During the 1960s a
Council estate was built and Turves was conceived. The area round Fairfax Rd includes,
Semi-detached houses,
Terraced houses, single story
bungalows, and nine ten story
Tower blocks. There are also four story maisonettes where one lot of tenant occupy the lower two stories and have two small gardens while a second lot of tenants must climb two flights of stairs to reach their front doors and have balconies instead of gardens. There is a small group of shops on Fairfax Rd including two small
supermarkets selling food, also general goods and a furniture clearance store. A small area of Turves Green remains open without building and
Birmingham City Council maintains this as a recreation area. In 2011 Birmingham Council added a children's play area with attractions including a roundabout, swings and an assault course with slides. Turves Green Brook, which is a tributary to the
River Rea runs through the recreation area, partly open, partly in
culverts. The recreation area consists of
mown grass, with a few benches and alongside the brook natural woodland. The woodland looks pleasant, during the
spring there are
pussy willow,
blackthorn and
hawthorn which flower in succession. After the willows have finished flowering white flowers of
hemlock give the area a deadly beauty in sections which the council leaves unmown. Later in the year
Himalayan balsam and
bindweed flower there and
stinging nettles are prominent. In winter
evergreen trees and plants including
ivy on
deciduous trees provides some greenery together with the grass. Near the play area on either side of the brook is a small
spinney with trees including
oaks,
larches and other
conifers. Residents sometimes use the woodland for recreation but the brook is
polluted and there is frequently a noticeable smell. The grassy area is acceptable and residents use it more. In the part of the recreational area nearer to
Longbridge is a basketball court and post war private houses border the recreational area there. Older private houses are along Longbridge Lane which borders the top part of the recreational area. The council estate is socially mixed, some residents face
poverty and
social exclusion, others enjoy better incomes and some could afford to buy their council houses. Those with jobs are typically
skilled or unskilled
manual workers.
Anti-social behaviour may be reported to
Birmingham City Council who endeavour to prevent or reduce it. Overall there are far fewer problems with anti-social behaviour than in many
sink estates. On the road, Turves Green there is a small shopping centre with a
Cooperative shop and a
Dental technician among others, near those shops are more post-war council houses, maisonettes and flats with further tower blocks. The road, Turves Green has mainly private houses with some two-story private maisonettes and some council properties.
Turves Green Boys' School and
King Edward VI Northfield School for Girls, both
secondary schools and Turves Green Primary School are also all on that road. ==References==