Birmingham City Council; Tyseley Energy Park; Arts in the Yard; The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWs); Severn Trent; Canal and Rivers Trust; Webster and Horsfall; Environment Agency, Ackers Adventure and the University of Birmingham’s Energy Institute were delighted to welcome over 400 people to a recent Tyseley and Hay Mills community clean up and open day.
The full agenda presented local communities, residents, businesses and school pupils with an opportunity to find out more and get involved with the projects that are shaping Tyseley and Hay Mill’s transition into Birmingham's Green Energy and Innovation Quarter.
The morning began with over 100 volunteers taking part in a community clean up along the River Cole. The River Cole and Tyseley Energy Park - Creation of a Community Common project is creating new, enhanced and accessible green spaces for local residents and community groups in the area. Volunteers were able to be a part of this initiative and find out how they can help in the future.
It was amazing to see such a great turnout with volunteers from organisations and the community working tirelessly to clean up the green space, and remove rubbish from the River Cole and the Canal - there was a real buzz! We were also delighted to be able to show people the improvements being made and discuss the River Cole Community Commons – a stewardship approach that will bring communities and organisations together to allow the area to thrive.
Dr Emily Prestwood, Development Manager, Birmingham Energy Institute
The morning also saw five school groups visit the recently refurbished School Room and wider Tyseley Energy Park site. The 150-year-old School Room has recently been refurbished with funding from the Climate Innovation Platform Innovation Fund to create a space where school students can explore what sustainability means to them and explore the career paths available to them.
Following a buffet lunch provided by TAWs the Community Day welcomed businesses to find out more about the incubation and SME support programmes available from the Climate Innovation Platform.
At 14:00 Councillor Zafar Iqbal hosted a Tyseley and Hay Mills ward forum at the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre to provide updates from Birmingham City Council and discuss local issues with those in attendance.
Throughout the afternoon residents and school groups could take part in nature and environment activities hosted by TAWS and the Environment Agency including making seed bombs, building an eco-system, learning about soil and composting, and assessing the ecological condition of the River Cole by counting the number of macroinvertebrates in water samples. They could also discuss other projects and initiatives underway to improve the sustainability, connectivity and accessibility of the area, including a proposal for a community mobility hub located on Fordrough.
It was great to see local schools, residents and people from businesses spending time at the consultation event engaging about initiatives underway and discussing plans for the Tyseley Energy Enterprise District to become the Green Energy and innovation Quarter for the City. We were delighted with the turn out and all the great feedback and we are already planning our next event in the Autumn.
David Horsfall, Director at Tyseley Energy Park
