Birmingham ‘not in decline’ despite strikes say residents

“It’s just like every other place that has issues. There is good and there is bad.”

Singer Jonathan Francis was setting up his microphone to begin busking in Birmingham city centre when he spoke to me.

The 25-year-old, originally from Grenada in the Caribbean, has made the UK’s second city his home.

It is a place that has recently found its reputation under the spotlight with a seven-week ongoing bin strike leading to claims of streets being plagued by “rats the size of cats“.

It has not been enough to put Mr Francis off.

“Birmingham is very down to earth,” he explained. “It is filled with multiple cultures and I feel connected to it.”

I spoke to people near to The Square shopping centre, which recently closed indefinitely due to what the owners said were health and safety issues.

It is just a short walk from the city’s main High Street and world-famous Bull Ring precinct.

But it is currently completely boarded up and has featured in a social media video suggesting Birmingham is full of closed shops.

While Mr Francis called the look of the closed centre “disappointing”, he insisted it did not represent the city as a whole.

Alfie Mills, 19, was born and bred in Birmingham and said it was a place defined by its community and culture.

“It’s my home,” he said. “It’s a bit dirty but it’s all right.

“It’s a city of art at the end of the day. It’s got a reputation but it’s not all bad.”

Lee Edwards, a construction worker, said the city was going through extensive development and he did not believe it was declining.

“If you look around you see so much going on,” the 67-year-old said.

“Birmingham is booming.”

Mother and daughter Lorelle and Kamille Allen both agreed there were “messy” parts of the city but it was not as bad as people made out.

“Everyone’s got a little dodgy part and a dingy little corner,” said Kamille.

“It’s all right here. It’s safe. It’s safe where I live at least.”

The BBC recently heard from people who said they felt embarrassed to live in the city.

The ongoing strike has left bin bags piled several feet high on some streets and an infestation of rats have attracted significant publicity.

The industrial dispute has been reported by media organisations around the world, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation among those running stories about rats on the loose.

Advertising executive Trevor Beattie, who is originally from Birmingham, said he believed there would not be too much lasting damage.

“Our glory in the Commonwealth Games passed and the horror of the bin strike will pass,” he said.

“We will still be Brum. It will be resolved but in the meantime we’ll address it with our Brummie humour.”