northfield bid newsletter 9 - june 2014

Newsletter 9 - June 2014

NORTHFIELD

Follow us: NorthfieldBID @NorthfieldBID

After a bigspring clean,

we’re ready forthe summer

events!

www.visitnorthfield.co.ukimprove - promote - support

Despite heavy rain we made great progress:

• Cut back the thorny brambles and roses over-spilling onto the pavement near the relief road.

TIDY UPA huge thank you to the 12 volunteers (including McDonalds, Northfield Town Centre Partnership, Baptist Church, Methodist Church and members of the public) who joined us to blitz messy areas across the town centre in May.

• Cleared weeds, brambles, litter, fly tipping and a trolley from the car park and land behind the shops near Boots.

• Litter picked and removed weeds from the side of

Northfield House.

• Swept Bell Lane and pulled up weeds to improve the view for anyone waiting in traffic at the junction.

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www.visitnorthfield.co.uk

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All Out DayWe timed our Big Tidy Up to coincide with a high profile All Out Day organised by PCSO Mel Foxall.

Several agencies joined in to

offer advice to businesses and the public, including Northfield Neighbourhood Police Team, Northfield Fire, trading standards, bus inspectors and the Safer Travel team.

City centre tunnelsThis summer the city centre A38 tunnels will be shut again for major repairs.

For more follow @brumtunnelson Twitter or seewww.brumtunnels.co.uk

Summer flowersFollowing a fabulous display last year, we’ve again commissioned 62 metre-long summer flower boxes.

They will be out between June and September, watered daily and, for maximum effect, concentrated on three key road junctions.


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To help win the television public vote we captured people’s attention in advance with mystery green people appearing across Northfield and the city - it went viral online, got people talking and even received local and national media coverage!

Cycle South Brum was officially launched at the Northfield Travel

Last year we joined Northfield Town Centre Partnership and Northfield Ecocentre to back a successful campaign to win £50,000 in the People’s Millions to set up Cycle South Brum.

Roadshow on Price’s Square in April, jointly organised with Network West Midlands.

Local people can now borrow free bikes to get to work, get active or cycle as a family, and also enjoy group cycle rides and bike maintenance courses.

To find out more visitwww.cyclesouthbrum.co.uk


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Over 150 people of all ages joined our public Poppy Planting Day in May including the Birmingham Mail and staff from Mortons Funerals, Sainsbury’s and McDonalds.

We’re staggering the planting with further sessions in June and July to ensure a good crop on the 4th August centenary. We’ll also agitate the land each year to encourage the poppies to grow again.

The land’s always been an eyesore and, to get it ready, behind the scenes we’ve chopped shrubs, pulled down bind weed, strimmed, rotavated through hardcore, added a few tonnes of soil and cleared fly tipping, litter and rocks!

Poppy planting dayWe’re transforming disused land at the junction of the relief road and Lockwood Road into a stunning poppy field to mark 100 years since the start of World War One.

NorthfieldPoppy Planting DAYS

If your school, group or organisation would

like to join us in planting poppy seeds on

Saturday 31st May (PUBLIC EVENT 10AM - 12PM),

Tuesday 10th June or Thursday 3rd July

please get in touch by calling 0121 411 2157

Poppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYSPoppy Planting DAYShelp turn disused land into a stunning poppy fieldto mark 100 years since the start of world war one

visitnorthfi eld

www.visitnorthfi eld.co.ukNORTHFIELDTown Centre Partnership

Don’t forget to visit our new look website: www.visitnorthfield.co.uk


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We again brought in specialist contractors to carry out the annual Big Clean over eight evenings in April.

The two-stage deep cleanse of paving slabs allowed us to lift dirt, grease and gum. We also successfully trialled a different technique that allowed us to dissolve chewing gum from tarmac in hotspot areas - the heated jet wash would have melted the tarmac!

STREET CLEAN


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PRIDE INNORTHFIELD

MAKING NORTHFIELD MORE ATTRACTIVE

On your behalf we continue to invest in projects that make a visible difference, and are doing what we can to keep the town

Improving the town centre environment, by making it cleaner, more attractive and welcoming, makes good business sense.

centre as a whole looking good.

However if we each do our bit, it will make a huge difference!

Here are some practical ways you can contribute to making Northfield better for trade, better for customers:

1. Make sure your shop front and forecourt are attractive and welcoming, and that your back yard is tidy.

2. Make it a daily routine to remove litter (particularly cigarette butts, food and drink) from around your premises.

3. Discourage delivery and other vehicles from mounting pavements, causing obstruction and damage, both inconvenient and potentially dangerous for your customers.

