Mansfield Green

Aston is a innercity neighbourhood with few green spaces. The largest is Aston Park adjacent to Aston Hall, the stately mansion constructed by the Holte family in the 17th century. It is presently being restored together with the park for £10 million. I consider the park my lifeline and frequent it on my daily walks around the neighbourhood.

Closer to our house is another green space, called Mansfield Green. It can in no way compare with Aston park, still it is a breathing space in a neighbourhood crisscrossed by streets and full of buildings. The green space has not always been there: a map of Aston in our house, dated 1917, shows that what is now Mansfield Green was at that time packed with houses.

Unfortunately Mansfield Green is not fully appreciated for the rarity that it is. Littering is a problem in the whole of Aston, but Mansfield Green receives more than its share. The corner closest to our house seems to be the favourite dumping ground of drivers who stop at Mansfield Road to unload their often bulky rubbish onto the grass. Mansfield Green contains a small football field, but it is much less used than one would like to see. The reason seems to be that Mansfield Green lacks maintenance and is even dangerous because of holes hidden in the grass.

The Mansfield Residents Forum likes to see Mansfield Green developed. What they have in mind is rather simple: make it into a park by putting a fence around the area, laying out some paths through it and lining them with benches. A proper playground is to be constructed as well.

It has been a frustrating business. Aston Pride, the regeneration agency for Aston, has conducted two consultations among residents and claims that 52% of the respondents were in favour of constructing a community centre on Mansfield Green. The Mansfield Residents Forum cannot believe that the stated figure is true and would like to scrutinise how it was arrived at, but up to now they have never seen a written copy of the report.

Aston Pride admits that there is no shortage of community facilities in Aston implying that a new community centre is not really needed, but they are said to find it difficult to simply drop it in favour of a park, because one of the three city councillors from Aston is championing the community centre. Bureaucracy is another factor complicating the park proposal. Mansfield Green is owned by the Birmingham City Council with the housing department as the responsible agency, the area still being classified as a housing site. Reclassification of the site is necessary in order to guarantee the development of the park and its maintenance after establishment. This has not yet happened, as the site may still be needed for housing after all.

A strong Mansfield Residents Forum could mean all the difference. Unfortunately the organisation is rather weak and cannot make much of a noise. In order to make its voice really heard it needs to involve many more residents across the several ethnic groups. Would it be possible? Time would learn, but at least it has Mansfield Green to fight for.