Working together for a resilient Birmingham.

West Midlands Police Launch New Number

WEST Midlands Police, together with other police forces in the region, is launching a new, non-emergency contact number for the public today (Tuesday 08 November). (more…)

City stages emergency exercise – photos

The Broad Street area of Birmingham was transformed last Sunday morning (30 October) by the staging of the largest emergency planning exercise to be held this year.  (more…)

Birmingham is ready for winter

Birmingham City Council, in partnership with Amey, has launched its winter maintenance service which aims to keep the city moving safely over the winter months.

This year, the city will benefit from a fleet of brand new gritters and snow ploughs all equipped with state-of-the-art GPS (Global Positioning System) technology which records when, where and how much grit is being put on the roads.

The new vehicles and technology will mean the city is better prepared than ever before to cope with the extremes of winter weather.

The routes which are treated cover 1,200km and make up almost 50 per cent of the city’s roads. The routes have all been further refined for this winter to ensure that the gritters can cover the network in less time than before.

Pavements are also gritted where they are a priority, such as in the city centre. A team of specialists co-ordinate the service, constantly planning gritting routes, monitoring weather conditions and sending out gritters when necessary.

Gritting vehicles are on standby 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week from the beginning of October through to May. They are sent out when ice is predicted on road surfaces, although reactive gritting and snow ploughing is also carried out when large amounts of ice and snow settle on the roads.

It takes between three and four hours to grit the whole of the priority network in Birmingham, and gritters are fully loaded and on the road within an hour of call-out.

Cllr Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment and Regeneration, said:

“While some disruption is always inevitable, compared to other areas of the country we have generally managed to keep Birmingham moving during the more extreme weather conditions of recent years. Now with even more advanced vehicles and intelligence about how to use our more than adequate salt supplies, we will once again be doing all we can to support residents and businesses over the winter months.”

 Mike Notman, Project Director at Amey, said:

“Birmingham has never been better prepared for winter than it is now thanks to a combination of new technology, an enhanced ability to monitor salt  stocks, and the ability to call on extra vehicles from a central Amey hub if needed.”

Members of the public were able to view the new gritters and technology for themselves on Tuesday (1 November) when six of the fleet were on display in Victoria Square.

City Stages Emergency Exercise

The largest emergency planning exercise to take place in Birmingham this year is being led by the city council on Sunday (October 30).

Birmingham Shield is the latest in a series of exercises organised by the Birmingham Resilience Team, and will assess how prepared the city would be in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident.

Police, firefighters, ambulance, hospital and other emergency personnel from across the region will be involved, alongside 100 volunteers playing the part of injured and uninjured survivors. Those involved are not being taken away from their normal duties for the exercise.

Some will be put through a decontamination procedure and taken to hospitals or survivor centres – just as they would should a real emergency occur.

The exercise is not in response to any specific threat, but is part of an ongoing programme of exercises to ensure Birmingham is thoroughly prepared for a range of major emergencies and disasters, should the worst case scenario ever unfold.

Planning for the event began at the turn of the year, and will see a small number of road restrictions in the Broad Street area, to ensure the safety of volunteers and to accommodate the vehicles and equipment needed to respond to the incident.

The roads affected during the exercise will have restricted access between 8am and 1.30pm. Access to all frontages will be maintained. Those roads within the restricted area are:

•    Broad Street: traffic both ways between Paradise Circus and Gas Street.
•    Bridge Street: from the Hyatt Hotel entrance to the junction with Broad Street.
•    Pedestrians will be required to use the footway nearest the ICC between Paradise Circus and Gas Street, unless access to frontages is required.

Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Anyone in the city centre on Sunday may see large numbers of emergency service vehicles – but I want to reassure them that they need not be alarmed.

“We are always looking at how we can refine our processes and procedures to ensure the city is best prepared for any emergency, and everyone involved with this exercise is keen to get stuck in and put their skills to the test.

“I’m sure those participating will show everyone in Birmingham and beyond that we are as ready as we can be for such emergencies.”

Project Argus – Counter Terrorism Event – Sponsored by City Centre Partnership

Project ARGUS is a National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) initiative, exploring ways to aid you in preventing, handling and recovering from a terrorist attack.  It achieves this by taking businesses through a simulated terrorist attack. (more…)