We visited the shopping centre for views of life on the wood.
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00:00 We come down every Tuesday and get a lot of us and have coffees
00:05 and come down for your shopping.
00:07 It's local, isn't it, Brie? Yeah. It's not too far to come.
00:11 How long have you lived here, ladies? 52 years.
00:14 So from the start, really? Yeah. Not me.
00:17 Five years. 52, mate.
00:19 I thought when they gave me my house, I was in Buckingham Palace.
00:23 It was beautiful, cos I'd come from the back to back, you know what I mean?
00:27 That's it, yeah.
00:28 Well, back in 1966, Birmingham City Council compulsory purchased
00:32 the ancient woodland and built the 1,500, 590-dwelling council estate
00:38 to rehouse families on its council house waiting list.
00:42 With the rise of unemployment in the '70s,
00:44 part of the estate suffered from deprivation and antisocial behaviour.
00:49 Now part of Solihull, the town is full of green spaces,
00:53 parks, new schools and leisure facilities.
00:57 Well, we don't live far away, and everything,
01:00 all the shops that I need are here, so I don't need to go anywhere else.
01:05 What are the people of Chamsley Wood like when you're out and about?
01:08 Very friendly, very nice. Yeah.
01:11 It's a lovely little area for people that live round here.
01:14 It's a nice place to live.
01:16 You've got things for my kids and my grandkids and everything.
01:21 All the facilities that they want, the sports centres, everything.
01:26 You didn't have that years ago.
01:29 Well, I've got my own personal connection to this area.
01:32 My nan was the eighth person to move onto the estate,
01:35 and I grew up visiting this very shopping centre.
01:38 In fact, I remember many a Saturday being dragged around Fine Fair
01:42 and begging to go to Zodiac Toys.
01:44 Those shops are long gone, but many new ones have replaced them,
01:48 and this centre is still at the very heart of the town,
01:52 and it's recently undergone a major refurbishment
01:55 by its new owner, LCP Properties.
01:59 Well, to be honest, I've lived here for all of my life,
02:02 so I've seen Chamsley Wood develop over the years,
02:05 from when they started moving all the people in from surrounding areas.
02:10 And it sort of went on a decline for quite a few years,
02:13 but with all the regeneration that's happening,
02:16 it's starting to lift again, and it feels a lot more positive vibe.
02:20 And a lot of the shops have changed, of course, over the years,
02:22 but there again, they're developing and things are improving,
02:26 so I'll be here probably for the rest of my life.
02:29 It's local.
02:31 There's plenty of stuff in all the shops, isn't there?
02:34 The fact that they've got new shops opening up is good as well.
02:37 I noticed you're striving around how green Chamsley Wood is.
02:40 Is that a nice feeling environment?
02:41 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
02:44 Yeah, we don't like it when they put too many houses up.
02:46 We like them to keep a bit of the greenery around.
02:48 So you both love living in Chamsley Wood?
02:50 Yeah, we've lived here for years, haven't we?
02:53 Yeah. We're proper Brummies.
02:55 Proper Brummies.
02:57 Lived on Chamsley Wood most of our life.