Below is a summary of some of the things that you told us during the consultation of our estates and stewardship services and what we have or are doing in response.
We are working through all the key issues raised in your area and will provide a full update in summer this year.
| You said | We did |
| Inconsiderate parking / lack of parking space | We promote and encourage responsible parking and aim to raise awareness of this through social media and customer newsletters. We will also periodically send reminders to residents. |
| Landscaping – lack of weed control | Our Grounds Maintenance team have looked at smarter and more environmentally friendly ways of controlling weeds on footpaths. In 2022, they purchased a mechanical weed brush to reduce the amount of chemical control and this year, they have purchased heat guns which will be used for spot treatments. In the Telford areas of Lawley and Lightmoor, the Estate Caretaking Service is reviewing the purchase of heat guns as part of their role in maintaining courtyards. |
| Landscaping – overgrown hedges | We have been working with our Grounds Maintenance team to systematically work across estates, during the winter season (October – February) to cut back hedges. The current specification is for two prunes a year, one in the summer and the other in the winter. We are reviewing the frequency of the work to keep on top of growth throughout the year. However, we are not able to do any works to hedges if birds are nesting. |
| Landscaping – not aware of the specification or frequency of works. Grassed areas can look untidy and full of litter | We have been working with our Grounds Maintenance team to review the specification of works. We will be consulting with you in the summer about this new specification and publishing it on our website. |
| Value for money – don’t fully understand the costs and lack of transparency | Birmingham We have been working with resident representatives from various groups, to review the value for money of the Birmingham charges. Once this is complete, this information will be published on our website. We now send a summary of income and expenditure of the previous year’s accounts with your new invoices so you can see how much is generated from the annual charge and how it is spent. Further work is needed to finalise this value for money review, we will then make you aware of the outcome and where to find the information. Telford Lawley and Lightmoor We have resident-led committees within these areas that development and monitor budgets, ensuring services and expenditure is for the benefit of the respective areas only. To find out more about these committees, please visit our Lawley or Lightmoor microsites. Lawley publishes its income and expenditure on the Lawley microsite website each year by the end of June. Lightmoor will publish their accounts from June this year. |
| Lack of awareness of estates and stewardship services | We are currently reviewing our service standards, which explain what estate and stewardship services are and what we provide. You will find our current services standard for Birmingham on our website. In summer this year, we will publish new service standards that reflect the results of the 2022 consultation. |
| More bio-diversity in the form of wildflower areas and trees. | In Birmingham, we have a bio-diversity plan and we are identifying areas we can make environmentally improvements to. During 2022/2023, we planted 23 new trees and developed another tiny forest (in addition to the one in Weoley Parkway) at the back of the yachting pool and Meadow Rise in Bournville. In Telford, we are looking at developing a bio-diversity plan during 2024 with residents. |