"Unfair" studies cast North Solihull in a poor light

FAIR COMPARISON? - New analysis questions the tendency to compare
North Solihull with villages such as Knowle (pictured, above).

CONSTANTLY comparing North Solihull to suburbs several miles away gives a misleading impression of the area, it has been claimed.
Simeon Bright, a community organiser based in Chelmsley Wood, has warned that drawing direct parallels with semi-rural communities such as Knowle or Balsall Common has served to damage the area’s standing.
In a blog post last month, he argued that it made far more sense to use neighbouring districts of
Birmingham as a reference point when trying to assess issues such as unemployment.
Part of the problem is that because such as Chelmsley Wood and Kingshurst are part of Solihull
Council, it is far more common for studies to look at the areas in relation to the other wards in the borough – even though some of them are over 10 miles away.
In an attempt to readdress the balance, Mr Bright decided to see how one area of North Solihull, namely Fordbridge, compared to the nearby estates of Kitts Green and Garretts Green (which are in Birmingham).
This analysis produced a number of surprising results, including:
• The number of adults gaining formal qualifications is growing faster in Fordbridge than the neighbouring areas of Birmingham.
• Residents are generally healthier than those in Kitts Green and Garretts Green.
• Fordbridge beats the Birmingham average for the number of people in full-time work.
It is important to bear in mind that in many key areas, the neighbourhood is still trailing the national average, but the analysis suggests that in future local authorities should look across borders when assessing the challenges which face areas.
“It isn’t really fair to compare areas of Solihull that are demographically distinct and geographically distant,” said Mr Bright.
“A side-effect of this is that North Solihull is constantly regarded as the poorer cousin of the South, when actually, in context there are many positives compared with similar areas in neighbouring Birmingham.
“Constantly comparing North to South will do nothing to shake off the unfair reputation the area holds.”