Over 300 residents in Tyseley and Hay Mills recently attended a community support event at the St Cyprian’s Memorial Hall.
Co-hosted by Councillor Zafar Iqbal; the University of Birmingham; Birmingham City Council; Tyseley Energy Park; Webster and Horsfall; Arts in the Yard; Saint Cyprians Church; Canal and Rivers Trust; Hay Mills Foundation Trust; Siemens; EQUANS; Enterprise Rent-A-Car – AJAR; SSE; Morrisons; Asda; Environment Agency; Transport for West Midlands; West Midlands Police; Ackers Adventure; the Climate Room; the Active Wellbeing Society; Cadent Foundation; and Glancy Nicholls Architects, the event provided residents with an opportunity to explore how each host was supporting the community and wider development of the area.
The purpose of the event was to ensure the local community continue contribute to the shaping of the Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District’s (TEED) aspirations whist reviewing and building on the activity that had been underway since the last major event held in 2019. The community day also gave residents a chance to feedback on the Birmingham City Council’s recently launched Master Plan Vision for the area.
Speaking about the Masterplan Councillor Zafar Iqbal said: “It has been great to work with TEP and Birmingham Energy Institute to develop our joint vision for Tyseley which sets out an exciting agenda with Tyseley at the forefront of the green industrial revolution and the national climate change response. The East Birmingham Programme team will continue to work in partnership with the local community and stakeholders to make this happen. The Levelling Up Fund bid for the National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat is a great next step in this shared journey”
Throughout the day residents, including students from Redhill Primary School were able to explore the green spaces in the area, share their views on future developments, discover the new opportunities the various projects are bringing to the areas and find out how they can get involved with the many projects driving the green energy transition in East Birmingham.
The day began with an organised “walk and talk” litter pick along the River Cole. While the 50 volunteers collected over 100 bags of waste, they talked about what they would like to see happen as part of the ERDF funded River Cole and Tyseley Community Commons project, led by University of Birmingham – that will rehabilitate currently underutilised green space in the area.
The afternoon session provided each co-host with an opportunity to talk to the residents on the progress that has been made since the last Community Day event in 2019. They also discussed what they would like to see happen in future developments.
Councillor Zafar Iqbal held a Ward Forum as part of the day, to engage with residents on their issues and concerns. The Councillor was on hand to meet with the community and learn discover what they feel passionately about and how he can support driving change in Hay Mills.
Throughout the day members of the community visited different stands to find out more about developments in the area.
Visitors were offered tours to explore the Tyseley Energy Park site. During the tour, future developments such as the National Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat was showcased on where it will be based and on the exciting prospect of future employment and training opportunities for the local community. New developments and low carbon energy system for TEED was discussed, and tours of the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre were given to locals throughout the day.
Arts in the Yard, a group supporting many community initiatives encouraged visitors to learn about the recent renovation of the St Cyprians Memorial Hall and the community hub initiatives they are developing. The Memorial Hall also shared their plans to for a Debt Centre facility and other programmes to help local people.
The Birmingham Energy Institute (BEI) from the University of Birmingham met with the local community and offered information about research and innovation in net-zero energy technologies and policy. Adjacent to the BEI exhibition the Climate Room promoted their platform available to residents to connect and share ideas on a fair transition to net zero.
Other organisations shared their ideas and highlighted the work they are doing to support residents and develop the local area. For example, the Environment Agency promoted water management initiatives and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) presented the concept of multi-modal mobility hubs.
David Horsfall from TEP commented: “It’s been a fantastic day to meet so many of our local residents and bring attention to the many projects that bringing investment to the area. We want to make Tyseley a destination that is known for its innovation and by bringing all of these opportunities together under one roof we are really able to demonstrate just how much is being done to improve green spaces and support the local community as they approach the green energy transition.”
Emily Prestwood from Birmingham Energy Institute said: “Tyseley Energy Park will play a significant role in Birmingham’s transition to net-zero. To make sure it’s a fair transition for the residents and communities in Tyseley and Hay Mills and that we’re acting for the common good, talking with people and sharing ideas and thoughts on climate change, as we have done today, is vitally important. We hope to continue to have these conversations over the next months and years”.