Solihull Council is hosting its first Electric Vehicle (EV) Experience Event, “Solihull Going Electric”, in Solihull town centre on Saturday 5 April. The open event will showcase the growing range of EVs now available and allow residents to explore some of the benefits of EV adoption. Visitors will have the opportunity to test drive a range of exciting new electric cars and bikes, speak to dealers, ask questions and learn from industry experts about the latest advancements in EV technology. Exhibitors confirmed for the event include: BYD, Vauxhall, BMW, Citroën, Mercedez Benz, Skoda, Smart, Peugeot, Fiat and Tesla, while many…

Families are being urged to take some simple steps to make sure they safely enjoy visits to farms and petting zoos this Spring. To avoid illness and enjoy a fun day out the UK Health Security Agency advises people to: always wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm running water immediately after contact with animals (including touching pens or fencing) and before eating or drinking – remember, hand gels and wipes do not kill these types of germs. if a dummy drops on the ground, it will need sterilising. when leaving a farm, boots, shoes and pushchair wheels should…

Work to build a new state-of-the-art Household Waste Recycling Centre and Waste Transfer Station in Walsall has ramped up on Middlemore Lane in Aldridge. In the last few weeks, tarmac has been laid to create the bays where residents will be able to recycle their waste for years to come. External cladding has also been fitted to buildings on the site, with both the waste transfer station and reuse shop now taking shape. Work at the site is expected to be complete by summer 2025, with a view to operations starting later in the year. “ The site is progressing…

Bentley Motors has honoured its UK retailer network in the luxury marque’s annual Scorecard Awards, a celebration of the sales, aftersales and marketing achievements of its 17-strong UK retailer network. Crowned Overall Retailer of the Year , Bentley Leeds picked up three awards, with Bentley Belfast also winning the coveted Sales Retailer of the Year trophy. The Scorecard Awards celebrate high performing teams in Bentley’s home market using a distinct set of measures based on sales, profitability, service loyalty and customer experience. The winners all received a prestigious trophy that was handcrafted in Bentley’s wood shop in Crewe, created in…

Pop Voices and Boogaloo Babes member Anya Small, The Mayor of Solihull Councillor Shahin Ashraf MBE, and Solihull Council Councillor Wazma Qais A variety performance showcasing the best musicians and performers that Solihull has to offer will help celebrate the grand reopening of The Core Theatre. ‘We are Solihull’ will be the first performance in the main auditorium since August 2023, following the completion of remediation works to the roof. Hosted by The Mayor of Solihull, Cllr Shahin Ashraf MBE, to celebrate her year in office, the variety performance brings together an eclectic mix of music, dance and spoken word…

An outline planning application for a new warehouse on a section of open space off Neachells Lane is set to be considered at Planning Committee next Tuesday (25 March). If approved the details of the plan, such as the design of public footpaths, layout, appearance, landscaping, lighting and noise mitigation measures, will be subject to extensive community engagement by the developer and scrutinised by planners under reserved matters, before any works start on site. The land was formally a coal mine and was later used as a landfill site before becoming a public open space in the 1990s. The indicative…

Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council, volunteers from Veolia and Aldi, and staff from the Council’s Planting Our Future team joined together this week to plant 500 new saplings at Katherine’s Wood in Lavender Hall Park, Balsall Common. The new saplings, which include Field Maple, Red Maple, Alder, River Birch, Downy Birch, Beech, Oak, and Willow, will complement and further enhance the existing two-acre woodland at Katherine’s Wood. In addition to the woodland extension, members of the Berkswell Society have planted a community orchard at the park. The orchard includes apple trees, pear trees and plum trees. Aldi, the…

Celebrating their Ofsted success are Edward the Elder Primary School pupils with Headteacher Bridget Highman and Councillor Jacqui Coogan, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education A school which has ‘high ambition for all pupils’ has been judged to be Good by Ofsted. Inspectors visited Edward the Elder Primary School last month and, in their report published this week, found that everyone ‘subscribes to the values of partnership for achievement’. Staff, pupils and parents ‘are right to be proud of their school’, with pupils achieving ‘high standards’ in reading, writing and mathematics. Staff hold ‘consistently high expectations’ for how…

Sniffer dog Griff outside the storage container and one of the bin liners found with tobacco. A huge amount of tobacco, illegal cigarettes, counterfeit duty stamps and counterfeit tobacco labelling with a retail value of approximately £500,000 was seized from a storage facility in Walsall on Friday 7 March as part of a crackdown on the illicit tobacco trade. The seizure was undertaken as part of Operation Shadow, which aims to disrupt the wholesale supply of illicit tobacco as well as retail. Walsall Council Trading Standards in partnership with West Midlands Police and a specialist search dog team, searched one…

Škoda UK has announced the winners of its annual Retailer of the Year Awards 2024, with Vindis Škoda (Bury St Edmunds) crowned best of the best. The Retailer of the Year Awards celebrate retailer excellence across the Škoda network. Specific award categories cover sales, fleet, electric vehicles (EVs), customer experience, Used Sales, Aftersales, and of course the overall Retailer of the Year accolade. Fighting off firm competition from more than 125 Škoda retailers across the UK and noted for a fantastic team culture, Vindis Škoda (Bury St Edmunds), who finished ninth in 2022 and third in 2023, climbed the ranks…