Castle Bromwich Community Website

NEW neighbourhood police sergeant Dave Hewitt is no stranger to Castle Bromwich –though in the past he’s been used looking at the suburb from 2,000-feet ratherthan ground level!

The 47-year-old, who takes up his post from April 6 as part of a major West Midlands Police restructure, previously spent nine years with the force helicopter team based out Birmingham International Airport.

More recently, Sgt Hewitt has overseen policing in Smiths Wood – but the vastly experienced officer is looking forward to crossing the neighbourhood boundary into Castle Bromwich.

“I know the area well,” he added, “but I’m keen to speak to as many residents as possible in order to understand their priorities and address any concerns. We’ll be holding monthly police meetings in the community and regular street briefings where the public can raise any issues; I’ll take whatever action is needed to make people’s lives better.”

Father-of-two Sgt Hewitt – whose wife Sue is a sergeant in Silhill – will be supported in Castle Bromwich by a neighbourhood team made up of five Police Constables and two Community Support Officers. Previously there were three PCs in the team.

The team focuses solely on neighbourhood issues and, in accordance with national guidelines, will spend most of its time patrolling the streets and engaging with residents.

Infact, the restructure – known as Programme Paragon – has seen the number of neighbourhood officers across Solihull borough increase from 72 to 112. 

Sgt Hewitt, added: “These officers are dedicated to tackling the kinds of issues residents say are most important to them, things like anti-social behaviour and criminal damage. The whole Paragonre organisation underpins the force’s commitment to local policing.”

And West Midlands Police Chief Constable Chris Sims, added: “By reshaping what we do we can provide members of the public with a better, tailored service; we can engage with them more effectively and protect them from harm.

Current Castle Bromwich police sergeant PaulO’Reilly takes up a partnership role within Solihull Police from April 6.

From April 6, residents will be able to influence local police priorities by going to www.solihullpolice.org.uk, clicking on their neighbourhood and casting their vote. Details of upcoming community meetings can also be found on the website.

Influence - over policing priorities

The next Community Beat Surgery will be held on Tuesday 16th March from 4pm - 5pm at Castle Bromwich Library Hurst Lane North. If you have any concerns that relate to policing. Further details can be found HERE

Castle Bromwich Junior School has won the Solihull Indoor Athletics Championship. Congratulations to all involved. Read more about their victory HERE

An independent assessment by six inspectorates reports on how well local public services are tackling the major issues in Solihull. Solihull has identified six priority areas:-

• Building healthier communities
• Building safer communities
• Building stronger communities
• Building more prosperous communities
• An equal chance for children and young people
• Narrowing Solihull's Gap in Inequalities

The inspectors did not identify any green flag areas where they felt that there was exceptional or innovative performance that others could learn from, but neither did they identify any red flag areas which gave them any significant concerns.

There were however, some informative pieces of information within the reports. Generally the health of people in Solihull is good and improving with an average life expectancy of 83.8 years for women and 78.4 years for me. However, there is a wide difference between life expectancy in the more affluent areas in the South of Solihull and the more deprived areas in the North with men in the south living on average 8.3 years longer than men in the north, and women in the south living on average 6.5 years longer than those from the North.

Read more about the details and how Solihull plans to reduce health inequalities HERE

Castle Bromwich 700

My family recently heard about the Castle Bromwich Community Hall Project and its offer of a commemorative paver. The timing could not have been better as we were considering how to commemorate the life of a recently deceased relative and this seemed to offer the perfect opportunity to both preserve her name and to contribute some money towards a worth while community project.

St Mary & St Margaret's Church are offering for sale 700 walkway pavers which can be used to preserve your name, to remember a loved one, a special event, a business, a club or a society. The choice is yours. The pavers will be engraved for the area outside the proposed New Community Hall.

Anybody wanting further details should contact the Revd. Gavin Douglas OBE - Phone: 0121 747 8546

Gung Hei Fat Choi (Happy New Year) was the message to Solihull residents today as Solihull kicked off the Chinese New Year with a series of performances in Mell Square. The Mayor opened the ceremony by opening the eye of the Lion and this was followed by a wide range of cultural performances which ranged from Martial Arts, Tai Chi, Acrobaticsand Dance to instrumental performances.

