The Hive Effect
Many Minds.One Hive. Every Cell Connected
A non‑profit community and environmental project reconnecting people with nature — and with each other.
corrupted water
FOLLOW THE WATER AND YOU WILL SEA! CORRUPTION, DISPAIR, MISERY
The Brook - The River Tame
Follow The Water & You Will Sea
Sandwell Council destroy Community
Sandwell Council's actions over the past few decades have ravaged the local watercourse, once a cherished part of our communities, driven solely by greed and the pursuit of private housing. The repercussions ripple through socioeconomic strata, with staggering consequences.
This narrative encapsulates the tragic tale of:
The Brook — a true story of wealth accumulation for Sandwell Council at the expense of environmental degradation, fractured communities, and devastated wildlife.
These actions have only served to widen the chasm of socioeconomic disparities in Sandwell, casting a shadow over the future of our region.
THE STATE OF WATER IN THE UK
The most recent figures published by the Environment Agency, under obligations originally established by the EU Water Framework Directive, show that only 14% of English rivers met good ecological status and no river met good chemical status.
​
Water pollution remains a major impediment to achieving targets established under the Directive (requiring all European surface water to reach ‘good ecological status’ by 2015 with a maximum deadline of 2027), and measures to address pollution in rivers, other surface water and groundwater in England will be crucial to achievement of the Government’s objectives for water quality in the 25 Year Environment Plan.
The Rivers Trust Organisation
-
England’s rivers, including 85% of the world’s precious chalk streams, are widely agreed to be a national treasure, yet only 14% are in good ecological health, and every single one fails to meet chemical standards.
-
Of these failing rivers, agriculture impacts nearly two thirds (2,296 river water bodies); the water sector impacts over a half (2,032 river water bodies); and the urban and transport sector a quarter.
-
Pollution is not the only problem, though, as abstraction and habitat destruction also put the future of rivers in jeopardy.
The Guardian
-
Despite only 14% of English rivers meeting the criteria for "good" ecological status, 43% of people questioned in a new survey believe that Britain’s freshwater systems are in good condition.
-
However, the Troubled Waters report for a coalition of charities, including the RSPB, the National Trust and the Rivers Trust, reveals how even wildlife-rich protected wetlands and rivers are threatened by pollution, while restoring water quality is hampered by a lack of effective monitoring and enforcement.
HOW IMPORTANT IS UK WATER?
UK Parliament Publication
-
Healthy rivers are vital for biodiversity and to human health and well-being.
-
Rivers provide habitats for a range of wildlife, protect against flooding and provide beautiful places for recreation and reflection.
-
Freshwater ecosystems are in crisis globally and in England there are concerns about the multiple stresses being placed on riverine biodiversity.
GOVERNMENT PROMISES
UK Parliament Publication
-
In its 25 Year Environment Plan, issued in 2018, the Government pledged to deliver cleaner air and water in England’s cities and rural landscapes, to protect threatened species and to provide richer wildlife habitats.
-
It promised to secure clean and plentiful water by ‘improving at least three quarters of our waters to be close to their natural state as soon as is practicable’.
THE STATE OF WATER IN SANDWELL
OBSERVE THE CHAOS
Sandwell Council's actions over the past few decades have ravaged the local watercourse, once a cherished part of our communities, driven solely by greed and the pursuit of private housing. The repercussions ripple through socioeconomic strata, with staggering consequences.
This narrative encapsulates the tragic tale of:
The Brook — a true story of wealth accumulation for Sandwell Council at the expense of environmental degradation, fractured communities, and devastated wildlife.
These actions have only served to widen the chasm of socioeconomic disparities in Sandwell, casting a shadow over the future of our region.
THIS IS LIFE ON THE SOUTH-SIDE OF THE A4123
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITIES IN SANDWELL
DEPRIVATION IN OLDBURY. INEQUALITY IN BRANDHALL. DEPRIVATION IN ROWLEY REGIS.
BY CLICKING THE BUTTON HERE.
Sadunwell
WHERE EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN LIFE, DOESN'T!
unwelcome to
In the beginning...
Before the intervention of Sandwell Council, 'the brook' as it's known locally, served a purpose environmentally and functioned properly, thanks to the flood basins that were installed during the 1940's when the Brook Road housing estate was built.
