Money-grabbing in the great outdoors
THE bus lane that netted £10,000 from fining motorists in just one hour (Mail) is not the only money-grabbing wheeze imposed by Birmingham City Council. It intends to introduce car parking charges for those visiting the jewel in Birmingham’s area of outstanding natural beauty — the Lickey Hills. This priceless asset was gifted to the City of Birmingham by the Cadbury family and others for the recreation of its citizens. The author J. R. R. Tolkien lived as a child on the slopes and loved walking in the Lickey Hills, which are said to have inspired some of his literary creations in The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Sir Herbert Austin test-drove his first Austin car on the Lickey Hills in 1906. In 1869, Elihu Burritt, the U.S. consul in Birmingham paid this tribute: ‘In all the green borderland of Birmingham, there are no hills more graceful and delightful for curing one’s body or soul than the Lickey cluster.’ The area presents in miniature scenery that is typical of England, Scotland and Wales. From 1913, Brummies could travel to the Lickey Hills on the No 70 Rednal open-topped bus — I wouldn’t fancy being on the upper deck in winter. On Easter Monday 1924, by 10.30am it was estimated that 10,000 were waiting at the terminus in Birmingham city centre for a tram to take them the eight miles to the Lickeys. Up to 100 were being transported every minute. The Government is rightly concerned about the rise in adult and childhood obesity and the alarming increase in mental health issues. We should be encouraging people to participate in physical activity in the great outdoors, not discouraging them by introducing mean-spirited car parking charges.