Dear readers — over the weekend, our fine city welcomed its newest arrival as England forward Marcus Rashford finalised his loan move to Aston Villa. We’ve been keeping a close eye on our new signups all morning and while we haven’t seen his email address appear on the list yet we’re sure it’s simply a matter of time. Certainly, today’s Home of the Week — a two-bedroom penthouse on Paradise Street — might tickle his fancy. Scroll down for that one.
Elsewhere in today’s briefing, we’ve got Nigel Farage all but confirming himself to be a massive Brumophile as he plans the “largest ever rally in modern British political history” with Reform UK at the NIA in March (following on from the large scale rally he held at the NEC in June), a massive shakeup planned across Birmingham’s major museums and art galleries and an unlikely source of community tension in Sutton Coldfield…Padel (it’s sort of a hyrid of tennis and squash, if you weren’t aware). But before we delve into all of that, a moment of appreciation for one of the region’s most beautiful unions: the pub and the curry.
Catch up and coming up
- If you weren’t drooling over your phone on Saturday morning, that means you can’t have read Samuel’s foray into the indomitable rise of the Desi pub. Long live the sizzler. Catch up here.
- Also, make sure you check out Jack’s investigation into the bewildering case of a developer who bought a former nursing home in Wollaston and was refused planning permission by Dudley Council to turn it into an HMO. He then sold it to the council for a £700k profit (only for the council to decide to turn it into an HMO themselves). This one is for Dispatch members only — you have to read it to believe it.
- Kate’s looking to speak to a developer who knows about property valuation. If that’s you, please get in touch at kate@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
- Samuel’s looking into exempt & temporary accommodation and ‘ghost tenants’ in Handsworth. Get in touch at sam@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
- Got a tip for us? Reach out at editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
Weather
🌧️ Tuesday: Overcast and drizzly. Max 9°C.
🌥️ Wednesday: Starts off cloudy, but sunny by late morning. Max 7°C.
🌞 Thursday: Sunny and breezy. Max 6°C.
🍃 Friday: Sunny and windy. Max 5°C.
☔ Weekend: Rain, sleet and a gentle breeze. Max 6°C.
We get our weather from the Met Office.
Photo of the week
Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations kicked off in Birmingham last weekend, seeing large Chinese dragon processions cross from Chinatown to the Bullring. Photo by Birmingham Hippodrome via @BrumHour.
Brum in brief
🖼️ The Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT) intends to overhaul its nine museums and galleries into “world class institutions that everyone can be proud of”, in the face of severe cuts to funding. For the first time in a museum setting, a National Lottery-funded ‘Citizens’ Jury’ of 28 people, from a cross-section of Brum, has been used to answer the question: What does Birmingham need and want from its museums, both now and in the future, and how can BMT make these things happen?
On Thursday, The Dispatch attended the launch of their 20 recommendations which span several categories from funding to finding new audiences. What is most apparent, however, is how this process of civic engagement has lit a spark among the participants, several of whom said they didn’t want it to end. In their statement, the jury reveals that at the start of the project: “We were not engaged and did not feel close to our museums.” But now, they are convinced that: “We deserve museums that are proud of us, that we can be proud of, that celebrate what’s unique about Birmingham.”
It’s a heartening shift for the jury but it will be no mean feat to achieve a similar transformation across the city, especially in light of council cuts that will see all local government grant funding in the arts discontinued this year. What’s more, declining visitor numbers and inequalities — people with a degree or professional qualification are up to 4.6 times more likely to visit a museum than those without — are amplifying the struggle.
Unsurprisingly, BMT’s co-CEOs Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah have noted that the next steps to realise the jury’s recommendations will require collaboration with a wide range of civic, third sector and commercial organisations. Read the jury’s full report here.
🚮 Unite the Union has announced today that it will triple bin strikes across the next two months. Union members working on Birmingham City Council’s waste collection teams will now walk out on 12 days (up from three) in February and 13 days (up from four) in March. They are disputing the council’s plans to abolish roles which Unite say will result in pay cuts of up £8,000 for 150 workers. The council says all those affected will be given the opportunity to work alternative roles at the same pay, retrain in higher paid roles or take voluntary redundancy.
