Pype Hayes Hall taken off auction list

Pype Hayes Hall will not be up for sale at the March auctions run by CP Bigwood at Villa Park. The 17th Century listed building has failed to find a bidder at the last two events. A Council spokesperson said they have taken the property off the list, but are still considering all options, including a future sale, or community use.
The Council say they will consider ‘viable’ options, and may re-think the conditions of sale, which demanded that any buyer must refurbish the property and bring it back fully into use within two years. These restrictions may have deterred potential buyers from making a bid.
The auctioneer at the last auction in December said that he would have accepted a bid of £250,000 for the property. This had dropped from a minimum price of £400,000 at the September auction.

New clubhouse for Pype Hayes course as city golf goes private

Pype Hayes golf course is to get a new clubhouse. The council has now handed over the management of their municipal courses to Mytime Active, a London-based private company.
Mytime have signed a 50 year deal with the council, and have pledged to modernise the seven city courses. They say that fees will not go up in the first year of the contract.

Education Secretary Michael Gove in talks with Birmingham Council

“We know in Birmingham we have many examples of excellence when it comes to providing education, but equally we have a number of areas where we need to do better,” Government Education boss Michael Gove was told today by council leader Mike Whitby.
He vowed to “eradicate under-performance in any of our schools.”
“Looking particularly at the new tools and freedoms available to us, such as academies, free schools and university technical colleges – Birmingham is saying today that these exciting forms of provision will become an integral part of our approach to school improvement – where autonomy and school-to-school support combine to drive up standards.”

League tables make grim reading for Castle Vale School

The secondary school league tables for England have been published by the Department for Education.
Of the 142 secondary schools in Birmingham, Castle Vale Peforming Arts College comes bottom of the list in A*-C passes at GCSE including English and maths.
29% of pupils at the school achieved 5 A*-C GCSE passes including English and maths; the average for Birmingham schools is 58%, and the average for the country as a whole is also 58%.
Castle Vale School also comes bottom of the Birmingham table in English with 32% of pupils making the minimum expected progress in their time at secondary school (Birmingham average is 73%), and it also comes bottom of the table in maths, with 22% achieving the minimum expected progress (Birmingham average is 66%).

Callum’s Crossing gets green light

The Council has agreed to provide a crossing on Farnborough Road near to the spot where 10 year-old Callum Henry was killed last September.
Matthew Henry, Callum’s uncle, who has led the Castle Vale Road Safety Campaign along with local councillors, has been told that the crossing will be installed as quickly as possible.
“Thank you to everybody who signed and helped with our campaign,” said Matthew.
“We would like to invite you all to our first road safety public meeting on 22nd February, Castle Vale Swimming Baths at 7:00pm.”

20mph speed limit for Castle Vale?

Plans to impose a 20mph speed limit across Castle Vale are in their early stages. Councillors and council officers are considering the proposals which will go to public consultation before any decision is made.

Prison and three year ban for persistent drink driver

A man has been sent to prison for 12 weeks for driving a vehicle while he was three times over the alcohol limit, and despite the fact that he had been banned from driving. David Albert Allen, 45, of Castle Vale pleaded guilty to driving a Ford Focus on the Chester Road last November while he was disqualified from holding a driving licence. Tests showed that he had 246 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
Birmingham Magistrates heard that he was involved in a serious accident, has been a persistent offender, and has failed to respond to non-custodial punishments.
He was jailed for three months, and banned from holding a driving licence for three years.

Callum tragedy: man charged with causing death by careless driving

  A MAN has been charged with causing the death of a ten-year-old boy in a road traffic collision in Birmingham last year. 
Callum Henry died following a collision on Farnborough Road in Castle Vale on Wednesday 21 September 2011.  A blue Mazda 6 car, travelling towards Tangmere Drive, collided with Callum as he was riding his bicycle. The 10year-old sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff he died as a result of his injuries the following day.  The driver, a 25-year-old local man, was arrested following the incident and on Sunday 22 January he was charged with Causing Death by Careless Driving.  He will appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on 31 January.

Stolen ring: police appeal

Police are appealing for the public’s help in tracing a ring stolen from an Erdington home in a burglary between Christmas and New Year.   The ring has the letters ‘UND A ERR’ engraved on it. .
Anyone who is able to help the police investigation is urged to call Birmingham North police on 0345 113 5000

Green waste collections back next month

Doorstep green waste collections are set to resume across Birmingham from Monday 6^th February, after being suspended during the winter . The first 2012 collection from individual houses is set to take place on either the week beginning 6th or 13^thFebruary, depending on where a household falls in its alternating cycle of green/mixed and paper collections.