B29 Constituency Profile

As promised, here's an overview of the parliamentary constituencies that touch on the B29 postcode area.

I have to admit I was slightly surprised how much of the area is actually a part of the Northfield constituency rather than Selly Oak.


(click on map for large version)

Note: Outline shown on map is not the whole constituency - just the portion that exists within the B29 postcode area. This map illustrates the overall constituency outline of Birmingham.

All three constituencies are currently represented by Labour MPs with Lynne Jones in Selly Oak, Gisela Stuart in Edgbaston and Richard Burden in Northfield.

Selly Oak Liberal Democrats

As an interesting addition to my post on Lynne Jones - MP for Selly Oak, I recently found www.publicwhip.org.uk which contains a fascinating insight into the parliamentary voting behaviour of all MPs, including Selly Oak's very own Lynne Jones.

For those with a bigger interest in politics the site also contains a wealth of interesting information on policies, the House of Lords, and a fascinating customisable diagram of who-is-where in government on any day in the last ten years.

Back to B29, and in the interests of political neutrality, I thought I'd highlight the Liberal Democrat's web presence for Selly Oak.

Dave Radcliffe (left) is the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Selly Oak constituency.

The website itself is fairly useful - details of advice surgeries run by the Lib Dem councillors, a selection of local news (although at the time of writing in a slightly bizarre order), and a much more comprehensive overall Lib Dem news section.

If you're wondering about the difference between the Selly Oak Constituency area and the B29 postcode district area then here is the constituency map to be compared with the B29 map.

I might attempt to produce a combined version in the next day or two to demonstrate the complete political make-up of B29.

Selly Oak New Road Proposals

According to birmingham.gov.uk, construction on the Selly Oak New Road is about to start. The 'last updated' tag on the page says 2nd October 2007 although this doesn't necessarily mean that the information is completely new.

According to the website

Works are programmed to start in October and last for 10 months until August 2008.

Has anyone else got any further information on this?
Anyone able to shed any light on when construction is actually due to start?
Please comment on this post if you have any additional info...

There's a useful map of the proposed new road on the website, although I've provided a slightly doctored version below to make it, I think, a bit clearer.

The orange line is the current Bristol Rd through Selly Oak, the red line is the proposed new road. The heavily student-populated area including Dawlish Rd, Tiverton Rd et al is the large area shaded green in the centre.


(click on map for large version)

In essence the reason behind the plan is very similar to the Northfield Relief Road which was completed in June this year and allows traffic to progress along the A38 route between the city centre and Rubery/M5 without going through the busy shopping centre of Northfield.

The idea of diverting traffic away from the pedestrian-busy shops/pubs of Selly Oak and allowing heavy traffic a quicker and easier access in/out of the city has been around for some time with many of the details agreed in 2004.

The recent demise of the Knife and Fork (pictured left) was, for many, the first big step in the plan.

The plans for the new road are part of a wider initiative labelled the Selly Oak Local Action Plan which includes a number of other major developments in the area.

Early morning tree, Selly Park (from Flickr B29)

(from Flickr B29)