Sutton Coldfield and Erdington Liberal Democrats

Concerned parents who completed Cllr Ann Holtom's road safety survey have also called for school crossing wardens to be provided outside Castle Vale's schools to give additional protection for their children. Currently there are 390 wardens across Birmingham who assist and provide protection to children when crossing the road at the start and end of the school day. Ann's survey highlighted the fact that there are NO crossing wardens on Castle Vale.

Cllr Ann Holtom has responded to the recent announcements made by Labour leader Ed Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls in which they have reversed Labour's stance on the economy. In a statement, Cllr Holtom said: "Gordon Brown and the last Labour government left Britain's finances in ruins. But that hasn't stopped Labour from opposing every measure needed to clean up their mess. They have fought election after election, including last year's Council election in Tyburn, by telling voters there's an easy way out, their so-called Plan B. Now Miliband and Balls have admitted they accept the cuts and won't reverse them. They have even called for public sector workers to take pay cuts. Labour MPs and union leaders don't know what to think. Everyone has been conned by Labour."

Following a recent fatal accident, a petition for a pedestrian crossing on Farnborough Road, Erdington was raised by concerned local residents. As previously reported on this site, Cllr Ann Holtom asked the Birmingham City Council Cabinet member with responsibility for traffic to intervene in the aftermath of this tragedy. The residents' petition was signed by Ann Holtom as well as by hundreds of local people and has resulted in Birmingham Council deciding to install a zebra crossing.

Local councillor and leading campaigner for a new station on Castle Vale, Ann Holtom, has welcomed the news that Network Rail has included a proposal in their development plan to extend the existing rail service from Worcester to Tamworth.If this proposal is accepted, trains could be running within five years long the extended route with trains calling at Castle Vale and the The Fort when detailed plans have been developed for the new stations.

Cllr Ann Holtom has received a huge number of responses to the survey she organised on road safety issues among residents of Castle Vale. Concerned residents highlighted a number of safety issues that they say requires urgent attention.

Among the survey's findings was that 97% of respondents believe cars travel too fast on local roads.

Cllr Ann Holtom and everyone at Sutton Coldfield and Erdington Liberal Democrats would like to wish all residents of our area and everyone who visits our site a merry Christmas and all our best wishes for the New Year.

Cllr Ann Holtom has been listening to Castle Vale residents' concerns about road safety. Cllr Holtom recently carried out a road safety survey across the whole of Castle Vale and has said she would like to thank all the Vale residents who replied to the survey. Cllr Hotom said she was impressed with the detailed and constructive ideas and suggestions residents had regarding road safety.

Councils are being rewarded for building new homes and bringing empty homes back into use under a new initiative announced by the Liberal Democrat communities minister. Andrew Stunnell MP has revealed the cash boost each local authority in England would receive from the New Homes Bonus. The announcement follows the local action being taken by Cllr Ann Holtom and local Lib Dems to support the Channel 4 campaign "The Great British property scandal" which highlights the need to bring empty homes back into use.

The Channel 4 series "The Great British property scandal" takes a hard look at Britain's record on housing. According to architect and presenter George Clarke, two million families are on the UK housing list, and yet there are one million empty homes in Britain - and 350,000 of those homes have been unoccupied for over six months. So what's gone wrong? Clarke is shocked by what he sees as the country's senseless waste of housing stock and aims to prove that refurbishing is a quicker and a more efficient way of getting people a roof over their heads than building anew.

The 'no' campaign is continuing its fight against an elected mayor for Birmingham with the release of further advice to voters why they should vote 'no' next May. Everyone knows these are hard economic times. Time, then, to take a hard economic look at the costs of an elected mayor and how these would fall on hard-pressed Birmingham residents.