Angry parents set to plead with Reid over hostel

Mar 28 2007 By Lee Kenny, Birmingham Mail

PARENTS protesting about plans to open a Probation Service drop-in centre near three schools in Kitts Green will take their fight to the Home Office.

Campaigners, who fear the probation centre will bring drug addicts and sex offenders to the area, will travel to London on April 18 in the hope of meeting Home Secretary John Reid in a bid to overturn the scheme.

Once open, the new offices in Mackadown Lane will service offenders from across Solihull and east Birmingham.

But parents fear its location, less than a mile away from Gossey Lane Junior and Infants, Shirestone Junior and Infants and Our Lady RC Primary Schools, will put children at risk from the convicted criminals who will be forced to attend the office as part of their sentence.

Parents have already collected a 7,000-name petition against the scheme and are eager to meet the Home Secretary, who is responsible for the Probation Service, in the hope he will intervene and scrap the plan.

The centre was due to open yesterday, but probation officials delayed the plan because of the widespread opposition. To mark their victory in stalling the scheme, parents gathered outside the premises, called Group House, to attract extra support.

Fifty parents will travel to London and mum-of-three Tracey Hemming, who has led the campaign, said the trip would not be possible without the support of the local community.

"Everyone around here is against this," she said. "The reaction against it has been very strong. We have had donations from local businesses, the shops in Lea village, to help us go to London.

"For people to part with their money shows what they must feel about this. We have already got this office delayed. Now we are hoping the Home Office will listen to our concerns and never open it.

"There should be a ruling that this kind of place has to be a certain distance from any schools."

Councillor Ian Ward will be accompanying parents. He has arranged for them to meet Home Office minister Jerry Sutcliffe to air their concerns.

"What we want to do is to demonstrate to the Home Office how strongly people feel against this office. There are a lot of determined parents in this area who are against this and they are not just going to give up and go away," he said.

Anyone looking to support the campaign should contact Ian Ward on 0121 3034155.