Tom
@twloat.bsky.social
He/Him. Town Planning nerd;
BA Theology & Religious Studies grad.
Found in Moseley and Kings Heath, Birmingham.
Here since Oct 17th 2023.
BA Theology & Religious Studies grad.
Found in Moseley and Kings Heath, Birmingham.
Here since Oct 17th 2023.
Reposted by Tom
This week’s planning committee (13th Feb) is a big one - a few major applications, some deferrals coming back and a new chair (not sure why) with some big shoes to fill as the last two have been very capable. So here are a few thoughts. 1/n
February 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
This week’s planning committee (13th Feb) is a big one - a few major applications, some deferrals coming back and a new chair (not sure why) with some big shoes to fill as the last two have been very capable. So here are a few thoughts. 1/n
I am once again suggesting we start referring to Birmingham City Council (et al) as ‘Newhall’.
We don’t have a City Hall, ‘Town Hall’ is a music venue, and the name ‘Council House’ has a very different meaning.
Newhall was/is the name of the estate that this part of the city centre was built on.
We don’t have a City Hall, ‘Town Hall’ is a music venue, and the name ‘Council House’ has a very different meaning.
Newhall was/is the name of the estate that this part of the city centre was built on.
February 5, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I am once again suggesting we start referring to Birmingham City Council (et al) as ‘Newhall’.
We don’t have a City Hall, ‘Town Hall’ is a music venue, and the name ‘Council House’ has a very different meaning.
Newhall was/is the name of the estate that this part of the city centre was built on.
We don’t have a City Hall, ‘Town Hall’ is a music venue, and the name ‘Council House’ has a very different meaning.
Newhall was/is the name of the estate that this part of the city centre was built on.
Reposted by Tom
Just, and I cannot stress this enough, build HS2 in full.
December 10, 2024 at 7:36 AM
Just, and I cannot stress this enough, build HS2 in full.
This could be High Street, Corporation Street, Bull Street, Union Street, Albert Street, etc., but BCC is broke.
Winter has hit the Farringdon Station planters 🌿❄️🎄
The two large granite planters are filled with a mix of drought-resistant plants that provide texture and colour across seasons, providing year-round interest and vibrancy to the busy urban area.
@cdaldn.bsky.social #planters #farringdon
The two large granite planters are filled with a mix of drought-resistant plants that provide texture and colour across seasons, providing year-round interest and vibrancy to the busy urban area.
@cdaldn.bsky.social #planters #farringdon
December 10, 2024 at 4:54 PM
This could be High Street, Corporation Street, Bull Street, Union Street, Albert Street, etc., but BCC is broke.
Reposted by Tom
If you like cake and you're in Birmingham city centre today, the DELICIOUS Bake cake stall will be popping up in Tilt from 10.30 (they were supposed to be at Kings Heath market but... *gestures at weather*)
www.instagram.com/p/DDOudj-iYk...
www.instagram.com/p/DDOudj-iYk...
December 7, 2024 at 9:42 AM
If you like cake and you're in Birmingham city centre today, the DELICIOUS Bake cake stall will be popping up in Tilt from 10.30 (they were supposed to be at Kings Heath market but... *gestures at weather*)
www.instagram.com/p/DDOudj-iYk...
www.instagram.com/p/DDOudj-iYk...
Reposted by Tom
No, of course it hasn’t. It’s a proposed drive thru on a thriving high street. It will encourage driving, choking the high street with congestion and fumes. It’s not compatible with a people-focused, sustainable future. That’s why there’s opposition.
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/has-mcdona...
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/has-mcdona...
Has McDonald’s Sparked a Class War in Stirchley?
Is the American fast food joint a democratising force, offering cheap food for all, or an unwanted corporate presence threatening a hard-won independent economy?
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk
November 30, 2024 at 1:33 PM
No, of course it hasn’t. It’s a proposed drive thru on a thriving high street. It will encourage driving, choking the high street with congestion and fumes. It’s not compatible with a people-focused, sustainable future. That’s why there’s opposition.
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/has-mcdona...
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk/p/has-mcdona...
Reposted by Tom
utterly grim to do that and not do HS2 in full
November 29, 2024 at 4:05 PM
utterly grim to do that and not do HS2 in full
Reposted by Tom
the thing that fills me with dread is that we're about to find out what policy Haigh stood in the way of such that she needed to be gotten rid of, and it's not likely to be good
November 29, 2024 at 3:58 PM
the thing that fills me with dread is that we're about to find out what policy Haigh stood in the way of such that she needed to be gotten rid of, and it's not likely to be good
Reposted by Tom
This is really sad, actually.