🚲 The West Midlands’ new Road Safety Commissioner, anaesthetist Mat MacDonald, has told The Dispatch he sees himself as a “conduit” for the families of road crash victims looking for change. As the former chair of campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham (BSfB), MacDonald has been used to applying pressure to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) from the outside, but now joins new Active Travel commissioner Beccy Marston to work within the organisation one day a week. MacDonald said it was early days but he thought his role with mayor Richard Parker would be “at times to challenge and have tough conversations, and also to find a consensual way through”, adding that he thought Parker is “a man who does care sincerely about these issues”.
🏓 Trouble is afoot in Sutton Coldfield — residents living near a tennis court are reportedly horrified to learn that the existing facilities are set to be turned into three Padel courts if planning permission is granted. The novel sport (that is a bit like squash) involves hitting balls against glass walls which one unhappy local has told The Dispatch sounds like “gunshots”. The story was recently covered by Birmingham Live, with another of the nearby residents saying: “It’ll be like the Gunfight at the OK Corral around here if they get permission.” Do you have opinions on Padel courts? Do you live by Sutton Coldfield Tennis Club in Highbridge Road, and want to tell us how you feel about it? Get in touch at editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
Quick hits
🖌️ The legacy of the Birmingham surrealist Emmy Bridgwater will be celebrated in an open-air exhibition in Solihull from March to May 2025.
🚆 Severe disruption is expected on the Avanti West Coast line as staff resume strike action every weekend between now and June, alongside planned engineering works by Network Rail.
🎛️ Malvern vinyl record shop, Carnival Records, has been named one of the best in the world by the Financial Times — FT writer, Richard Milne, called it “a great symbol of a slew of provincial record shops that have sprung up in recent years across the UK.”
➡️ Reform UK have announced their intention to hold the “largest ever rally in modern British political history” at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on 28 March — the venue can hold up to 16,000 people.
Home of the week
The ornate Queens College Chambers on Paradise Street in Birmingham city centre was originally built as a medical school in 1825. In 1904, a grand Edwardian facade was added; it remains today, although the building itself was demolished and replaced in the mid-1970s to house 113 flats. This two-bedroom penthouse is on the market for £550,000.
Media picks
🎞️ The long-running Anywhere But Westminster series visits Staffordshire to take the temperature of Trumpist politics in the UK. The series presenter, John Harris, heads to the market towns of Rugeley and Newcastle-under-Lyme. He contrasts the decline of coal mining in the area with the rise of vast Amazon fulfilment centres. For him, both industries have failed in Staffordshire, leading to the rise of right-populism. “The Labour Party, and the rest of us, won’t get close to thinking this kind of politics has gone away until people’s lives feel better,” Harris says.
🗞️ The Guardian’s Midlands correspondent, Jessica Murray, covers the epidemic of fly-tipping in Birmingham. With bin workers going on strike, council cuts pushing refuse collection from weekly to fortnightly and a preexisting litter problem — many Brummies have expressed despair at the rubbish situation in the city. Murray follows the attempts of local community activists to pressure the council into clearing fly-tipping sites. Many have given up and resorted to cleaning the streets themselves. “We’ve got rats as big as your feet already,” says Leanne Gregory.
Our to do list
🎭 The Laurence Olivier Award-winning karaoke comedy Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) returns to The Rep every day this week following its roaring success in the West End. Tickets from £19.50.
🎷 Digbeth Jazz takes inspiration from Thelonious Monk on Tuesday, in a session that pays homage to the legendary composer. Head to The Night Owl from 7.30pm. Read about a recent documentary on Monk in the New Yorker.
🗣️ Head to the Symphony Hall for Poetry Jam Live on Thursday to share your latest lyrics with a crowd of encouraging wordsmiths. This free open mic night has been held once a month for more than 10 years. It starts at 7pm.
🎭 Set during the final hours of the Titanic, the play Laroche, is the story of the only black man to board the ill-fated ship: Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche. Catch it at the Birmingham Black Box Theatre on Saturday at 8pm. Tickets from £12.
📖 One for the diary: Kate will be chatting to journalist and author Dan Hancox about his latest book Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World at Voce Books on Tuesday 18 February at 7pm. Tickets are £3 or £20 with a copy of the book included. See you there!
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