Eric Pickles in Edgbaston
Press Release :
3 April 2008
This lunch time Eric Pickles MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) joined husband and wife team John and Deirdre Alden in Harborne High Street in the Edgbaston Parliamentary Constituency.
Both John and Deirdre are Councillors in wards in the Edgbaston Constituency (Harborne and Edgbaston respectively) and both are up for re-election on May 1st. Deirdre is also Edgbaston's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate.
John and Deirdre explained to Eric about initiatives which the Council has been involved with to work to improve the Harborne shopping experience. A recent survey of businesses in the High Street showed that while the area was seen as a good night time venue and a good place to go to eat out, it still needs to raise its profile as a shopping destination.
Last year the Council installed a Village Centre Manager. Since autumn 2006, a regular monthly Farmers' Market has been held in the High Street, and there have been a number of one-off special events to try and increase foot-fall. Cllr Deirdre Alden said, "If people come along for something special, the hope is they will see there are some nice interesting shops and then they might come back again on a regular basis."
Eric Pickles was also interested to hear about Birmingham Council's devolution agenda which sees Parliamentary Constituencies such as Edgbaston each having their own individual committee comprising all the Councillors for the area, with control of devolved budgets. | 
