Shaping Birmingham’s Transport

Wow, what a conference. As I sit in Starbucks surrounded by the steering group and some of the UKYP Birmingham members reflecting on today, we realise what exactly what it is we’ve done today. Young people make up 37% of our population, and today they were able to speak to high-level decision-makers to do with transport in Birmingham. The guests they were consulting with were:

• Councillor Len Gregory: Cabinet Member for Transportation
• Councillor Jon Hunt
• Councillor Tim Huxtable
• Stephen Rhodes: Bus and Highways Director, CENTRO
• Martin Hancock: Commercial Director, National Express
• Inspector Gordon: British Transport Police
• Ben Martin: Friends of the Earth
• Andy Marlow, Richy Rana and Tyrone Fowles: UK Youth Parliament

A huge well done to Jamie P, Aaron and Jamie H for winning the Your Vision: 2026 competition with their Brumderground concept. Congratulations also to the two runner-up entries.

The idea of today was always to produce practical actions that the council can act on, tommorow, in the short-term and in the long-term… we certainly had a wealth of ideas that came from the rich discussion on each table. The Birmingham Mail attended and commented on how successful they thought it went. The young people involved really did make it what it was, so thanks to them for attending, and also to all those who put in so much to make the event happen. We’ll be updating this blog with the solutions you came up with over the next few days and weeks, as well as some of the photos taken on the event. Alternatively, you can find us on Facebook to keep up to date. Leader of the Council Mike Whitby has said he’s interested in hearing how the event went, and where we can take it from here; we’ll let you know how it goes. We recommend subscribing to stay informed.

As Bilal said in his closing remarks: “This isn’t going to be compiled into some big report where we try and pass it on to the relevant agencies; the appropriate people have already heard and noted what you’ve said.” He’s right. And so it ends? Don’t be silly; this is just the beginning.

Yesterday, Pav and I brought an end to the busy week by attending the Transport Summit 2009 held in the Council House, attended by delegates from across the country. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to meet with important decision makers in Transport some of who demonstrated a lot of interest in attending the Young People’s Transport Conference next week. The discussions during the day ranged from electric cars and the climate challenge to the New St Station regeneration project which I am really looking forward to!!!

We both had a chat with Councillor Mike Whitby, who delivered a dynamic speech on the BIG City Plan, and met Councillor Len Gregory who was excited about the conference as he mentioned, in his speech, the importance of consultation on transport with our young people.

Do not forget to register for the up-coming conference this Thursday 2nd of April as places are filling up fast. Click here to register and we thoroughly look forward to seeing you there for an outstanding event!

With only a week until our event it is set to be better than ever! Myself and the rest of the group have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare a video that will be aired at the beginning of the April 2nd event. We have travelled around Birmingham collecting the opinions of young people and transport experts alike all in an attempt to incorporate as many different opinions on our system as possible. The video will open the event, introducing the delegates to the themes and discussion points of the day. Last week we interviewed the Leader of the Council, Mike Whitby! Sahar and myself travelled to Birmingham Council House and were greeted with an excited leader and some Chinese green tea. The leader was happy to film the introduction of our video, in which he congratulated all those who wish to make a difference through attending the event. We were delighted at the level of enthusiasm that met our hard work, and we left the meeting with the request to continue developing our project, with the possibility of hosting annual events like next week’s.

With all the final details confirmed there is no better time for you to book your place to attend our ‘Shaping Birmingham’s Transport’ Event. The day is the perfect opportunity for you to air your views and opinions to important figures who make changes every single day. Remember, places are limited, so book as soon as possible to ensure you can attend! I look forward to seeing you all there.

I realise that some of you are still contemplating attendance to the event or are unsure about submitting entries to the superb competition opportunity! I hope that the hot and great updates below will help you make the right decision about getting involved and shaping your city’s transport system.

Firstly, The HOT News!!! The Leader of the City Council, Councillor Mike Whitby, has confirmed to attend the conference, as has the BBC Midlands Today’s Transport Correspondent, Peter Plisner. Remember that if you do decide to enter for the competition and your entry does make it to the final round, you will be presenting it to ‘important’ people  in the city which now includes Cllr Mike Whitby and Peter Plisner from the BBC!

Furthermore, for those who are worried that they will not be able to get involved because of time constraints, after our meeting yesterday it has been agreed that the Competition deadline be extended to 19^th March 2009!!! This gives you longer to get your group together and submit an entry. Go to ‘Tips and Advice’ for more information on how to make your entry successful. Remember: you can be as creative as you like but it is always a good idea to keep it simple!!!