a professional consultant to present their case to SMBC.
The group approached Berkswell Parish Council in November 2011 for support and the Parish Council made it clear that they would help the residents protect the land, and offered financial help towards the cost of the consultant.
There was a successful outcome from this as the owners of the land withdrew it as a potential site.

High Speed Rail - HS2

Berkswell Parish Council response to Department for Transport Consultation on High Speed Rail, July 2011

Read full response document.

Please take some time to view all areas of the site and let us know how we may improve the service which we are providing. We would also welcome your feedback regarding the website itself. Please complete the form on the contact page with your comments/suggestions.

Website last updated 11 May 2012