New birds in town

There is a nature reserve in West Bromwich, which has some new inhabitants, some ring-necked parakeets. The birds can be visited at the Sandwell Valley Park in West Bromwich. I was thinking, if this was 50 years ago, would those same birds me able to survive? With the warmer conditions over the last few days, or even the last few years that we have experienced, is it global warming that has made each summer get warmer?

I think that with this story there is an underlying message that the world is getting warmer, due to global warming! If these birds are originally from Asia and Africa, where temperatures are extremely high, how on earth can they survive here? This points out, the fact that the we live in a much warmer place, than say our parents and grandparents.

So although this is a light hearted story about the new inhabitants at a local park in Sandwell, it underlines some key points, which may be overlooked about the world becoming a warmer place and issues of global warming!

A chippy that’s creating litter!

A chippy that opened last August, could be contributing towards the litter in a local community in West Bromwich. Big Johns, which has branches around Birmingham, had applied for a license to be open until 5am in the weekdays and their application for the license had been granted.

The main problem that the local resident had with this is that this would create much unwanted litter. However I was wondering, whose responsibility is it for this litter to be picked up?

Of course it is the customers’ responsibility not to throw the rubbish onto the floor in the first place, however, when the rubbish is on the floor, is it the owners of Big Johns duty to clear it up? Is it the local Sandwell Council that should clear it? Or is it the local residents that are left to clear up the mess.

I personally feel as though the owner of Big Johns, are responsibile for clearing up the mess. Is it ok for them to rake in the cash, but not to help clear the mess that they inevitably help to create?

Help to get you out and walking!

There is going to be a new leaflet launched in Birmingham and Sandwell, which aims to get people up and walking in the scenic Sandwell Park. This is the first ever full leaflet, that will show you about the different thigns that Sandwell Park has to offer and of course all being free of charge. I think it is great what the Sandwell Valley Trails Group are doing, they have managed to get funding to put together this leaflet, to encourage people to get out and explore the park.

After speaking to John Blyth, one of the organisers, it was clear that a lot of time and effort went into producing the leaflet, which was partly funded by the Primary Care Trust. John told me that the leaflet was originally going to be priced around £4-5, however they decided not to do this and is available completely free of charge. It’s great because the leaflet is meant for a wide variety of people, whe cyclists, walkers and horse riders.

The leaflet is not currently available online, which is a shame because it sounds so interesting, especially about hearing about all the work that has gone into it! However John did say that they are working on putting together a PDF version of the leaflet, which will be put on the internet.

The leaflets are currently available from the Forge Mill Farm, Park Farm and The Public in West Bromwich.

If you do want any more information about any events happening in Sandwell Park, or the surrounding areas you can visit Sandwell Council’s website.

How to get rid of your old fridge!

There is now a new scheme that’s been in place in Birmingham, called the Bulky Waste Collections and the scheme has been intrtoduced by Birmingham CIty Council.

The aim of this scheme is to get people to get rid of any unwanted household items, like fridges, freezers, tables, doors etc. Basically anything that is quite big, and not really in use.

However I was wondering whether the scheme will be a success, because with th recession, will people really be getting rid of their furniture and wanting to buy new things? Surely people will be holding on to their household possessions, rather than giving them away?

The good thing about Builky Waste Collections is that people don’t even have to move from their house to have large, unwanted, bulky items removed. People can call up the council and organise a suitable time and date to have the items collected, or you can use the Bulky Waste Online Form.