Good morning readers — here is your Friday briefing.
The West Midlands will get a road safety commissioner as part of existing plans to reduce deaths and serious injuries from collisions to zero, Mayor Richard Parker has announced. In other news, there’s trouble at the city’s bin depots and a citywide baby bank that became a lifeline for parents during the pandemic has announced its closure, citing “unexpected” bills. Also below, the Ikon has received funding to continue operating its roving studio narrowboat and Van Gogh gets the immersive treatment in a new exhibition.
Plus, a reminder that the Birmingham Heritage Week event programme and ticket sales go live tomorrow at 5pm. We are looking forward to seeing the Burnes-Jones stained glass windows and a tour of a John Madin-designed, 1960s Modernist house. Many tickets are expected to sell out within minutes, organisers say, so be sure to log in early.
Brum in brief
🚮Birmingham’s bin depots are reportedly in chaos as bosses attempt to eradicate ‘task and finish’ practices, whistleblowers have told BirminghamLive. They claim bin workers have been vandalising clocking in machines and working slowly to get around new orders, among other allegations, leading to missed collections and a rise in complaints from residents. To add to the furore, there are worries the slimming down of waste services next April will affect matters, with concerns about potential job losses rife. “Insiders say residents should not expect any let-up this summer with some binmen said to have defiantly declared they will fight back against any new changes that lead to cuts in their income.”
🚗Road safety commissioner: Richard Parker has announced he will appoint a road safety commissioner in the wake of several fatal collisions across the region. Speaking on BBC Midlands Today on Wednesday, Parker said the commissioner would help inform decisions about transport infrastructure, including investment in things like speed cameras.
🍼Baby Aid Birmingham — BAB for short — the baby bank that launched during the pandemic has closed its doors due to rising costs. Labour councillors David Barker and Nicky Brennan started BAB to provide vital items like nappies and formulas to parents in need in 2020. Demand grew and BAB was serving as many as 250 kids a month, but in June the initiative was “hit by unexpected costs” Barker wrote in a post on X yesterday. “My heart is breaking because the need is still there. I can't move for social workers and midwives saying they don't know what they'll do without us,” he wrote. He has asked anyone who is in a position to start a new baby bank to get in touch for advice.
🎨Slowboat: Ikon Gallery’s youth programme has received a new round of funding until 2027, to continue its ‘alternative art school’ on a narrowboat. The roving exhibition Slowboat covers 150 miles of the canal network, uncovering the region’s rich artistic heritage and was developed by a group aged 16-21. The vessel is used as a studio to develop and showcase work across a variety of mediums and is a place where young people can be themselves and develop their artistic identity, says the gallery.
🖼️Beyond Van Gogh, a digital exhibition of more than 300 of the Dutch painter’s works, is open now until 1 September at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC). The latest in a trend of ‘immersive art experiences’, the show takes place almost entirely in one room, on the walls, floor and two columns of which a blended animation of his paintings is projected. Visitors get a breathtakingly up-close and personal view of his early portraits of peasant life in the Netherlands to his Paris Impressionism and the light-flooded landscapes of Arle, South France. Find out more here.
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