Introducing SuperStirchley
SuperStirchley is a new group set up by residents of Stirchley and surrounding areas that is campaigning to keep Stirchley independent, and promote everything that’s good about Stirchley. Stirchley is currently threatened by two new supermarket developments to add to the one supermarket that we already have: TESCO have planning permission to build a store at Hazelwell Lane which will destroy all the buildings from Co-op funeral shop to Webbs Power Tools, and ASDA are proposing to build on industrial land at Fordhouse Lane, just 400m from the TESCO store. Whilst it is going through the planning process SuperStirchley will campaign against the ASDA proposal for the reasons given on the ‘about’ page. SuperStirchley will also aim to promote the independent shops that we already have on the high street and do what we can to attract inward investment in Stirchley by helping make it an attractive place for small businesses to move to. SuperStirchley has no formal organisational structure, we are just a group of local people that have met once – we will have an open meeting on the 28th June at 7.30pm (venue TBC) to discuss together how we take this campaign forward. Keep checking this website for details!
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Super Stirchley 
STIRCHLEY BATHS REDEVELOPMENT
The Tesco development has been sold to the community by our local councillors as the only option for Stirchley and that the accompanying section 106 agreement would enable the restoration of the derelict Stirchley Baths as a community centre. The 106 agreement stated that the new Tescos could not open until the community facilities (including the indoor bowls) had been reprovided to an agreed standard. However Stirchley Community Centre has now been sold to Tescos, and the responsibility to provide like for like facilities has now passed onto the council. The plans currently being developed by the council only allow for the creation of a community centre in the old baths, and there is no provision for the bowling club anywhere in Stirchley. The only option on the table is to create a new facility in Billesley. The council appear to be proceeding with their plans with very little community consultation and there is now the real possibility that the Stirchley Community Centre and Indoor Bowls will be demolished before any replacement facilities are available. The local councillors are already discussing temporary venues with existing user groups. I think this is the most urgent threat facing the local community so please can it be publicised at your first meeting? Thank you.
Hi Rowena sorry I’m new to Stirchely and only just read your link – has there been any response to your queries?
Hello Gaynor
Councillor Dawkins has set up a “Friends of Stirchley Baths” group and I went to its first meeting on 25/01, it now seems quite likely that the new community centre will open before the old one is demolished but there still hasn’t been any real community consultation about what we might want although the plans are at quite an advanced stage. The indoor bowls are moving to Billesley but the current plan seems to involve the loss of at least two indoor tennis courts. There is also some confusion about the funding of these projects because the money has not been ringfenced by the council. Councillor Dawkins will be giving a talk to the Stirchley Neighbourhood Forum about the future of Stirchley next Monday (13th Feb) at the Community Centre and it would be good to get as many local residents there as possible. I’m the secretary of the forum so I’ll be there!
Rowena
Please get a grip – Stirchley has been in decline for many years and new supermarkets are just what we need to regenerate the area.
Farmers Market ? Are you joking ? Real people cannot afford to shop there !! Cupcakes at £2.50 EACH – that’s more expensive than the ones they sell in Harrods !! I don’t know what level of income people are on that shop there, but it’s certainly out of my range and something I wouldn’t encourage !! Nice idea – wrong price range.
I have lived in Stirchley for 23 years and have had family links here all my life so I know what I’m talking about……..Stirchley did have lots of independent shops, but as time moves on, so did the shops. Nail bars and second hand shops fill the High Street along with umpteen restaurants and take-aways. Ask yourself why. If Stirchley is such a good place for the individual shops, why aren’t they coming here ? Easy answer, there just isn’t the footfall that’s needed to make it viable.
We most certainly need to get the supermarkets here and then maybe people will visit Stirchley with fresh eyes. I am fed up of people banging on about the Co-op and what a shame it would be if it had some compettion……….far from it !! The Co-op is excessively over-priced (apart from special offers) and I would welcome the choice that the other supermarkets are going to bring, along with all the new jobs that they will create.
At the moment I shop out of the area at a large supermarket. When that was bulit there were the same concerns, but it has only done the area good and has led to many new shops and businesses in an area that was becoming a bit of a no-go place.
I cannot understand why a group would want to stop the regeneration and potential that the supermarkets could bring to Stirchley so I welcome the developments and can’t wait for the building to start !!
Hi Stirchley Resident, thanks for your comment. I was at the meeting last night and it seems that Stirchley is pretty much split down the middle on this one – half the people seem to hold a similar point of view to you, and half seem to object to ASDA for some of the reasons given on the ‘about’ page of this website.
I don’t think anyone is talking about a farmers market being the answer, we don’t have a farmers market at the moment and I agree with you that sometimes they can be pricey and are not an option for everyone. However at the Stirchley Community Market you can get some excellent deals – i sell great quality home-baked real bread for as little as 80p for a loaf, you can get store cupboard items like oats, rice, and pasta from the South Birmingham Food Coop for way less than supermarket prices too. The cupcakes are not as much as £2.50 but I agree that things like that can be expensive luxuries.
Actually independent shops are coming here – I’m opening a bakery this year, the Food Co-op are opening a general grocery store, and the Birmingham Bike Foundry are hoping to open a new bike shop. I noticed a new florist this week, a new cafe, we have one of the best and cheapest greengrocers in Birmingham and a great off-licence or two. There are still a lot of empty units, but it’s a very long high street and it’s going to take time to fill them up. Unfortunately ASDA/TESCO coming are not going to fill those units up, if anything there’s a risk that even more will become empty and Stirchley will decline even further.