Travellers move back on to popular family park 24 hours after clean-up
A small group of caravans set up camp on Swanshurst Park, on the outskirts of Moseley and Billesley, on Sunday (June 1).
Their arrival came just 24 hours after members of a volunteer group dedicated to maintaining the park finished picking up rubbish after the last group left.
READ MORE: Man glassed and woman punched in face in city centre attack as footage goes viral
READ MORE: The posh Midlands town where house prices are falling
Read More: Travellers move back onto family park for third time in weeks
The Friends of Swanshurst Park spent two days tidying up and amassed an estimated 30 bags full of trash which was taken by a council bin lorry.
The latest group is situated by Billesley Fire Station off Brook Lane.
Get the latest BirminghamLive news direct to your inbox
When asked if the council would be putting in measures to prevent incursions, they said: "birmingham-city-council>Birmingham City Council is committed to actively protecting its land and will take steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it.
'The council has useable transit sites and plots for use by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community – which is in line with Government policy – and details of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment carried out and updated in 2019 can be found on our website."
Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp, click the link to join
This is the fourth traveller incursion in the park since April leaving locals frustrated.
There are constant calls to beef up barriers with logs and other measures to prevent access.
Mary Hart said last month on Facebook: "There have been three lots of travellers this year on Swanshurst.
"Each time a different group. Last time there were two groups at the same time.
"The clean-up is mostly done by volunteers with help from the council."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Refinery29
16 hours ago
- Refinery29
Diane Abbott & The Unspoken Rules Of Talking About Race In Britain
When news broke that Diane Abbott had been suspended again by the Labour Party for doubling down on her comments about Irish, Jewish and Traveller communities not experiencing racism, I wasn't surprised. Frustrated? Sure. But surprised? Not really. We've seen this playbook before, especially when it comes to Black women who dare to speak boldly and unapologetically. For context, in 2023, Abbott wrote in a letter to The Observer that while Irish, Jewish and Traveller communities experience prejudice, they don't experience racism in the same way as Black people. The backlash she faced was immediate, with the Labour Party suspending her and Keir Starmer labelling her comments as antisemitic. Eventually, she apologised, withdrew her remarks, and was reinstated just in time to stand as a Labour candidate in last year's general election. Recently, when she was asked if she regretted her comments in a BBC radio interview broadcast two weeks ago, she said, 'No, not at all," adding: 'Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism, because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don't know.' It was these remarks that led to her being suspended once again. Let's be clear: what Diane Abbott originally said the first time around was poorly worded, lacked the nuance required, and, legally, was false. While Jewish and Traveller communities are not necessarily racial groups, they are ethnic groups, because they have a collective identity based on shared history, culture and ancestral ties. And under UK law — specifically, the Equality Act 2010 — these ethnic groups are protected as 'races' to prevent them from becoming subject to discrimination. So, although these communities may not constitute as races, they can still, by law, experience racism — making Diane Abbott's claim partly wrong, but not wholly wrong. Ultimately, how we define race can get messy. What really is 'race', anyway? Quite frankly, it's an obsolete term that was created by European scientists during the Enlightenment period to ascribe varying levels of 'intelligence' to people of different skin colours. The very concept of race, therefore, is rooted in prejudice towards people of colour. It has always been weaponised against us and used as a tool to justify white supremacy, the myth of Black inferiority, and atrocities such as slavery and colonialism. This is why there was a very valid truth in what Diane Abbott said, and the backlash she faced tells us more about Britain's discomfort with conversations on race than it does about any single line in her letter. After all, if race as a social construct was created to legitimise the dehumanisation and commodification of Black and brown bodies, then is it wholly wrong to claim that people of colour have a monopoly over the experience of racism? For