From what I’ve read, the original conviction seems very heavy-handed.
Even if it was a more serious - but spent - conviction, our political system should not bar people from public office high or low, which is effectively what has happened here.
From what I’ve read, the original conviction seems very heavy-handed.
Even if it was a more serious - but spent - conviction, our political system should not bar people from public office high or low, which is effectively what has happened here.
Transport secretary Louise Haigh leaves role after admitting conviction for misleading police over stolen mobile – UK politics live
Transport secretary Louise Haigh leaves role after admitting conviction for misleading police over stolen mobile – UK politics live
Transport Secretary departs after it emerged she pleaded guilty to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013
Louise Haigh has been Sheffield Heeley MP since 2015 and held a number of shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet…
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2024 at 10:53 AM
This is really sad, actually.
From what I’ve read, the original conviction seems very heavy-handed.
Even if it was a more serious - but spent - conviction, our political system should not bar people from public office high or low, which is effectively what has happened here.
From what I’ve read, the original conviction seems very heavy-handed.
Even if it was a more serious - but spent - conviction, our political system should not bar people from public office high or low, which is effectively what has happened here.
I’ve just seen the phrase ‘extended Brummie’ used to refer to someone from the West Mids and I nearly fell off my perch
November 27, 2024 at 11:40 AM
I’ve just seen the phrase ‘extended Brummie’ used to refer to someone from the West Mids and I nearly fell off my perch
Reposted by Tom
Two thirds of the countryback assisted dying
www.thetimes.com/article/97d2...
www.thetimes.com/article/97d2...
Two thirds of country back assisted dying
Largest study yet reveals attitudes just days before historic vote, but justice secretary brands bill a ‘state death service’
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2024 at 8:31 AM
Two thirds of the countryback assisted dying
www.thetimes.com/article/97d2...
www.thetimes.com/article/97d2...
Reposted by Tom
I’m giving a talk about Victorian depictions of orchid collecting including imperial adventure fiction and satires of Joseph Chamberlain. This Wednesday 27th November at Birmingham uni. Details here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/orchid-jo-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/orchid-jo-...
“Orchid Jo”: Empire, Satire, and Political Self-Fashioning
Narratives of nineteenth-century orchid collecting and their role in constructions of personal and national identity.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 25, 2024 at 6:23 PM
I’m giving a talk about Victorian depictions of orchid collecting including imperial adventure fiction and satires of Joseph Chamberlain. This Wednesday 27th November at Birmingham uni. Details here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/orchid-jo-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/orchid-jo-...
Reposted by Tom
On the bottom: a raised crosswalk with daylighting, where the intersection narrows for better visibility and shorter crossing distance.
On the top: a traditional crosswalk where the sidewalk essentially disappears into the road for crossing.
Rue Louis-Hémon at Bélanger
On the top: a traditional crosswalk where the sidewalk essentially disappears into the road for crossing.
Rue Louis-Hémon at Bélanger
November 25, 2024 at 9:40 PM
On the bottom: a raised crosswalk with daylighting, where the intersection narrows for better visibility and shorter crossing distance.
On the top: a traditional crosswalk where the sidewalk essentially disappears into the road for crossing.
Rue Louis-Hémon at Bélanger
On the top: a traditional crosswalk where the sidewalk essentially disappears into the road for crossing.
Rue Louis-Hémon at Bélanger
New Street’s still the busiest station outside of London? It’s almost like it’s at the heart of the railway network (yes, this is a dig at Derby).
Birmingham New Street remains busiest West Midlands station
Regulators reveal the most popular and least used stations in the West Midlands.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 22, 2024 at 11:54 AM
New Street’s still the busiest station outside of London? It’s almost like it’s at the heart of the railway network (yes, this is a dig at Derby).
Reposted by Tom
I think I would listen to these views more if they had an answer for the up to 650 odd terminally ill people who commit suicide every year because of the law as it stands/they can’t afford to travel abroad to do so peacefully and legally (where they must also die alone)
Today I told the Guardian why I will be voting against the assisted dying bill - along three other excellent newly elected Labour @jamesfrith.bsky.social @melanieward.bsky.social & @antoniabance.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
UK’s longest-serving MPs issue joint plea for Commons to reject assisted dying bill
Diane Abbott and the Conservative Sir Edward Leigh, mother and father of the House, say law has been rushed
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2024 at 11:13 PM
I think I would listen to these views more if they had an answer for the up to 650 odd terminally ill people who commit suicide every year because of the law as it stands/they can’t afford to travel abroad to do so peacefully and legally (where they must also die alone)
Might be brave and try the new Yorks in Chamberlain Square (I’m half convinced it’s a collective hallucination)
November 21, 2024 at 11:27 AM
Might be brave and try the new Yorks in Chamberlain Square (I’m half convinced it’s a collective hallucination)
Reposted by Tom
Anyway, longish interview with me here that captures my thoughts nicely: metro.co.uk/video/rail-e...
