Park Management
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Highbury restoration update
The Birmingham Conservation Trust website has a news item and three-minute interview about their options appraisal for the entire Highbury estate. An options appraisal is often a financial analysis, as was done by KPMG some years ago when BCC were thinking of selling the buildings. But in this case, the BCT are taking a broader look at what it would take to make Highbury work as a charitable resource, which necessarily means developing adequate income, but is also about making it available for the benefit of Brummies, such as through a sensitive heritage restoration, through charitable care projects like Four Seasons, or as a venue for educational and community activities.…
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Tree Dressing Festivities
Yesterday’s sunny, warm-ish tree-dressing, tree-planting, and woodland walking event was both lots of fun and enjoyed by many. Parks Ranger Penny Marriott and a small crew of energetic volunteers cleared the ground and planted some 25 hawthorn whips alongside the allotments fence, then came over to the festivities tent and helped celebrate! Caroline Jariwala set up a flag-and-bunting stall, where young and old made decorative drawings on coloured fabrics, then hung them from branches and lines. One person, Naima, went so far as to knit purple flowers as well (very speedily, considering the size of them)! These decorations will remain through the holidays. When they are taken down, we are…
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Play Area Consultation
An email from Constituency Play Services Manager Shashi Bhana arrived this week, asking for our views on new play facilities for the park. Shashi apparently works with the Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership, which is sort of a combination of local health trusts and Be Birmingham. We haven’t been given any other details of who is behind the approach, but it’s probably something to do with Play England’s Playbuilder scheme. Recent examples (without photos) are listed at the BCC’s playbuilder webpage, and mention play items like boulders, climbing net, contemporary slide, labyrinth, overhead rotator, reclaimed logs, rock stacks and grass mounds, rubber matting, see-saw, space net, springie, swing seats, trim…
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Highbury Trust Expressions of Interest & Public Meeting
After a period of confusion and doubt, it appears that the public meeting about Highbury Trust is going ahead. Nearly 3 weeks ago, we received an email with the following text Public Notice The Highbury Trust One of Birmingham’s most famous parliamentarian’s, Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain MP built Highbury Hall as a family home in 1878. The Highbury estate was transferred to trustees in 1919 by the eldest son of Joseph Chamberlain and the estate was finally gifted to Birmingham City Council on trust for the benefit of the citizens of Birmingham in 1932. The estate comprises of Highbury Hall, Chamberlain House and land that is now forms part of…
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Festival of Walks: Historic Survey Walk No. 1
One of the ways we want to use Phillada Ballard’s Historic Landscape Appraisal is as a reference and organising device for a series of walks. We are calling them Historic Survey Walks, the first of which will be this Saturday, from 11:00, meeting at the Alcester Road entrance to the Park. This will be a short walk around the eastern end of the park, once known as Uffculme Park, and containing remnants of the 18th Century estate known as The Henburys, shown as the area labelled B in the map below. The history and character of this estate has developed a significantly higher profile through Phillada’s work, so we want…
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Highbury Trust concept document online
A lightly revised version of the concept document for a reformed Highbury Trust is now set out as a web page, along with a PDF version for download. The concept is our response to council efforts to sell Highbury Trust land and assets. We believe that there are far better ways of addressing issues pertaining to property maintenance and conflicts of interest, and we are developing a plan and a network that would see the existing estate brought into a much more inclusive and sustainable set of uses than it has been for some decades. The broad idea is that Highbury combines health, history, agriculture and wildlife in ways that…
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Highbury Trust – A Vibrant Future for a Historic Resource
A PDF of this document can be downloaded from this page. Highbury Hall and Grounds Concept Plan A vibrant future for a historic resource! – Produced by a consortium of local groupsincluding Highbury Park Friends,The Moseley Society,Moseley Community Development Trust,Britannic Park Residents’ Associationand Heathfield Road Residents Contents 1. Vision Summary We have a vision of: 2. Introduction Highbury Hall [1] and Grounds lies 7 km to the south of Birmingham City Centre. It was once the estate of Joseph Chamberlain, one of the greatest municipal leaders of Birmingham. The Victorian mansion was built in 1879, designed by J. H. Chamberlain and the grounds were landscaped by Edward Milner, one of…
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Another Step Toward Sale of Highbury Land & Buildings
It looks as though the Charity Commission supports sale of Chamberlain House & the four gardener’s/caretaker’s cottages. This is quoted from a letter dated 6 August 2007 written by Kate Waring of the Charity Commission to Rajesh Parmar, legal officer for Birmingham City Council and presented as part of a report to the Trusts & Charities Sub-Committee on 21 November. • The Commission acknowledges that the sub-committee is exploring options other than the disposal of Chamberlain House to fund repairs to Highbury Hall. However, we consider that based on the information provided this is still an option it may need to pursue to ensure the future financial viability of the…