Black and brown people, racial prejudice plays out differently because we don't get to hide the difference in our identity. We can't take off our skin and put it back on as we please, in the same way a Jewish man can with a kippah or a Roma woman can with a dikhlo headscarf. We have no choice but to wear the very thing that subjects us to hostility and violence everywhere we go. ' Diane Abbott's comments warranted some correction, yes. But they also deserve context. Because if we can't have difficult conversations about the clear differences in how racism operates — in how it shows up depending on who you are and what you look like — then we're not fighting racism. ' I'll never forget when I was refused entry into a club in France while studying abroad. There I was, dressed up, standing outside the club while the white girls I was with were all waved through with ease just minutes earlier. Even after explaining I was with them, and one of them vouched for me, he refused to budge — then let in more white girls after me. Not much needed to be said. His cold glare spoke a thousand words. I wasn't good enough to enter the club because I was Black. It was humiliating. That's what racism rooted in skin colour does. It denies you your humanity before you've even opened your mouth. Just by laying their eyes on you, people decide, 'You don't belong here'. The socioeconomic impact of this is striking. According to the McGregor-Smith Review, people of colour in the UK are less likely to be hired and routinely face hiring discrimination based on their names, racial disparities which cost the UK economy £24 billion annually. We're also less likely to receive business investment or approval for bank loans. In the criminal justice system, we're more likely to be stopped, searched and arrested, and Black defendants are 40% more likely to be jailed than white defendants for the same offences. These aren't just perceptions. They're real-life consequences of institutional racism. And beyond the material impact is the psychological toll of constantly seeing Black bodies brutalised in headlines, on social media, and in the streets we walk every day. I grew up hearing about my male friends getting roughed up by the police for no reason other than the fact that they were teenage Black boys. We were just kids, but society had already decided we were threats. That feeling of constantly being 'othered' simply because of the colour of your skin does something to you. It wears you down. It's a feeling that Diane Abbott is all too familiar with. After all, she was the first Black woman ever to be elected to Parliament and has endured constant racist and sexist abuse throughout her political career. According to Amnesty International, she received almost half of all abusive tweets directed at female MPs in the 2017 election. So when she tried to draw a line between racism faced by people of colour and prejudice faced by other minority communities, she was speaking from her lived experience. I got what she meant. So did most people of colour. It's not that one experience of hostility is worse than another; it's that they're not the same. That difference deserves interrogation, not silencing. But instead of engaging with nuance, Labour weaponised her words – and her apology – against her. It's hard to ignore the fact that this all happened under the leadership of Keir Starmer — a man who called Black Lives Matter 'a moment', and delivered a speech that claimed that further immigration would risk making the UK an 'island of strangers'. Besides, Starmer has been unequivocally vocal about denouncing the 'stain' of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, promising to 'tear out this poison by its roots'. But if suspending Diane Abbott is part of his attempt to do just this, then he is barking up the wrong bush. As Abbott rightly said, any rational, 'fair-minded person' should be able to accept that there is a distinction between racism towards people of colour and discrimination towards white people who have their own ethnic subculture. To pretend this is not the case is simply disingenuous, and, in some way, can be seen as invalidating the reality of racism and its scientific roots. In a statement reacting to her suspension, Abbott said, 'It is obvious this Labour leadership wants me out.' She is probably right. This whole scandal isn't about standards or values. It's about punishing a Black woman for making white people uncomfortable, and doing it loudly and unapologetically. Diane Abbott's comments warranted some correction, yes. But they also deserve context. Because if we can't have difficult conversations about the clear differences in how racism operates — in how it shows up depending on who you are and what you look like — then we're not fighting racism. We're oversimplifying it and protecting white feelings. And that helps no one.
