What's it like to live in bournville village trust?

[whenitsover]

hello! we are looking at bournville as a potential place to move to (we already live in birmingham). i wanted to know it's like to live there - particularly if you have a family. is it safe, lots going on, common annoyances etc ? any information welcome xx

Lovely.
People pay a good few thousand more for a BVT address over another similar house in a road that isn't BVT.
There are planning rules over and above the criteria for city council, so, if you want to make changes to your home, you might be frustrated by the restrictions if you have....er.... unusual tastes. However, the advantage of that is that all your neighbours have to stick to them too, so the whole area is kept nice. Now, most people think that's a real bonus of living there, but I suppose if they block your application then you'd be annoyed.
Gound rent is nominal.
There are restrictions on things like takeaways and pubs - again, I can see that some folk might think it daft, but it's quite nice to know you are never going to be living next door to a chip shop.
In terms of 'what's going on' - that's going to depend where you live, and for what ages of people etc. - BVT has quite extensive lands, but, in terms of 'safe', then yes, BVT areas are always considered 'nice' areas to live.
Oh, just thought, I've talked as if you are buying - they do a lot of rental too, and again, have a reputation for being really good landlords.
If you want to post whereabouts you are looking at, folk will be able to tell you more about the 'what's going on' side, although all BVT areas have community halls, etc, so there is always good access to all the things that go on in community halls, from stay and plays for toddlers to lunch clubs for the elderly.

We used to live there before relocating to other part of country. Great place to live if you like chocolate . Not as many amenities as places like harbourne or moseley but nice area for families, with lots of park space, a couple of sets of shops, good schools and the train station for getting into the centre quickly.

Hello both! Thank you for your responses - so helpful.

We are looking to buy in bournville - hopefully somewheee not to far from the green and parks so maybe what you would consider old / true bournville. I love the fact it's such a green area - feels a world away from the city even though it's not far away. I do like the idea that it's family friendly, although when you mention it's short on amenities - which ones do you mean? Welly oak isn't that far away by train or car - is that where people generally go to do 'big' shops?

Also, with regards to planning applications - if a house in the same street has extended that normally sets the precedence for other houses to be extended - is that still true in bournville? TIA

AFAIK it's not true in BVT. A friend had her planning application turned down twice despite neighbours having similar work done on their property. This was 2-3 years ago so it may have changed.

There are particular rules about living in a BVT property- lawns must be cut and no exterior satellite dishes. There used to be certain paint choices for doors, fences etc but I don't know if there still is.

The parts of Bourneville or the Selly Oak/Northfield/Stirchley borders often have houses coming up more often and cheaper too.

Oh, and big shops are often Northfield or Selly Oak Sainsbury's, depending on which side you are. Apart from the shops on the village green there are many other shops around plus no pubs

One more thing, Bourneville station is on the 30 minute route, whereas Northfield is on the 10 minute route, so people often drive to Northfield or Selly Oak to get a more regular train.

Have you thought about Bearwood/Moseley/Cofton Hackett? All very green.

If you go for the Raddlebarn Road end of Willow Road, you get the advantages of the green etc. But also near the Country Girl pub and restaurants and shops and Selly Oak station.

I know.....no pubs!!!

My LO is at a nursery in edgbaston so would prefer not to move out too far from the nursery, so ATM I'm looking at harborne / bournville areas predominantly. Although it's fairly obvious that houses are a) pricey and b) hard to come about.

Is there (free) parking at north field train station?

Free parking at every station within Birmingham, I think with the exception of university.

I've got to be honest; I like Harborne waaaaaay more than Bournville. Far better amenities.

How come nobody has mentioned schools yet? That's far more important than 'family friendly'.
I can't help on that score. Anybody else got current info?

Harbourne is lovely :)

Harborne is lovely except that parking is awful and last I heard the State secondary schools weren't very good.

Harborne Academy (state secondary) is now doing v well. I haven't checked ofsted but I know people who teach there and children who go there.

Bournville secondary isn't spoken of positively, KN girls and boys are good. Don't know about DEC.

IIRC bournville primaries are hard to get in to.

There is (in theory) free parking at Northfield train station but it is full each day and cars annoy local residents and park on local roads. It would make no sense to do that if you lived in Bournville though - you'd be driving out of town to travel 2 stations further in, on the same train line
Harborne has good Primaries but most secondary pupils then either go private or out of area.
Lot of Primaries and secondaries in locality of Bournville though. Lots of parks, great curry houses in Stirchley, plenty of things like Scout Groups and youth clubs and running groups and sports teams and baby cafe / baby walking group and community choirs etc.,etc.etc. and lots now going on at Rowheath.
On the edge of BVT, on site of old Selly Oak hospital there are 2 new estates going up if you are looking for new housing. Some of the older parts of BVT are quite restricted on extensions - it does vary, depending on road though.
You wouldn't go to Selly Oak to shop, unless you are a student. Well, there is the little retail park by Sainsburys - it has Next, Halfords, TK Max and 2 or 3 others. For banks / PO / B Soc you could go to Northfield or Cotteridge, both of which have quite a high proportion of charity shops and £ shops and shops like Home Bargains and B&Ms.

I live on the BVT estate and love the area. Contrary to what was said above, Bournville station is definitely on the 10 minute train route. However there is no parking there - Selly Oak has a big park and ride and Kings Norton car park is also decent. Primary schools are excellent, secondary is more mixed I think though Kings Norton Girls has a good reputation. There is also a 'pub' of sorts at Rowheath Pavilion (officially a members club but anyone can go) where you can sit outside in the summer and admire the lake! It's quiet compared to some areas of Birmingham (I used to live in Kings Heath/Moseley and there was definitely more going on over there) but I love the green spaces and village atmosphere and there are a lot of community run activities. I normally do my supermarket shops at Morrisons Rubery because it's on my route to work but the Selly Oak/Northfield Sainsbury's are the closest to home. There's also local independent butchers, greengrocers etc and Cotteridge/Stirchley is close enough for takeaways. For clothes, I would normally go into Birmingham or up to M&S in Longbridge. I'm a bit biased but I would definitely recommend it as a place to live. The only downside is the property prices really. The planning restrictions might be a problem if you're wanting to get work done but personally I like that the area has it's own character and is relatively unmodernised (traditional lantern-style lampposts for one).