Izzy Knowles 🔶

What the world can learn from Paris’s cycling revolution The Paris cycling change did not happen by accident. It was driven by political will, strategic use of data, and a willingness to rethink street space.

“Paris, long known for traffic jams and crowded boulevards, has rapidly transformed into a city defined by bikes. In just five years, cycling’s modal share in the French capital has more than doubled, rising from 5% to 11%…This surge didn’t happen by accident…” via @momentummag.bsky.social

In all the stuff happening over the weekend, watching these Parakeets in a mobile phone mast on Swanshurst Lane was a lovely distraction.

They should all be down by tomorrow. If not the council have committed to doing it, but I don’t have a time line

So proud of our Moseley community today

Statement from Moseley is for Everyone - design has an image of a lamppost along one side with the logo at the top and "Our Statement" at the bottom

Moseley residents are encouraging all local people to come together in a show of solidarity and community- building, to collectively reject the idea that putting national flags on lampposts represents who we are as a community and the culture we choose to hold in our city.

We are in some of the most troubling times of our recent history with narratives of division being sown village to village, town to town, city to city by those that don't even live as our neighbours. The time to be connected and stand side by side for what we believe in is here and a community that stands together can change the world.

REFUSE THE BAIT AND EAT SOME CAKE Flag groups often seek to get a 'rise' out of counter communities to use as propaganda. Avoid arguing or engaging in verbal altercations as it rarely change minds and instead join your community for a show of solidarity and cake-eating.

This is such a Moseley response to the outbreak of flag measles spread by "Raise the Colours" on Wednesday night 😃

Cake not hate ✌️
#BrumTogether

Good to be out with so many people today taking a stand against racism and division.
Bullying tactics are not welcome here. If people have differences we talk and respect each other.
We have so much more to unite us than to divide us.

Sign the Petition Request for the Removal of Divisive Flags from public lamp posts in Birmingham, UK

📣 Sign Brummies United Petition to Birmingham City Council 💥 *Requesting the Removal of Divisive Flags in Birmingham* 👇🏽👇🏼

c.org/t4PRTzwjSS

*Please keep sharing with your networks + encouraging them to sign. We need to put pressure on the council to do their job and remove the flags!*

#BrumTogether

Izzy Knowles Update on the flags put up without permission in Moseley Village tonight. I went out and spoke to the group at the time, asked them to take the flags down and told them they are committing an offence under S132 Highways Act 1980. Despite that they continued to put up more flags through the village even though it was clear the community does not welcome them here. I have written to the Cabinet member, the Director for Community Safety and the Police Commander asking for the flags to be taken down as soon as possible and for some firm action to be taken, either a summons to court or an injunction. This group are not being patriotic, they are upsetting and frightening many people, causing division amongst communities, wasting police time and adding unnecessary cost to a council that is already struggling with managing its finances. We already have a flag for Birmingham. It's the Birmingham Community flag celebrating our rich heritage as a city of a thousand trades, built on migration and welcoming to all.

Moseley is lucky to have a councillor like @izzyknowles.bsky.social ❤️

#BrumTogether #MoreInCommon

m.facebook.com/izzy.knowles...

We are proud to live in Birmingham, a city built by many cultures, stories and traditions. Our diversity is our strength, and that's what makes this place home. There is nothing wrong with flying a national flag on your home. But when flags appear across our streets in coordinated campaigns, we should ask: is this about shared pride, or something more divisive? True pride is inclusive. The best way to show love for Birmingham is not through one symbol alone, but through celebrating everyone who calls this city home.

Photo of a Brum Together poster in the street in Moseley in Birmingham It shows the flag of Birmingham which is mostly red but with a wide blue and gold zigzag pattern in the third nearest the flagpole end, and a central bull's head in gold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Birmingham

Heartened by the way that regular Birmingham people like anti-flaggers Brum Together keep coming together with each outbreak of flag measles from far-right tools Raise the Colours.

They've taken on Moseley's massively diverse community this time.
And we have the experience of Stirchley's stalwarts.

Interesting tidbit from new Birmingham cabinet papers - 3.6% of vehicles entering the Clean Air Zone last quarter were non-compliant. Down from 4.7% in April 2024 and 15.2% at the point of introduction.

Lib Dems slam Council Leader’s ‘city no longer bankrupt’ Declaration

#Birmingham #LibDems slam Labour-led Council ‘no longer bankrupt’ claim.

#LibDems Council Group Leader Roger Harmer said: “The lasting legacy of this Labour administration will be bankrupting Birmingham. This May the best way to send them a message is to vote Liberal Democrats.” 🔶

#LibDems4Brum

Our thoughts are with Councillor Zaffar’s family and friends following the sad news of his passing. He was a major force for good, enabling and advocating for bold transport and clean air policy.

Travellers set up camp after security stops them entering park ground Formal eviction proceedings are now underway following the arrival of a convoy of caravans and other vehicles onto Sheldon Country Park on Saturday.

