Hodnet Grove suffers from mice, rats, wasps and a council reluctant to take proactive measures for the public health

Residents in Hodnet Grove have been working with the Workers Party – Birmingham to pressure the council into tackling vermin and making urgent repairs to lighting. Charlbury Tower is infested with cockroaches, whilst the surrounding Grove suffers from infestations of mice, rats and even wasps.

Last weekend a number of residents decided enough was enough. Detailing issues of neglect with activists of the Workers Party – Birmingham, we collected photographs and submitted our concerns to the Council, detailing names of residents and explaining that the infestations were a block-wide issue.

The city council, though it will deal with rats refuses to deal with mice and other pests treating them as individual problems. The problem, of course, is that these are social issues; issues shared by everybody. That’s why its important residents work together to collectively pressure the council into action.

Within a week, responding to pressure from the residents forum and the Workers Party – Birmingham, and with the assistance of attentive council staff (who themselves suffer from the lack of interest shown by local Labour councillors) residents reported that a block wide response from pest control officers has begun, whilst issues for the Housing Team are finally being taken seriously with lighting getting switched on. Our video from a local NHS worker shows that before our intervention, not a single light from the front door all the way to the flats was on. The Labour party is failing Birmingham, its time for change. Vote Workers Party in 2022.