Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT Moseley ACTION PLAN Part 1 Introduction. This action plan is concerned with the neighbourhood of Moseley. A voluntary group, called the Moseley Regeneration Group (MRG) has prepared this document. The Group is made up of local stakeholders who are concerned about the future of their neighbourhood and want to ensure its character and viability is protected for the long term. The MRG has produced this document in the absence of an updated plan from Birmingham City Council’s Planning Department who produced an Action Plan in 1992 (see appendix ). This document is written from the perspective of community organisations working to improve their neighbourhood. A view along Alcester Road, Moseley Village c1900 Moseley, or Moseley Village, as it is better known can be found 4km south of Birmingham City Centre. It was originally a rural hamlet surrounded by farmland however, the Victorians developed Moseley as an exclusive settlement constructing many prominent buildings. Moseley became a proud village just outside of Birmingham; located on a hill, away from the smog and within easy reach of the City Centre. Now, Moseley is a busy suburb within a modern City and has to deal with many pressures that affect the quality of life for residents. What is interesting is how residents still call this 1 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT neighbourhood a “village”. This reflects the strong affinity residents have with the area and the effort they have made over the last 30 years or so to protect its character. Moseley remains a desirable place to live within Birmingham, its proximity to the city centre and other centres of employment, good primary schools, mix of family housing and rented accommodation, and its artistic community continue to attract people to the neighbourhood who are proud to live here. More recently, there has been little investment from central or local government into the infrastructure; there are few public facilities in Moseley. The local economy lacks confidence; the shopping area has less than 50% retail units the balance being licensed premises, restaurants and betting shops. Only national companies are able to afford the commercial rents in the shopping centre. Like other suburbs, Moseley suffers from environmental problems such as fly-tipping and litter and the quality of public spaces needs to be improved. In addition, the community has become fragmented – there are islands of wealth with neighbouring areas that are in the top 10% of deprivation in the country. There is a need for more community cohesion and greater participation in community life. Residents who came to Moseley in the 1970s remain the backbone of local organisations; they are likely to retire soon and a new more diverse generation is required to take on organising community life. Alcester Road, Moseley in 2000 2 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT Purpose of this Action Plan. Following the 1992 Action Plan there remain concerns amongst residents about the quality of life in the neighbourhood and the failing viability of the retail outlets in the shopping centre. Therefore, the MRG felt it wise to re-visit the Action Plan with the intention that this document should be used to start an Area Action Plan within the new Local Development Framework. In the meantime, the 2008 Action Plan will be used as the basis for the MRG’s strategy to guide the regeneration of the neighbourhood and will inform its discussions with public sector bodies, local politicians, private developers, and in particular the City Council’s Planning department who are currently preparing the new planning framework for the City. This Action Plan should be reviewed and updated in 2012. Birmingham’s planning system – Currently, Birmingham’s development is guided by the Unitary Development Plan but this is soon to change as the City Council develops a Local Development Framework document to replace the Unitary Development Plan. Within this strategic document there is the opportunity for local communities to make a contribution through Area Action Plans that form part of the new Local Development Framework system. Their purpose is to provide the planning framework for areas where significant change or conservation is expected or required, by: • Assisting in the delivery of planned development • Stimulating regeneration • Identifying the distribution of uses and their interrelationships • Making site specific allocations • Setting the timetable for the implementation of proposals • Providing guidance on layout and design. The MRG were advised by Officers from the City Council that any contribution from Moseley residents would be welcome. 3 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT Moseley Action Plan 1992 and planning policy context for Moseley The current Action Plan for Moseley was produced following concerns about the gradual decline of the shopping centre. The Plan looked at numerous issues raised by local groups such as the Moseley Society, and resulted in the development of the following set of priorities:- . Retain and enhance Moseley’s character as a conservation area. Identify opportunities for environmental enhancements . Develop guidance for the future development of the shopping centre . Seek opportunities for “living above the shop” . Address car parking and servicing of shops . Control the spread of institutional type premises . Identify priorities for investment . Identify broad transport objectives for the neighbourhood. It was the City Council’s intention that this Plan would be used as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) to the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and should be used to direct future development in the neighbourhood. Fifteen years later, however, residents are still meeting about the same issues listed above apart from the spread of institutional premises whose development is now restrained. Also, residents have been informed that they are unlikely to have the Action Plan updated by the City Council in the medium term. Therefore, the MRG have taken on the task of reviewing the objectives and recommendations from the original Action Plan. 4 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT The centre of the neighbourhood is part of a conservation area. St. Mary’s Row in 2000 5 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT The Moseley neighbourhood The area shown is what residents often refer to as Moseley. This map is not to scale www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap Image produced from Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland. 6 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT 2001 Population Census – Moseley The information supplied below is based on a super output area created for the Moseley neighbourhood and is extracted from data provided by the Office for National Statistics. Resident Population 22,932 Number of households 9864 Ethnic groups in White 61.7% Moseley Mixed 3.3% Asian or Asian British 28.1% Black or Black British 5.5% Chinese or other ethnic group 1.4% Demographic changes to Moseley - Moseley’s population has seen significant growth since the 1970’s partly due to inward migration from inner city areas, like Sparkhill. This has led to growth across most age groups; overall there appears to be a concentration of working age people (16-59) resident in Moseley now and a decrease in the 16-24 age group. Within Moseley there are islands of relative wealth neighbouring areas that are more deprived. Most of the wealth can be found in the south of Moseley whilst in the north (centred around Church Road) is an area that falls within the Government’s definition of priority areas that suffer from multiple deprivation. It is within north Moseley that the greatest ethnic diversity can be found, whilst in the south the population has less diversity and has a higher proportion of UK white residents. In the period 1991-2001 the Pakistani-origin community was one of the fastest growing communities and they now appear to be the largest minority group in Moseley. The area of north Moseley is of particular interest; it is home to a largely Pakistani and other immigrant communities and has many people living in social housing: 7 Moseley Community Development Trust DRAFT . The percentage of the population economically inactive above 40.1% for “north Moseley” as compared to a City average of 31.5% . The percentage claimants of JSA above 15.1% as compared to a City average of 8.4%. The percentage claiming Income Support above 15% for north Moseley as compared to City average of 10.4% . The percentage claiming Incapacity Benefit or Sever Disablement Allowance above 15% for north Moseley as compared to a City average of 9.2% Source: Birmingham City Council 2007 The population in north Moseley is In north Moseley the number of: 7753 and the ethnic mix is as follows: White 43% Economically active people is 3112 Mixed 4% Economically in-active people is 2371 Asian or Asian British 43% (Pakistani 34%) Black or Black British 8% Chinese or other ethnic group 2% Source: ONS 2007 Moseley has been successful at supporting its diverse community during this period of inward migration and has seen a greater diversity in the number of different faiths. Christianity remains dominant but is now in decline and other faiths such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism are represented well; Islam is the next largest faith after Christianity. The large Jewish community that once existed is now much smaller and represented in the older age groups but, Moseley still contains the City’s only Jewish Primary School. Moseley remains a desirable place to live for many people, whatever their background. The good performance of local schools, proximity to the city centre, heritage, tolerance of different lifestyles and variety and flexibility of housing choices all contribute to this. Overall, housing tenure in Moseley is balanced 50:50 between owner occupation and rented accommodation.