Rail engineer sacked after raising Euston safety concerns
Gareth Dennis, a railway engineer working for Network Rail supplier Systra, was sacked after repeated complaints from the former chair of Network Rail (now Rail Minister) Lord Peter Hendy.
Lord Hend...
metro.co.uk
November 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Anyway, longish interview with me here that captures my thoughts nicely: metro.co.uk/video/rail-e...
Reposted by Tom
Narrator voice: “Little did he know…”
November 19, 2024 at 8:45 PM
Narrator voice: “Little did he know…”
Reposted by Tom
Majority back British Museum exhibit on transatlantic slave trade
Majority back British Museum exhibit on transatlantic slave trade
New poll finds 53% of Britons support permanent exhibition on Britain’s role in slave trade at British Museum
The majority of people in the UK think the British Museum should have a permanent exhibition dedicated to the transatlantic slave trade,…
dlvr.it
November 21, 2024 at 6:26 AM
Majority back British Museum exhibit on transatlantic slave trade
Reposted by Tom
I have removed
the bike lanes
that were in
the road
and which
you were probably
using
to get to work
Forgive me
they were delicious
so crunchy
and so cold
the bike lanes
that were in
the road
and which
you were probably
using
to get to work
Forgive me
they were delicious
so crunchy
and so cold
November 20, 2024 at 4:11 AM
I have removed
the bike lanes
that were in
the road
and which
you were probably
using
to get to work
Forgive me
they were delicious
so crunchy
and so cold
the bike lanes
that were in
the road
and which
you were probably
using
to get to work
Forgive me
they were delicious
so crunchy
and so cold
Following the highly-publicised rise of the Independent Republic of Stirchley and the well-documented antics of Independent Bearwood, representatives from the lesser-known ‘Independent Kingdom of Greater Moseley’ (IKGM) have today reached out with an official communiqué: (1/5)
November 20, 2024 at 2:04 PM
Following the highly-publicised rise of the Independent Republic of Stirchley and the well-documented antics of Independent Bearwood, representatives from the lesser-known ‘Independent Kingdom of Greater Moseley’ (IKGM) have today reached out with an official communiqué: (1/5)
Reposted by Tom
Which inter alia is why we don’t need a Drive-Though MacDonalds adding to the congestion and pollution in Stirchley Birmingham UK
Our new report out, lead story in @guardian.extwitter.link, by @timjacksonsays.bsky.social with @dollyvantulleken.bsky.social This country really can’t afford the false economy of Big Food www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK’s unhealthy food habits cost £268bn a year, report finds
Exclusive: Food, Farming and Countryside Commission added up cost to NHS and economy of diet-linked disease
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Which inter alia is why we don’t need a Drive-Though MacDonalds adding to the congestion and pollution in Stirchley Birmingham UK
Reposted by Tom
Fellow queers, if the echo you need to hear is "you are worthy of dignity and respect", go ahead and build that chamber.
November 18, 2024 at 7:33 AM
Fellow queers, if the echo you need to hear is "you are worthy of dignity and respect", go ahead and build that chamber.
Reposted by Tom
I’ve officially started subconsciously opening blue sky instead of Twitter
November 17, 2024 at 1:03 PM
I’ve officially started subconsciously opening blue sky instead of Twitter
Reposted by Tom
I think it is worth noting that previous designs of the cycleway instead narrowed general traffic lanes and moved parking, leaving trees as they are, but these were also “rejected”.
I am afraid, the truth is, they just don’t want a cycleway.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I am afraid, the truth is, they just don’t want a cycleway.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Hundreds turn out to save 26 trees from axe in Coventry
Campaigners calling for changes to cycleway plans say the 925-strong hug broke a previous UK record.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2024 at 8:17 PM
I think it is worth noting that previous designs of the cycleway instead narrowed general traffic lanes and moved parking, leaving trees as they are, but these were also “rejected”.
I am afraid, the truth is, they just don’t want a cycleway.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I am afraid, the truth is, they just don’t want a cycleway.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...