A short history
Redditch grew up around the needle trade. By the late nineteenth century the town was making the majority of the world’s sewing and fishing-tackle needles, and the chimneys, mills and back-to-back workers’ cottages that shape the older parts of the borough today all trace back to that period.
In 1964 Redditch was designated a New Town. Over the next two decades the population roughly trebled, the ring road was built, and a string of brand-new estates went up around the old centre. Greenlands and Lakeside are part of that newer Redditch, planned and built in the 1970s and 80s as part of the New Town expansion. The ward name itself nods to the two big landscape features: the generous green spaces threaded through the housing, and the lake that sits at the heart of Arrow Valley Country Park just to the east.
The King’s Arms, then
Early 1900s. Charrington’s Burton Ales on the gable wall, carriages on the cobbles. Photo: Phil Johnson Collection.
The King’s Arms, now
Still on the corner. Live music, live sport, and a community pub that has watched Redditch grow up around it.
Where we are now
Today the ward is a mostly residential community. Families, retirees, key workers and young professionals all share the same streets. We’re close enough to the town centre that residents use it daily, and close enough to Arrow Valley Country Park that plenty of us run, walk, cycle or paddle there every week. The local schools are oversubscribed, the buses don’t always show up, and the potholes, well, the potholes are an evergreen story.
Politically the ward is a three-way: I sit alongside two Labour councillors who represent the same residents. Disagreement is fine and useful. What residents tell me they want is councillors who show up, listen first, and chase the council to actually do what it said it would.
What I’m focused on
Potholes and road maintenance
The ward has serious problems with road surfaces. I push hard at Overview and Scrutiny for a proper repair-and-replace plan, not a permanent cycle of patch jobs.
Anti-social behaviour and street safety
Crime and Disorder Scrutiny is the seat I use to keep the community safety partnership honest. Lighting, youth provision, visible policing.
Litter, fly-tipping and grounds
Green-space maintenance, fly-tipping enforcement and the basics of street cleaning matter more day-to-day than any glossy strategy.
Council spending and value for money
Every line of the council budget should be defensible to the people paying it. I scrutinise spending plans and look for cuts that don’t hit frontline services.
Local schools, healthcare and services
Schools, GPs and dentists feel stretched. My nursing background helps me question how local NHS services are configured for our residents.
Planning and the future of the ward
Greenlands and Lakeside were planned with green space at the centre. Any new development has to respect that, not bulldoze it.
How decisions get made
Most day-to-day decisions for Greenlands and Lakeside are taken by the borough council, where I serve as Deputy Leader of the Reform Redditch Borough Councillors Group, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny, and Chair of Crime and Disorder Scrutiny. Bigger decisions on transport, skills and regeneration sit with Worcestershire County Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority. I represent the borough on the WMCA Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which means our voice carries into those regional rooms too.
Get something done
If you need a ward issue raised , potholes, fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour, lighting, planning, bins, anything , the fastest route is to send it directly through the form below. I read every submission and take it through the right council channels on your behalf.