A “garden-grabbing” scheme in one of Solihull’s most expensive streets has been green lit, despite fears this “sticks two fingers up” to a previous court ruling. The plans to build five new homes at 21-27 Alderbrook Road have met with ferocious opposition from neighbours. The site has a long and complicated history; a development was…

Calls for HS2 to put a total stop to the removal of trees and hedgerows while the project is being reviewed have been rejected. Fresh concerns were raised this week that Solihull could suffer needless damage to the countryside in the coming months, if the government eventually decides to ditch the development. The Oakervee Review…

A popular retail park in Solihull has announced a number of new stores will be opening soon. Sears Retail Park in Shirley is making some significant changes which includes a new Smyths Toys opening on 10 October creating 60 new jobs including temporary Christmas roles. It will share the building with German discount supermarket Lidl…

A swan was left bleeding heavily after somebody shot her with a 17-inch long crossbow at Babbs Mill Lake in Kingshurst. A member of the public saw the swan struggling with something in her wing on Tuesday (1st October) and reported the matter. David Williams from the RSPCA was called to the scene and managed…

A former bank in Solihull town centre – which has been empty for over 12 months – could be transformed into a restaurant under plans submitted to the council. Cote Restaurants, a chain of French-style brasseries, has lodged an application to open the eatery at 137-141 High Street. It has said that the branch on…

Five Romanians who plundered homes on seasonal burglary sprees from their homeland have been jailed after West Midlands Police linked them to around 400 break-ins. Catalin Zaharia and Constantin Stoian, both aged 30, Marian Molocia (27), Daniel Stoean (35) and 28-year-old Florina Spiru – Zaharia’s wife – targeted properties in affluent areas on the hunt…

Anne Frank’s stepsister, Auschwitz survivor and activist Eva Schloss MBE, visited Solihull School to watch a play based on her life and spoke of her fear at the amount of discrimination which exists in the world. The internationally renowned speaker watched a performance of And Then They Came for Me, which combines recorded interviews with…

Solihull resident, Rama Bharadwa, decided to take on a challenge of a lifetime and conquer her fears all to support Solihull Hospital Charity. Manu Bharadwa, Rama’s husband, was an extremely active 70-year-old man after recovering from a stroke back in 2015. However, in 2018 he had started to become lethargic, running out of breath very…

There are no “quick fixes” to the financial pressures facing Solihull Council’s education and children’s services, a meeting has heard. Councillors were this week updated on the challenges which confront a number of budgets, not least the £5.6 million overspend forecast for this year’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Cllr Ken Meeson, cabinet member for children,…

Several hundred complaints about food premises were made to Solihull Council during the course of last year. Figures for 2018/19 reveal that a total of 339 incidents were flagged up with the local authority. A breakdown shows that 57 of these related to poor food hygiene, 41 were linked to food standards (such as mislabelling)…