“Sandwell’s Green Spaces: Partnerships on Paper, Chaos in Practice”

Sandwell’s Green Spaces: Partnerships on Paper, Chaos in Practice

I’ve been looking at Sandwell Council’s so-called “partnership” with Friends Groups again, and honestly… if this is what they call partnership, I’d hate to see neglect.

Because in the real world — that place outside Sandwell’s press releases — the whole system has fallen apart. Completely. Spectacularly. Publicly.
#Sandwell #FriendsGroups #TransparencyFail

Let’s start with the obvious: no Friends Group meeting since March 2024.
That’s right. A whole year and a half of silence. No minutes. No action logs. No updates. No works programme for 2024/25. Just tumbleweed, spin, and the faint sound of a Council officer aggressively avoiding eye contact.
#CommunityEngagement #LocalDemocracy

Meanwhile, volunteers — actual real people who care — are out there doing the work the Council should be doing: monitoring wildlife, reporting pollution, checking pools, picking litter, feeding birds naturally, documenting decline, and raising the alarm when things go wrong.

And what do they get back? Nothing. Not even a token email.
#VolunteersMatter #DoBetterSandwell

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Wildlife Welfare? Don’t Mention the Words.

Let’s talk wildlife welfare (since “wildfowl management” has thankfully been retired from council vocabulary). The situation is embarrassing:

• Stoney Lane pollution turned into the usual multi-agency shrug-fest.

• Broken aerators at West Smethwick Park left wildlife struggling for oxygen.

• No natural food in multiple pools year after year.

• Water quality testing? Don’t be silly. You’re not allowed to see that.

• Legal action against Severn Trent? Promised. Announced. Repeated. Never happened.
  #WildlifeWelfare #EnvironmentalNeglect

This isn’t management. It’s damage-limitation theatre.

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The Water Bodies Team – Somewhere Between Myth and Rumour

We’re told Sandwell has a Water Bodies Team.
Great! Where are they?

No structure.
No work plans.
No lake-management strategy.
No response times.
No published testing data.
No engagement with volunteers.

At this point, they might as well be Bigfoot.
#WaterBodiesTeam #Accountability

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Environmental Protection Officers – Slow, Silent, Invisible

EPOs are supposed to be frontline environmental enforcement.
Instead:

• Slow responses

• No published caseloads

• Little site presence

• Patchy communication

• No consistent outcomes

When volunteers know more about lake chemistry than the officers responsible for it, something is very wrong.
#EnvironmentalProtection #SandwellCouncil

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Police Wildlife Crime Officer – The Role Nobody Can Find

Yes, apparently Sandwell has one.
No, nobody knows:

• Their name

• Their remit

• Their investigations

• Their enforcement

• Anything they’ve ever done

If wildlife crime is happening (and it is), volunteers are effectively on their own.
#WildlifeCrime #WestMidlandsPolice

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Volunteers: The Only Competent Part of the System

Across every park, lake, nature reserve and green corridor, volunteers:

• Spot issues first

• Understand wildlife behaviour

• Track water quality

• Report pollution

• Record incidents

• Keep these places alive

And yet they are ignored by the Council that once begged them to sign a Partnership Agreement.
#CommunityPower #SandwellVolunteers

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A Partnership in Name Only

The truth is simple:

Sandwell Council has allowed the Friends Groups partnership to collapse — and with it, public trust.

No meetings.
No minutes.
No works programme.
No leadership.
No accountability.

And unless something changes quickly, no wildlife or water quality worth talking about either.

It’s time for Sandwell Council to stop hiding behind slogans and start delivering the basics: communication, transparency, environmental care and respect for the people who actually know what they’re doing.
#TimeForChange #SandwellLabour #GreenSpacesMatter