#Sheldon #LibDem Councillor Colin Green @colingreenld.bsky.social addressing the issue of unlawful traveller encampments at Gilberstone Park: “Improving security at one site just displaces activity elsewhere.”
Council are clearly failing to solve this effectively
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

A graph showing the hourly counts. The usual trend is a peak in early morning and then a second peak in the afternoon.

Yesterday, 204 trips were made via Edgbaston Road on @MoseleyCycleway. 101 headed into the city, 103 headed towards Moseley.

I went on Fox News yesterday morning to explain that while the focus is on Minneapolis, Trump is trampling rights everywhere. All over the country, thousands of LEGAL immigrants, including little kids, are being disappeared.

That's what happens in Putin's Russia, not America.

Brilliant news! 👏 Removing free parking and widening pavements will make the High Street much more pleasant. The planters are especially welcome - anything that stops pavement parking (which blights the street) is a big win.
#PavementsforPeople

It should not take a court order to get a toddler out of a prison.

Just reposting this - my story this week is part of this week's cover package on Minneapolis and the rise of what we call "America's paramilitary peril."

www.economist.com/united-state...

Pictured reply text: Let's close all roads and ban movement of people----see if you can feed yourself and family next month----no food, no water, no electricity, no gas, no toilet, no shower,---children starving.--- one month later gangs running riot and killing for food. This is what happens when society continues in it's current direction. We are closer to civil war under this government than people realise.

My absolute favourite response to my gentle Nextdoor post about how LTNs can make roads safer for everyone. 🤯

A graph showing the hourly counts. The usual trend is a peak in early morning and then a second peak in the afternoon.

Yesterday, 213 trips were made via Edgbaston Road on @MoseleyCycleway. 99 headed into the city, 114 headed towards Moseley.

A graph showing the hourly counts. The usual trend is a peak in early morning and then a second peak in the afternoon.

Yesterday, 202 trips were made via Edgbaston Road on @MoseleyCycleway. 99 headed into the city, 103 headed towards Moseley.

The Economist coverage is grim but this is exactly how it should be reported.

economist.com/united-state...

I am heading back to Minneapolis tomorrow morning to work on a more on-the-ground reported piece for the weekly edition, but this was my piece from yesterday

Reminder - Wake Green Road between Yardley Wood Rd & Church Road is to be resurfaced. 😀
Work starts tonight at 7pm and the road will be closed between 7pm and 5am for the next week.
Expect delays in peak times.
You can find details of current and future road works on the One Network.

one.network

Number of police forces in England and Wales to be cut in major shake-up Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce plans for police reform next week.

Mega forces risk sucking resources into concentrated areas, weakening local policing & distancing police from communities. They also dilute accountability and make culture change harder (evidenced in Casey review). Focus on leadership, ethics & neighbourhood presence.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reflecting on the proposed police reform…

“The move to large BCUs fractured local policing, weakened accountability and left leadership disconnected from the communities they serve.” — Baroness Casey Review (2023)

**London (Met Police) reduced 32 local boroughs to 12 large BCUs.**

Wooden information board at the entrance to Moseley Bog, surrounded by leafless trees. A large sign reads “Welcome to Moseley Bog” above a map of Moseley Bog & Joy’s Wood Nature Reserve, with paths, woodland areas, and wildlife information, plus notices about volunteering and archaeology events.

A guided walk in Moseley Bog: an older man with white hair (Dr Mike Hodder) gestures toward a narrow stream (with evidence of a ‘burnt mound’) beside a muddy woodland path. Leafless trees and ivy-covered trunks surround the watercourse, with simple wooden stakes and branches reinforcing the bank, while a small group listens in the background.

A shallow stream winding through Moseley Bog, with pebbled banks, fallen branches, and ivy-covered trees. Two people stand on the wooded bank in the distance listening to a guide. On the left bank, partly hidden by soil and vegetation, are the remains of bricks marking where a sluice would have been.

A small group walks along a boardwalk through Moseley Bog, wearing winter clothing. Dense trees and undergrowth surround the path, with fallen leaves covering the ground. A guide gestures toward a low-lying area of the bog, explaining where a pool would once have been.

Joined an archaeology tour of Moseley Bog with Dr. Mike Hodder today. Burnt mounds, sweat lodges, sluice, dam, and marl pit - fascinating glimpses of how the landscape was shaped over millennia. No wonder it’s said to have inspired Tolkien. Thanks to the Friends of Moseley Bog for organising!

Inspired by @freedomtodoubt.bsky.social’s brilliant post, I wanted to share my own experience of learning about the dangers of wood smoke.

It started a few years ago with a message on our street WhatsApp.
1/8

A graph showing the hourly counts. The usual trend is a peak in early morning and then a second peak in the afternoon.

Yesterday, 184 trips were made via Edgbaston Road on @MoseleyCycleway. 90 headed into the city, 94 headed towards Moseley.

If this is true it must be one of the biggest massacres by a government of protesters - not in a civil war - in decades anywhere in the world