Over a sixth of the people in the world celebrate Chinese New Year with a focus on remembering the family and wishing everyone peace and prosperity in the coming year. This year is the year of the Tiger and people born during this period are said to be sensitive, deep thinking, corageous and powerful.

Mell Square, decorated with traditional Chinese lanterns,  was also host to a number of stalls selling Chinese food and traditional New Year gifts. Despite the cold, the crowds gathered to enjoy the colourful and atmospheric festivities which were compered by BRMB.

Castle Bromwich was represented at the Celebrations by Starz! who wowed the audience with their energetic and creative performance.

An exhibition is also running at Solihull ArtsComplex, G2, 8-22 February, in celebration of Chinese New Year.  Innovation in Abstraction by Professor Hai Shuet Yeung MBE combinesBritish and Chinese cultures in this collection of unique paintings.

The culmination of the Festival in Mell Square was vibrant and exciting Dragon and Lion Dance as the Dragon danced its way through the audience gathered around Mell Square folowed by a thank you speech by the organiser Michael Chan, Chaiman of the Chinese New Year Celebration Solihull.

The alleyway that runs along side Park Hall Academy from the Water Orton Road to Lanchester Way is a much cleaner place following a grafitti clean up day on Friday February 12th. The initiative was organised by the Environmental Champions of Solihull who were assisted by residents, Parish Councillors,members of Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership, pupils from Park Hall Academy, Tidbury Green School, PCSOs, BAM and NS Fusion. 

The alleyway had become a favourite spot for grafitti as can be seen from this photograph taken before the clean up.

Despite the freezing weather and bouts of snow and rain 60+ volunteers removed over 1000 tags during the course of the day. Time and the weather prevented the whole alleyway being cleared, but the Environmental Champions are planning a return visit to clear the remaining areas of grafitti.

Pupils at Castle Bromwich Junior School donned hats on Friday to raise money to for Haiti's Earth Quake Appeal Fund. The children were invited to wear a hat of their choice for the day in exchange for a small donation. Details can be seen on the CBJS website.

We need Boyz! So goes the cry from Starz! Arts, with a new film in pre-production and new musicals in the pipeline, the call is out for more teenage boys, and of course, girls are always welcome!

Casting usually from shows currently in rehearsal has always been a good way for moving talent forward, but the current workload is a little above average with a film musical about Zombies, a stage musical, technical and performance classes in drama, dance and voice, social evenings plus a new fund raising community music hall show - Starz! by Gaslight.

This non-profit making film and theatre school has never been so busy. If you think you would like to join Starz! please check out their webiste, phone or text 0788 2962506 or make contact through Facebook or Twitter. Age ranges are currently 4 to 24 years.

Starz! has strong connections to professional theatre, television and film. Their mission statement is "Creating New Futures." This has been proven over and over again. Come and meet Starz! You could have a coffee in their tuck shop and join a class. Life in this unique theatre school is always friendly, happy and very instructional and don't forget dance night is Thursday with London Choreographer Verity Bray.

Come on boys.......Starz! need you.

According to figures published by West Midlands Police, recorded crime and Anti-Social behaviour in Castle Bromwich fell 30% in 2009 compared to figures recorded for 2008. This compares to a 10% decrease in recorded figures  for the West Midlands region as a whole. A total of 712 crimes were recorded in Castle Bromwich during 2009 compared to 1023 in 2008. There were 486 recorded incidents of anti-social behaviour.

According to the breakdowns of the crime figures on the West Midlands Police- My Neighbourhood site, there were 52 residential burglaries, 25 non-residental burglaries, 106 incidents of criminal damage, 78 woundings, 18 Assaults, 43 Robbery (Person), 4 Theft from person, 3 Robberies from Business, 27 thefts of  motor vehicles, 83 thefts from motor vehicles and 273 other crimes. Full details of these figures and how they compare to Solihull overal can be found HERE

The breakdown for the anti-social behaviour figures can be found HERE