1970's
There was a back-up plan
The flood basins were designed to hold a large capacity of water, however, lacking a robust maintenance program and in the event of very heavy rainfall they could still be breached - and so the former Brook Road Park & Playing Field and former Sandwell College site were kept below road level to help mitigate the impact.
And there was a park
2000
There was a brook
Did you know?
The reason that the play area of the former Brook Road park was made on a man-made mound was because of flooding?
It was the same reason that the former college had several steps into its building, even though the ground was bowling green flat! Again, to mitigate flooding.
​
It is the reason that the new housing development has houses with several steps leading up to them and bunded gardens!
THEN CAME
SANDWELL COUNCIL
& THE RIVER RUN
RED
Public Asset Stripping
Sandwell Council began to strip all of the public assets from our communities, and they used all of the profits to spend anywhere else in the borough except locally.
​
A huge' mistake' by Sandwell Council cost the local communities and the environment dearly - but in doing so it opened up the door for Sandwell Council to asset strip and sell everything else downstream.
Profit - SPENT ELSEWHERE
Sandwell Council depletes our communities of valuable resources and squanders the profits improving amenities and green spaces in the privileged communities of Sandwell - on the North-side of the A4123 Wolverhampton Road.
You can find out more about the socioeconomic deprivation in Sandwell by clicking the button or selecting SadUnwell in the menu.
2012
Dubious Dealings
Sandwell Council knew that this site was prone to flooding - yet they sold it to developers anyway!
It poses some very concerning questions.
-
Did Sandwell Council inform the housing developer of the known flood risk prior to it's sale?
-
Were the developers aware of the flood risk before buying the land?
If so, then why were the desperate solutions only found after the damage was done?
The Chaos Ensued
Public Asset #1- (SOLD)
FORMER SANDWELL COLLEGE SITE ON BROOK ROAD
BROOK ROAD COLLEGE
COMMUNITY BENEFITS - O
THE WATER BUND
2014
Dubious Dealings
How did a private housing developer manage to construct something so huge on public land to protect a private housing development?
How did a private developer or Sandwell Council manage to legally create a DANGER TO THE PUBLIC AND A POTENTIAL DANGER TO LIFE?
FLOOD DANGER #1
BREACHED BANK
The top of this bank has been breached by the vast amount of water that is held behind it when there is heavy rainfall.
The extremities of nature have not been considered with this public danger that we have inherited.
WATER RETAINING BUND BRANDHALL GOLF COURSE
Public Asset #2 - (DESTROYED)
BRANDHALL GOLF COURSE
WARNING!
DANGER TO THE PUBLIC
During heavy rainfall the water bund retains a vast amount of water.
This water forms a huge, dangerous, and powerful lake.
​
The pathways and bridges get submerged by the swollen brook.
This attracts inquisitive children, unaware of the dangers below.
Some adults also attempt to cross the water.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS - O
FLOOD DANGER SPOTS
YELLOW AREA - WATER RETAINING BUND
SIZE - 200 METRES WIDE X 5METRES HIGH
RED AREA - FLOOD ZONE
AREA 1 - 9500 m2
AREA 4 - 4000 m2
AREA 3 - 1700 m2
BLUE AREAS - NORMAL POOL SIZE
DANGER!
During heavy rainfall the lake creates a water vortex (whirlpool) that draws the water down to the bottom (4-5m) and out through a pipe into the flood basins on Brook Road that can no longer flood.
WATER VORTEX (WHIRLPOOL)
This vortex is so strong that you can here the air being sucked down 12ft to the discharge pipe. If anyone or anything ever falls in, then there will certainly be a death!
FLOOD DANGER #2
SEALING THEIR FATE!
BROOK ROAD PARK & PLAYING FIELD
The Only Park An Entire Estate Had
2015
Public Asset #3 - (SOLD)
BROOK ROAD PARK
Public Asset #4 - (SOLD)
BROOK ROAD FIELD
Profit - SPENT ELSEWHERE
COMMUNITY BENEFITS - O
DOWNSTREAM
PENNCRICKETT LANE ALLOTMENTS
Found By Us - Stolen By The Council
2022
RED AREA TO TOP OF PICTURE:
- SOLD PENNCRICKET LANE ALLOTMENT LAND
& THE BILLIES PUBLIC GREEN SPACE
Profit - SPENT ELSEWHERE
Sandwell Council repeatedly deprives our communities of valuable resources.
