Even after all these years Moseley and its residents still have a singularly amazing power to demonstrate small minded thinking.
Most people think of Demaines as either the place that sells tasty bacon sandwiches or even the all conquering best takeaway in Moseley in Bloom. Unfortunately this civic mindedness isn’t enough for some people.
It seems that the Moseley Forum, or people linked to them have decided that this isn’t the sort of business they want. They have been reported to Birmingham City Council for an apparent breach of planning law. This breach is to have tables and chairs to sit down on.
As a result if you fancy a nice cup of tea or a bun there is now nowhere to sit down. It seems that similar complaints have also been made about the Java Lounge.
The rank hypocrisy of this is astounding. On the one hand the development of Tesco is opposed because of the impact on small businesses whilst those same people are trying to undermine the businesses they purport to support.
It does make you wonder why anyone would bother to invest time and money in this community when all they get in return is the contempt of our unelected representatives.
Fortunately Cllr Emily Cox is doing her bit to get this resolved and hopefully keep these businesses alive. We’re sure she would appreciate you emailing her your support.
As co-Vice Chair, I will happily stick my neck out and say that this was not Moseley Forum, or any of its members. We work closely with the Moseley Business Association, and would never seek to undermine the success of the small businesses of Moseley in the way that you suggest.
Please print an apology and retraction at your earliest convenience.
Having spoken to a number of your friends on Twitter, I have since been assured that you would have only written this in good faith. So perhaps you could enlighten me (and the readership of your blog) as to why you think it was Moseley Forum that did this? On being alerted to this piece, I asked the committee straight away (as I knew nothing about such a move), and our Chair confirmed that it had nothing to do with us.
Basically, if someone is pretending to do this on behalf of Moseley Forum, or if one of the committee is acting unilaterally under the MF name (and lying about it) – I would like to know about it, so that we can nip it in the bud.
Incidentally, on the “unelected” element of your post – the AGM is on June 2nd. If you feel that any of us are unfit to receive the concerns of Moseley residents, then please do attend and make your feelings known. Or even better, join!
Hello,
The businesses were told by planning officers and local Councillors that the complaint came via the Moseley Forum. I’m not completely sure but I reckon both an apology and retraction are frighteningly unlikely.
Holding an internal election is not the same as gaining a wider mandate from the community.
I have commenced my own enquiry into the matter, and while I am yet to receive a direct report of what was said from the minutes, I have been made aware that this has been discussed by the Moseley Regen group at one of their last meetings. At this stage, it is unclear as to whether the Regen group made the complaint themselves, or simply discussed the fact that a complaint had been made. I will let you know, but the fact remains the same – the Moseley Forum management committee did not make that complaint, so you have been misinformed. If you would e-mail me which councillors and planning officers gave you this information, I will get in touch and straighten this out. I will also approach the businesses and assure them similarly.
As to your next comment – our AGMs are public, anyone can attend, and ultimately, we need the permission of the public to remain on the management committee. We can say that we want to remain on the committee, but ultimately, we can’t vote ourselves on. The residents of Moseley are Moseley Forum – we’re just a bunch of people who turn up every month and listen to the people who turn up to talk to us, and give them a platform on which to forward and progress their ideas and concerns.
From Tony Thapur, of Moseley Regen, and CDT:
“Hi Claire,
thanks for the message and it does appear the Blog has rushed to judgement. The enforcement action taken against Demaines was curious. I can tell you that nobody from the CDT or Regen Group made a complaint to the City Council. We did discuss this action at the Regen group since we were all curious to know what had happened. I did ask Nikki Carr the Town Centre Manager if she knew more, but she didn’t.
To help find out what was going on Nikki Carr and I met with a Planning officer last week to better understand what the policy was, since Demaines had to remove to tables (which I think are back now) and others hadn’t. But she didn’t tell us where the complaint had originated from. We had a walk around the Village looking at other issues residents had raised as well, like signs. The Regen Group were interested to know how shops with an A1 planning use are often used as a Cafe – which is A3 (or A5) planning use. It appears that there isn’t a single policy to deal with businesses like DeMaines, Java, Maison and Subway. Nikki and I explained how these shops were liked by residents since they were open in the daytime and helped the daytime economy.”
So yes – it would seem that the only way to get to the bottom of this is to let me chase up the relevant Planning Officers and Councillors.
I don’t have details about individual planning officers and our Councillors aren’t really very good at keeping their heads down so you should be able to get hold of them. This isn’t really proper journalism.
I reckon someone going to talk to Demaines would be a good idea. They were bloody furious.
Yeah, we’re aware of the constitutional basis of the Forum. We’ve spent the last 12 years taking the piss out of them on this site.
Following more enquiries tonight at the Moseley Society, I have a likely source of how this situation came about. When they moved in, Maison Mayci applied for a change of use in their retail unit, which was refused, but ultimately resulted in a visit from the Planning Officers. It is likely that this visit was what brought the situations at DeMaines and Java Lounge into question. The Planning Officers do not need a complaint to act in cases such as this. However, it is impossible that the Planning Officers would have passed this information on – it is, Fiona Adams tells me, unheard of. It would be more than their job is worth. So yes, I suppose in the absence of any information as to which Councillor this supposedly was, I must e-mail them all to find out.
You say that this isn’t proper journalism – but you made proper accusations, that proper Moseley residents would have read. You clearly have history with the Forum – fine, none of my business. You find the concept and structure laughable – fine, that is your right. But you have printed an outright lie about the Moseley Forum Management Committee, and I would be remiss if I didn’t press you to retract.
So yes, I will talk to DeMaines, and I will talk to Java Lounge, and set them straight.
I haven’t said anything about the Moseley Forum management committee.
There are only three Councillors so it shouldn’t take too long to contact them.
I wouldn’t worry too much about Moseley residents reading this. They think pretty well everything on here is made up and to be fair they’re not wrong.
You may not have said “Moseley Forum Management Committee”, but that is to whom you were referring. If you literally meant Moseley Forum, you would mean every resident of Moseley, and that is demonstrably not the case.
And I do worry! In terms of Neighbourhood Fora, it is vital to be open and trusted, and this sort of thing does untold harm to both of these areas.
I have now spoken with Emily – who is, as you say, working hard on the matter. She tells me that it is clear that a complaint HAS been made, and it is likely that the same individual made all three complaints (including about the now-closed Windmill Cafe). However, the individual’s identity is unknown to Emily (data protection) – so she did not pass on that information to the businesses.
So there you go. I have done what I can – we will raise the matter at the next Moseley Forum committee meeting, which you are welcome to attend.
Blimey, 7:40 is a very early start.
The Forum has historically been made up of a relatively consistent self selecting group of people that at, varying times, are either on the Committee or are not on the Committee.
I think I’ve discovered part of the problem here. You’re mistaken if you think that there was no fact checking or verification. I’m absolutely confident that this story is 100% true. The thing I haven’t done is give you individuals names, though that’s largely because I haven’t got a clue who you are.
Good luck with your quest. I would suggest going out and asking people directly. That’s what I did.
Perhaps I am mistaken – but unless you show more evidence than you have here, this is still my conclusion. I will use my lunchbreak to visit DeMaines and Java Lounge, and we will discuss what is said at the MF Committee.