Media Watch - April 2
Top Birmingham City Council Stories
‘Garden tax will see leaf pile-up in city streets’ (Birmingham Mail) Birmingham’s controversial ‘garden tax’ will leave streets knee-deep in leaves with thousands of residents refusing to pay up, a councillor (Cllr Keith Linnecor) has claimed.
Last of Midland speed cameras are turned off to save £1 million a year (Birmingham Mail) All West Midlands speed cameras have been turned off as police and councils swap to using mobile vans to catch drivers.
Mum at war over housing repairs (Birmingham Mail) Kristina Heath has dubbed her Shard End property ‘Birmingham’s biggest hovel’. Birmingham City Council has carried out repairs on the property in the past and says the problem is partly due to work Ms Heath has carried out herself.
Councillor’s fury over police station closure plans (Birmingham Mail) A high-profile Birmingham councillor (Cllr Deirdre Alden) has attacked West Midlands Police Commissioner Bob Jones over plans to close a city police station (Edgbaston).
Birmingham City Council drive to cut £2m off phone bill (Birmingham Mail) Birmingham City Council hopes to slash its mobile phone bill by £2 million over the next three years by switching its supplier.
Brum’s horse meat sleuths (Birmingham Mail) Feature looking at the work being done by Birmingham City Council to keep horse meat off the city’s shelves.
Council to give Asda cards to needy (BBC) Birmingham City Council is giving supermarket spending money to the city’s poorest from Monday.
Kicked out after 45 years (Birmingham Mail) A city couple are set to be evicted from the council house which has been their family home for more than 45 years.
Demands to call in new developers (Birmingham Mail) Cllr Jon Hunt says the city council should invite developers to come up with cost-effective plans to redevelop Birmingham’s wholesale markets in Digbeth.
Regional Headlines
Woman dies in Birmingham house fire
A woman in her fifties dies in a fire at a house in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.
Onesie officers arrest ‘violent man’
Two off duty police officers dressed in zebra and monkey onesies apprehended a man threatening to kill people in the West Midlands.
National Headlines
Osborne to defend benefits changes
Chancellor George Osborne is to defend benefits and tax changes in a speech later, saying “this month we will make work pay”.
Boat pair die of suspected CO fumes
A woman and a girl have died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning on a boat on Windermere in Cumbria, police say.
