Birmingham Local Conservatives motion to the December meeting of Full Council at Birmingham City Council, which aimed to tackle street scarring and the public nuisance of road and utility works taking up public space for a period significantly surpassing the original schedule, was passed by councillors after an amicable debate lasting close to an hour. The motion also called for the Council to work closely with Create Streets to implement their recommendations on street scarring.
Street scarring is the visible remnants of maintenance and repair work carried out in the built environment. Street scars stand out due to the different materials used to repair either damage to the street or to replace sections of the street which have been removed to access underground infrastructure on which maintenance and repair work has been done. The low-quality material and distinct departure from existing characteristics in the street are also regularly notable.
The motion as passed called for increased fines for utility companies carrying out street scarring, but also for the introduction of a lane-rental scheme to penalise the blockage of roads for works overdue completion by utility companies. This would prevent road space from being taken up, reducing associated congestion and the economic and environmental effect this has. It would also prevent the social and cultural effect of low penalties for street scarring, including perpetuating a lack of care for public spaces.
Despite millions of pounds of taxpayers' money being spent on highly visible public works projects over the last several years, street scars and delayed removal of works infrastructure have marred public spaces across the city. The public deserves spaces which they can be proud of, and which utility companies treat with equal pride.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, said:
An often overlooked consequence of street scarring is the perpetuation of a culture of not caring about the visible impact we have on our city. The high degree of tolerance for street scarring, and the lack of significant penalties, further perpetuates this culture within the procurement process as well as within the public eye.
Just in the City Centre, works had to be carried out over and over again as scars were left in Centenary Square and Victoria Square, public spaces on which the Council had spent respectively £16 million and £12 million. We rightly ask the public to maintain their local spaces, to treat their neighbourhoods with respect, so we should demand that those carrying out public works also treat public spaces with respect.
When public infrastructure is allowed to be treated with such distain by those who are carrying out work the message it sends out to the world is that the area is unloved, that the authoritites see no need to have pride in an area. When authorities allow this to go unchecked this causes untold damage to the hopes and aspirations of communities.
Cllr Darius Sandhu (Con, Oscott), Shadow Cabinet Member for Digital, Culture, Heritage and Tourism, said:
The aesthetic quality of our street scene isn’t a negotiable nicety. Nor is the stylistic appropriateness of necessary works a matter for debate, after all, streets are the veins that connect our communities, allowing culture and heritage to flow freely, intermingling with our daily lives.
In a great city like Birmingham, we must live alongside one another, engrossed in our own lives but appreciative that everyone around us is also going about their own, very different business. Place is what so often connects us to our neighbours, with whom our day-to-day lives often differ drastically. Shared pride in place, and adherence to basic standards of human-centric built environment, necessitates that we do not pock-mark our city by failing to appreciate that an aesthetic which connects us to our neighbours in its ease and human scale, also connects us to why we are in that place. We must protect and lovingly maintain this city which we have inherited, and ensure pride in our City’s built environment is maintained.
With minor amendments, our motion passed. We look forward to seeing this work being carried out and the positive impact it will have on Birmingham's pubic built environment.