Sandwell Council squanders the profits improving amenities and green spaces in the privileged communities of Sandwell.
​
SANDWELL COUNCIL HAS STRIPPED US OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE EVER HAD ON THIS SIDE OF THE A4123 AND THEY HAVE NEVER EVEN GIVE US A PARK BENCH!
TO THE CONTRARY THEY JUST STOLE EVERYTHING.
​​
Public Asset #5 - (SOLD)
PENNCRICKET LANE ALLOTMENTS
THIS IS THE LAND THAT SANDWELL COUNCIL STOLE FROM US AND SOLD IT FROM UNDER OUR FEET.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS - O
THE BILLIES PUBLIC GREEN SPACE
Owned By Us - Stolen By The Council
2022
Public Asset #6 - (SOLD)
THE BILLIES PUBLIC
GREEN SPACE
Public Asset #7 - (SOLD)
THE 'BACK OF THE BILLIES'
THE 'BACK OF ​THE BILLIES'
COMMUNITY BENEFITS - O
2024
PUBLIC ASSETS
SOLD >7
SANDWELL COUNCIL HAS SOLD EVERY GREEN SPACE THAT OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE EVER HAD
​
-
Brook Road Park
-
Brook Road Playing Field
-
The Old College Site
-
Penncricket Lane Allotments
-
The Billies public green space
-
The 'Back of The Billies'
-
Brandhall Golf Course
THE BRANDHELL ESTATE
WILDLIFE SPECIES LOST?
BENEFITS TO COMMUNITY <0
Sandwell Council has repeatedly stole and sold all of our assets and our freedoms until there is nothing left.
​
The huge profits that Sandwell Council made through their deals was all spent across the other side of the A4123 Wolverhampton Road.
​
During this time:
Sandwell Council built Sandwell College in West Bromwich that cost £80+ million.
​
Spent £6+ Million on lightwoods park.
​
Spent £60M on a public building that was later given to Sandwell college and had £M? spent on it again.
​
Built Jack Judge House (and took it off us).
Spent over £5Million on West Smethwick Park pavillion.
​
AND WHAT DID WE GET?
​
NOT A SINGLE PENNY!
CONNED - ROBBED - ABANDONED
DOG MESS EVERYWHERE FROM THE PDSA
LESS SPACE - MORE PEOPLE
MORE VEHICLES - MORE TRAFFIC
LESS TREES - LESS WILDLIFE
social abandonment
SOCIOECONOMIC
DISPARITIES 7+
FOOD
Poor Food Security
Poor Access to healthy options
Hunger & food banks
​
ENVIRONMENT/ NEIGHBOURHOOD
Poor Access to Parks & Playgrounds
Poor Walkability & Safety
Adverse environmental factors
​
SOCIAL CONTEXT​
Lack of Community Engagement
Lack of Social Integration
Stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness
Discrimination & safety
​
EDUCATION
Lack of Early Childhood education
Poor Educational access & quality
Lack of Societal education
​
STRUCTURAL AND GOVERNMENTAL INFLUENCES
Limited infrastructure
Limited services
​
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC
Already deprived communities
Limited empowerment
​
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Poor health statistics
Lack of green spaces and open areas
​
social abuse
Did you know?
Active identification and promotion of opportunities to restore urban watercourses, no matter how small, to realise benefits for the local community and environment. This particularly applies where watercourses now run below ground in fully enclosed culverts.
The River Tame
Yet in Brandhall, Causeway Green, Titford, & Oldbury in Sandwell, we are fighting to protect a few hundred meters of it!
We understand that we can't have otters here in the deprived communities in Sandwell, but we can have wildlife.
​
We should be entitled to have parks and open space this side of the A4123.
SOUTH
OF THE A4123 WOLVERHAMPTON ROAD
NOW THEY'RE BUILDING ALL OVER BRANDHALL GOLF COURSE!
THIS IS THE MANMADE FLOOD PLAIN AND A BOG THAT WE WILL HAVE TO CALL A PARK
Say goodbye to any remaining wildlife that made it this far.