4. Store and dispose of trade waste responsibly and recycle wherever possible.

5. Inform the BID Manager or Caretaker of any problems and issues affecting your trading environment, eg graffiti, damaged paving.

If you’d like a free cigarette bin fitted simply call us on0121 411 2157 or [email protected]

WeedremovalIn March our caretaking contractor Tony Adams weed sprayed across the town centre. He’d waited patiently for a forecast of four days’ dry weather to ensure it worked effectively!


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Community Partnership

Follow us for full details:

visitnorthfield

NORTHFIELd

BEACHLd

Back by popular demand...

why not getreally into

the spiritof the beachand encourage

your staff to dress in

t-shirtsand shorts!

WEDNESDAY 23RD TO SUNDAY 27TH JULY

Don t missout on...



• The Big Projects - making Northfield cleaner• Pride in Northfield - making Northfield more attractive• ShopWatch - making Northfield safer• Vibrant streets - putting on quality entertainment• Be part of something special - encouraging people to get involved

• Spreading the word - promoting the exciting things happening• Supporting business - influencing key issues

Earlier this year we carriedout a survey of manybusinesses, where we asked your views on existing and potential project ideas.

Overall the results showedthat our work is largely in line

BID projectsOur projects fall under seven themes:

with what you are wanting,and we’re already working onnew project ideas to fill in the gaps!

The most popular projectswere:

• Town centre caretaker• Jet washing• Summer flowers• Offender photo scheme• Crime prevention initiatives• Positive publicity

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Retail Relief - save up to £1,000You may be able to apply for Retail Relief, a £1,000 Government discount on this year’s Business Rates bill (the scheme’s also running next year).

To be eligible, your property’s rateable value (RV) must be less than £50,000 a year (your RV figure is on the front of your bill), and your business fall into one of a number of categories.

This is in addition to Small Business Rates Relief and

Save big moneyThere are two main schemes around to savebusinesses money, and the forms are quick and easy.

If you’re eligible make sure you apply - several businesses on the high street have already received confirmation they’ll be saving £6,000 over the next two years!

hasn’t been widely publicised, but for more information visit Birmingham City Council’s website: www.birmingham.gov.uk/retail-relief

Employment Allowance - save upto £2,000From 6th April 2014 employers can claim the ‘Employment Allowance’ and reduce their employer Class 1 National Insurance Contributions by up to £2,000 each tax year www.gov.uk/employment-allowance

Grants Grants of £10,000 to £30,000 are available to eligible small and medium sized businesses through Birmingham City Council’s Business Innovation Programme (BIP).For more information visitwww.birmingham.gov.uk/bip

PRIMEPRIME (Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise) has free training and events coming up in Birmingham for over 50s interested in setting up business.

For more information visitwww.prime.org.uk/courses

Don’t fall for companies claiming they can completethe forms on your behalf, and make sure you follow theofficial links below.


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Northfield BIDVisit Northfield Shop693 Bristol Road SouthNorthfieldBirminghamB31 2JT

Telephone: 0121 411 2157Mobile: 07921 818 828Email: [email protected]

Follow us:

More reasons to visit NorthfieldFacebook: VisitNorthfieldTwitter: @VisitNorthfieldWebsite: www.visitnorthfield.co.uk

Northfield BIDFacebook: NorthfieldBIDTwitter: @NorthfieldBID

Contact usTo get involved with any of our projects, please contact Liz Newton:

Updates...Sign up for our monthly email update by visiting:www.eepurl.com/u3Jqn


Here is the breakdown of BID income and expenditure for 2013-14.

BID finances

BID levy - £104,214

Other income including grants - £12,080

We also helped other organisations raise money towards town centre projects:

Northfield Ecocentre Urban Harvest - £10,000

Improve - £21,302

Promote - £35,888

Support - £594

BID Manager - £37,115

Administration - £2,738

Total Income

Bid Expenditure

Work in Progress After the Event - £10,000

Northfield Town Centre Partnership Culture Mash - £10,000

Northfield Town Centre Partnership Cycle South Brum - £50,000

northfield bid newsletter 9 - june 2014

Documents

northfield travel

northfield ecocentre

northfield house

relief road

local people

public poppy planting

city centre tunnelsthis

cycle south brum