To many it must appear very strange indeed that a strip of turf, a glorified grass verge behind a row of Victorian terraced houses, can be officially designated a ‘village green’.
The term village green conjures up images of Sunday afternoon cream teas and cricket, bowls, duck ponds, church bells ringing out and maybe even a bit of morris dancing. Apart from the odd informal game of cricket, nothing like this happens in Aston.
According to Birmingham City Council’s specially convened Village Green Inquiry report you are as likely to see someone urinating up a tree, chucking litter in a bush - or some guy charging Aston Villa supporters to park their cars on match days in Bevington Road.
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But following that inquiry, which cost the taxpayer £32,000, and much debate, this strip of grass now enjoys protection from development.
The village green rules were designed to protect areas of green space which had been open to and actively used by a community for a period of at least 20 years.
A few fading polaroids from the 80s and 90s showing kids kicking balls and someone walking a dog and it’s job done.
Apart from the magnificently restored Aston Park this area is admittedly lacking green spaces and probably needs every blade of grass it can get.
As councillor Tony Kennedy, who used to represent Aston, said: “It is in the midst of a dense housing area and residents need places like this to escape. Thankfully this little bit of paradise has been saved.”
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But it is odd that in a major conurbation the legislation demands that we talk about ‘village greens’ rather than another more appropriate term – the trouble is any other phrase such as green space, grassed zone, sounds contrived.
But what is even more troubling is that the legislation has been used purely to block development, not highlight a valued community asset.
Scratch beneath the surface and we find that this village green designation is the result of some poorly drafted legislation and a bitter dispute between two sections of the local community.
The Masjid Faizul Islam Mosque wanted, and has planning permission, to pave over the land for use as a car park. The Village Green status trumps the planning consent. A classic blocking move.
Neighbours gave conflicting evidence at the inquiry, with some talking of children and dog walkers using the turf from dawn til dusk and others saying they had never seen a soul on there.
To add to the indignity, as they usually do in Aston, there was a party political element with Labour and Lib Dems taking different sides. Former Lib Dem cabinet member Ayoub Khan pushed the case for the mosque.
In other parts of the city we have also seen the village green rules used to block housing. The only active application left in Birmingham involves the Hardy Spicer Sports Fields in Walmley which was lodged immediately after a planning application for a major housing estate.
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Luckily for the councillors caught in the middle of all this, the village green legislation is being amended to outlaw applications on land which is the subject of an active planning application.
So the warning is clear to residents, if you think that patch of turf near your home is being eyed up for a couple of townhouses, you had better get your village green bid in quick.
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The planning committee had to deal with another logic-defying piece of bureaucracy this week when discussing plans to extend an already hideously over-developed semi-detached home in Selly Oak.
They were told that the property, in Lawleys Road, was being extended to the front, side and rear as a family dwelling. Local councillor Karen McCarthy told them that it was being advertised locally as student digs, and a series of undergraduates had viewed the property.
‘Shouldn’t this be considered as a house of multiple occupation?’ asked the committee members.
But they were told that as the application is for a family home, then that is what they must base their decision on and, thus, as regulations on extensions are so relaxed, it was approved.
It’s amazing how many times what is on paper is completely at odds with reality and there’s nothing that can be done about it. No wonder there is so much scepticism about the political process.
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John Evely, a weekly reporter for the Rutland and Stamford Mercury, hit the headlines in the trade press after being banned from tweeting from the meetings of Stamford Town Council.
Apparently the poor town councillors were worried about being taken out of context in a 140-character snippet.
Likewise daft executives at Wirral Council have invoked those old favourites much loved by jobsworth bureaucrats, ‘health and safety’ and ‘data protection’, to prevent blogger John Brace filming meetings.
These bans are despite directives from Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles ordering councils to allow and even facilitate tweeting, blogging and filming of public meetings.
Luckily Birmingham City Council takes a much more enlightened view and has embraced the 21st century with gusto – with councillors, journalists and bloggers tweeting for several years now and a growing number of meetings being filmed and broadcast.
In fact, in many a meeting the online commentary is often more enlightening and entertaining than the business conducted on the floor of the chamber!