To Coyne A Phrase

Ozzy makes feathered friends

I’M not sure a man who is reputed to have bitten the head off a dove as part of a publicity stunt is the best person to be linked to a bird-themed charity initiative but hey ho.

Black Sabbath frontman and Aston’s finest – Ozzy Osbourne – has teamed up with Retail Birmingham to be part of The Big Hoot, a giant art exhibition set to descend on the city this summer.

Presented by public art specialists, Wild in Art, in partnership with Birmingham Children’s Hospital, The Big Hoot will see more than 90, individually designed 5ft 5 inches tall, owl statues appearing throughout the city over a ten week period from July 20.
 
At the end of the summer the owls will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to the hospital.
 
The legendary Brummie rocker said: “My son Louis was in Birmingham Children’s Hospital for quite a while as a child and they took such good care of him which I will always remember.

“They do amazing work for kids and families in my home town, so I’m really pleased to be working with my artist friend Graham Frank Wright in bringing an owl design to life to help raise funds for a great cause, it’s the perfect collaboration.”
 
Steve Hewlett at Retail Birmingham, said: “Ozzy is the most famous Brummie in the world and when we asked him to help design an owl for us in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, he said yes straight away.”
 
Artist Graham Frank Wright said: “When Ozzy and I were together in the 70’s in our younger days we were a couple of night owls. We were working doing gigs late into the night and so we both thought it would be good to paint Ozzy’s Owl as a night owl.

“The idea was to incorporate the stars, the midnight sky and the silhouette of the Birmingham skyline together with Ozzy’s hands and glasses, it’s a combination of Ozzy, his hometown, late nights and we both think it’s all come together.” 
 
Wild in Art hosted a similar event in Bristol which featured various giant statues depicting Gromit of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ fame.

Giant steps

I CAN understand some people in Coventry and Solihull having concerns that joining a Greater Birmingham Combined Authority might mean them being consumed by their larger neighbour.

Residents in Coventry are petitioning the city’s council saying that residents need a voice. Ironically the petition has been set up by a lady called Rachael Bermingham.

There will be businesses that are concerned too.

But I think Coventry and Solihull have made the right decision in, at least in principle, uniting with Birmingham and the Black Country.

The Government – in both its pre-election coalition form and its post-election Conservative majority form – has made it clear that when it comes to devolving power to the regions it wants to see combined authorities with the ability to make decisions across local authority borders.

It also wants to see ‘metro mayors’ but that’s another argument.

The prize of having control – financial and otherwise – over key areas such as planning and transport is simply too big to let petty rivalries with a place down the road get in the way.

In a competitive economy the West Midlands has to compete with the likes of the North West and Yorkshire for Government funding and if there are hoops to jump through then you either jump through them or stand on the sidelines and risk being overlooked while other regions thrive.

There are so many people in the West Midlands who work in one local authority area and live in another (I’m one) that it makes perfect sense to speak with one voice on issues that are ‘cross border’.

Sandwell and Birmingham council leaders Darren Cooper and Sir Albert Bore, respectively, need to take credit for understanding this at an early stage.

My only observation is that if we are creating larger public sector bodies with a fair amount of power over issues affecting the region, why on earth did the last government get rid of regional development agencies instead of reforming them?

A tale of two cities

THE aforementioned Ozzy Osbourne is a big Villa fan of course. Having been born in Lodge Road, Aston, he probably didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter.

I’m sure he would be interested in a piece of research carried out to coincide with tomorrow’s FA Cup Final between Villa and Arsenal looking at the difference in property prices in the areas where the two competing clubs have their home grounds.

Emoov quotes figures which show that at £95,942 the average house price in the Birmingham B6 postcode is £456,210 less than the N7 post code where Arsenal reside.

In fact a flat in the Islington area is more than double the national average for a house, costing £459,391.

With an average price of £63,585, you could afford seven flats around Villa Park for the price of one in Islington.

The extreme rate of growth in London is evident, with property near the Emirates (Arsenal’s ground) having increased in value by £27,366 over the last year. The Villa Park area can only boast an increase of £1,844 during 2014.

Many of the inner city areas in London have, of course, been gentrified whereas many of the football grounds in the Midlands and the North are still in the poorest parts of the city  – but the contrast is still startling.

Of course Villa fans won’t be too concerned about any of that if they’re ‘running round the Bull Ring with the cup’ on Sunday.

Have a great weekend (unless you’re an Arsenal fan).

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