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- Yahoo
Man serious injured in Tyburn Road 'stabbing'
A man was rushed to hospital following reports of a stabbing on one of Birmingham's busiest roads. Police and paramedics were called to Tyburn Road in the Pype Hayes area at around 9.30am yesterday, Monday, July 21, after multiple 999 calls were made. Paramedics found a man with a serious injury. READ MORE: Police issue major update as Solihull hit by 40 street robberies in recent crime-wave READ MORE: Illegal car cruiser avoids jail over late-night Spitfire Island BMW race in front of baying crowd READ MORE: Travellers arrive at Birmingham park in 'greater numbers than ever before' The victim was given advanced trauma care at the roadside before he was taken to hospital. According to local reports, a cordon was set up as police conducted enquiries. A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We received multiple 999 calls reporting a stabbing on Tyburn Road, Birmingham, at 9.36am on Monday. "An ambulance, paramedic officer and a trauma team responded to the scene and arrived to find a man with a serious injury. He received trauma care on scene before being taken to hospital for further treatment." West Midlands Police is investigating the incident and was due to issue a statement shortly. BirminghamLive has a suite of newsletters, tailored to your needs. They include Birmingham Politics, Nostalgia, Court and Crime Updates and, of course, BirminghamLive Daily - the biggest stories of the day sent at morning, lunch and evening. There are also local ones like Black Country News, MySolihull and MySuttonColdfield. Choose which newsletters best suit you. You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in the region.
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- Yahoo
'Deep reservations' over leafy Midlands village housing plans as 'besieged' residents speak out
A West Midlands MP has expressed "deep reservations" over proposed developments around Hockley Heath in Solihull. There are a number of ongoing development proposals surrounding the leafy West Midlands village - with some submitted to the council and others under consultation ahead of being proposed. Meriden and Solihull East MP Saqib Bhatti spoke of his "deep reservations" around the proposed developments, which could bring a significant number of extra homes to the "tranquil" village. READ MORE: Residents of 'tranquil' West Midlands village feel 'besieged' at housing plans READ MORE: HMO extension appeal thrown out by inspectors Some plans are yet to be submitted to the council as they are undergoing public consultation through developers, but if later approved, would bring hundreds of new homes to Hockley Heath. In addition to plans to be submitted to Solihull Council, there are proposals from the south Warwickshire side of Hockley Heath that are also worrying villagers. Hockley Heath villager Peter Sylvester told BirminghamLive: "Hockley Heath forms part of the green belt between the Dorridge/Knowle conurbation and Solihull and if the developments that we are seeing proposed at the moment, that will convert us from a green belt location to a town in its own right, which means we will lose the complete split between the green belt and the buildings." The 73-year-old added: "We are not against new houses. "We don't want to be NIMBYS we have to be realistic but we have to say crikey, how are we going to do this? "We appreciate that we have to play our part but this is overwhelming. "You feel as if you are being besieged from north and south." Peter helped set up Hockley Heath Action Group at the start of July and it now has some 185 members. Saqib Bhatti, Member of Parliament for Meriden and Solihull East, also met with residents of Hockley Heath, attending a meeting with Hockley Heath Action Group on Thursday July 17. Responding to concerns, Mr Bhatti said: 'I was pleased to meet with residents at a meeting hosted by Hockley Heath Parish Council, to express my deep reservations about the proposed developments around Hockley Heath. "This follows a meeting I attended in February, earlier this year. 'My constituents in Hockley Heath and I are in lockstep in our belief that these planning proposals could have a significant impact on the local greenbelt. "We also agree that the Government's National Planning Policy Framework is gravely unfair – putting enormous pressures on rural communities whilst leaving urban areas like Birmingham criminally undeveloped. 'I will continue to work tirelessly with my constituents to protect our precious greenbelt, preserve our natural environment and ensure that the people of Hockley Heath are treated fairly and with consideration.' A Solihull Council spokesperson told BirminghamLive: "We are aware that these sites, along with many others, have been submitted via our Call for Sites exercise over the winter. "The Council will be reviewing all sites to determine which may be appropriate to be included in the draft Local Plan. 'The Call for Sites is a land availability exercise, and it does not necessarily mean that sites are suitable for development. 'The council is also aware of the proposals within the South Warwickshire plan and will continue to engage with the neighbouring authorities as these plans evolve.' You can read more of what Hockley Heath residents have to say in our report, here.