NORTH
OF THE A4123 WOLVERHAMPTON ROAD
In Sandwell Valley there is so much to see and do because it is a truly spectacular place - we wouldn't change it for the world.
Forge Mill Farm utilises The River Tame. It's banks are far-reaching and go for for miles.
Otters have returned the Tame Wetlands just outside of Birmingham.
Say goodbye to your Health & Wellbeing, say goodbye to a clear head.
The River Tame is 'acutely' contaminated by powerful insecticides – believed to pose a threat to bee populations and other insects.
The survey, the first of its kind which was mandated by EU water regulations, tested for neonicotinoids in British rivers.
The Tames very high reading indicated a probable 'industrial or disposal pollution event'.
Concerns are now also increasing over the impact on fish and birdlife.
Take a look at the website for The Tame Wetlands by clicking the button below.
A short film about The River Tame can be found by pressing the button below.
The Most Precious Resource On
Earth
AND SANDWELL COUNCIL MISTREAT IT JUST LIKE OUR FOREBEARS DID.
Ecological Importance
Small freshwater streams and brooks are a vital part of most ecosystems in the UK.
They support a wide range of mammal, amphibian, bird, insect, plant and funga life, that has evolved over millennia to survive and thrive in them.
The banks range from gradual grass slopes that fall into the water, to more vertical banks that are created by plants with more complex root systems, keeping everything in place next to the water, preventing soil erosion.
This is home to small insects and amphibians that use the sediments left by the more gentle flow of water to hide from predators and raise their young.
Until we killed them.
Ecological Disaster
Sandwell is the Number 1 area in England with the most toxic landfills with potentially hazardous waste per square km.
​
That is 1 Toxic, Hazardous Landfill Site per 6.11 Square KM.
​
3 OF THEM ARE ON ROWLEY HILL
​
Take a look at:
​
WHAT LIES BENEATH RATTLECHAIN LAGOON
a website dedicated to it. It is all around you, it is all around us.
DISASTER
WHAT LIES BENEATH
RATTLECHAIN LAGOON?
Ecological Advocacy
Advocacy is an essential pillar of our Environmental Protection Movement here at The Hive Effect.
There is strength in numbers, and we work to inform and encourage others to take a stand for what they know to be true and for what they believe in.
Join us in our mission to create more biodiverse communities, starting right here in our home, Sand Un-Well.
​
When you thought nothing could be done, we gave you a foundation to build from.
​
When you didn't know, we presented you the information here.
​
With your help, you will see just how much of a difference we will make.
Believe us when we say;
We haven't even begun yet...
50
YEARS
SOCIAL NEGLECT, SOCIAL DEPRIVATION, SOCIAL ABUSE, SOCIAL INEQUALITY,
& ROBBED OF EVERY COMMUNITY & PUBLIC ASSET THAT WE EVER HAD BY
SANDWELL COUNCIL.
AND ALL WE WANTED WAS A BEEHIVE!
Free Water
Situated on the side of the River Tame, Brandhall Golf Course & Bee Sixty-Eight have access to all of the water they will ever need to sustain not only the plots, but to the wider surrounding areas. What's more is that the water that re-enters the water table will be cleaner than when it left the source! Managed, maintained, monitored water.
Food For All
Food. We don't need to go into detail about the global food chain but mentioning the cost, the shortage, and the demand is something that affects us at a local level. The Hive Effect can alleviate some of those problems by making fresh produce available to local people who may never have had access to such produce before.
This IS Food For All - so Join In and dig in!
Hands On Education
Every possible way to educate is explored at The Hive Effect, and at Bee Sixty-Eight that education really is evolutionary.
Come into the open apiaries or don a beekeeping suit. Plant a seed or take a cutting. Pick food or make a jam. Get involved here or take our ideas home.
Next Level Education
For the engineers out there, for the inventors and the problem solvers, we have some projects to whet your appetite too. They are all very hush right now but all will be revealed at our launch. It may turn out that you have an idea that is the best idea ever and you want to shout about it. Contact us by pressing the button below.
​
IT IS LOUDER IF WE SHOUT TOGETHER.
This Is Permaculture
THE HIVE EFFECT
The Ethics on which permaculture are built:
-
"Care of Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue to multiply"
-
"Care of People: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence"
-
"Set limits to consumption and reproduction, and redistribute surplus"