And who gets to decide?
Why this matters
Hall Green's streets look the same. They are not. Cars are more numerous, larger, and faster at low speeds. Delivery vans have multiplied. Population has grown. The pedestrian experience of Cateswell Road has changed materially — but the road infrastructure has not.
Whether the answer is a zebra crossing, a pelican crossing, bollards, a 20mph limit, or nothing at all — the decision should belong to the people who live, walk, and drive here. Not just to whoever shouts loudest.
The civic argument
A zebra crossing is a small thing. The conversation it requires is not.
To deliberate about a crossing — to gather evidence, understand who has the power to decide, weigh competing values, make a case, and submit a formal representation — is to exercise the exact same skills that citizens use to influence anything. Schools. Planning decisions. Local elections. National policy.
Civic participation is a muscle. Most people never get a chance to exercise it in a setting where the stakes are real and the outcome is genuinely uncertain. This is that setting.
The Downing Street connection. Not that a crossing leads to Westminster — but that the person who knows how to do this is the person who eventually shapes things at any scale. This workshop is where that learning begins.
A CIRI public events workshop
"The skills you use to argue for a crossing — gathering evidence, understanding who decides, making a case, building coalition — are the same skills citizens use to change the world."
Civic & International Relations Institute
CIRI runs this workshop because civic participation is teachable. You don't arrive knowing how to engage with public institutions. You learn by doing it — in a room, with your neighbours, about something real. This is that room.
How it works
Session one
We look at what has actually changed on Hall Green's roads over thirty years — cars, density, speed, culture — and introduce the specific question of Cateswell Road.
Session two
We explore values. Is this a safety issue? A children's issue? Disability access? Environmental? Residents take on stakeholder roles to argue different perspectives.
Session three · The decision
The room deliberates and makes a real recommendation. A ward councillor attends to listen. The outcome is written up and submitted formally to Birmingham City Council Highways.
Not a talking shop
Community position paper
A 1–2 page document summarising what residents heard, discussed, valued, and decided — with a clear recommendation to Birmingham City Council.
Formal representation
Signed by participants and submitted directly to BCC Highways and Hall Green ward councillors — a real document in a real process.
Optional petition
If the room agrees, CIRI will help structure and submit a petition through Birmingham City Council's official portal. 250 signatures triggers a council response.
Press release
Issued to the Birmingham Mail and local outlets with the community's decision. Residents who deliberated become the story.
Register your interest and we'll send you session dates, venue details, and anything you need to know before you arrive. All three sessions are free. Refreshments provided at each one.