An article in last week’s Sunday Mercury (2nd March) headed “Vale of Discontent” has upset local residents and community workers who have for years worked hard to improve Castle Vale and its reputation. The article, written by Anuji Varma, cites local resident Barbara Brough, a 54 year-old retired dental nurse who has lived in Castle Vale for 30 years, and an unnamed mother of four who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. The report paints a bleak picture of Vale. In contrast to official statistics that suggest an area where crime has been dramatically cut, this report suggests that anti-social behaviour, drugs, vandalism and violence are rife.
The full article can be reached by clicking:
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaymercury/news/tm_method=full%26objectid=20551252%26siteid=50002-name_page.html
The Sunday Mercury, a sister paper of the Birmingham Post and Mail, sells over 59,000 copies in the region each weekend. It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group, who own a vast empire of national and local titles, and claim that 42% of the adult population in the country reads one of their newspapers at least once per week.
6 Comments
March 6, 2008 at 12:34 am
ive just clicked on said aticle and i must say WHAT A LOAD OF TRIPE! im not disputeing what the named people in the atricle are saying isnt true they may have problems but the paper is making out that the vales a war zone! ive lived here 32yrs and i remember going to the comp passing the trade winds pub with glass and blood on the pavement from the night befores antics! this estate is much improved from days gone by, yes it still has its problems but give us a break! we are a lot better off than other parts of the city!
March 6, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I think that there is a clear problem identified by this article and that is that that Castle Vale has no real representation on Birmingham council and as such there is no-one arguing the case for Castle Vale.
None of the present Tyburn Ward councillors live or work in or around Castle Vale, they each live in and around Pype Hayes. If there is a problem it is not happening on their doorsteps and so they are not going to make a case about it. Because Castle Vale has no councillors the only news that is ever reported about it is negative.
Two thirds of the voters of Tyburn Ward live in Castle Vale but they have no voice on the council. The people of Castle Vale can change that situation when it comes to the local elections. That is when they can elect a local person who can make a difference and begin to improve the reputation of Castle Vale once more.
March 6, 2008 at 6:28 pm
It seems to me that the article concerned was not researched i.e. the writer did not as far as I can ascertain chech out the allegations being made. Without any of us losing our temper/cool, I want to try and meet the writer by inviting him/her to come and have coffee. Then after explaining matters give them a tour of the estate. We may think the report has done us down but I believe in the end people will get a different view of things here
March 7, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Barry Maher’s comments are preposterous. So you would have a councillor who lives on the Vale but does “sweet Fanny Adams” for Birches Green, Pype Hayes, and Erdington Hall would you?
A councillor for Tyburn represents all of Tyburn not just a part of it.
As someone who has a connection on the Vale for over 20 years - I was born and brought up there, I certainly don’t want to see such an inward looking siege mentality develop.
March 7, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Councillor Stan Austin lived on Castle Vale and worked relentlessly for the improvement of the whole estate without letting his responsibilities for the neighbouring areas of Tyburn Ward falter. There is no reason to believe that a locally elected councillor would act any different, but the fact still remains that the majority of voters in Tyburn Ward have no council representation.
Of the 16,000 residents of Tyburn Ward, nearly 10,000 live in Castle Vale, it is only right and proper that those 10,000 people had a voice in the Council. It worked of Councillor Austin, it can work again now! …That is, unless you see local democracy as preposterous????
March 9, 2008 at 5:04 pm
barry please there is a police station in the middle of castle vale what do you want the voted councillor on the desk
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