The Cube – Modern Masterpiece or White Elephant?
The final phase of The Mailbox development is nearing completion. Named The Cube, the mixed-use development will provide a new hotel, with more shops, offices, apartments, bars and restaurants around Birmingham's canal district.
Many residents have contacted me to say the look of the building is nothing like they expected and could turn out to be an embarrassing mistake.
It was a similar story when the Mailbox itself was constructed and of course when the silver disc covered Selfridges building opened. But in time, Brummies seem to have taken both to their hearts.
So take a look at the artists impression, followed by the actual construction of the Cube. What do you think?
The Cube - artists impression
The Cube - during construction, August 2009
Birmingham City Skyline
Here's a few snaps from the 31st floor of Cleveland Tower on Holloway Head.
Looking east, directly across Holloway Head at Beetham Tower, with New Street station and the Rotunda behind.
Looking north with the BT Tower and the Jewellery Quarter in the distance.
Looking north-west over the Mailbox and Centenary Square.
The Camp Hill Line – It’s Now Or Never
Over recent years much has been made of the potential to reopen the Camp Hill railway line from Birmingham city centre to Kings Norton, via new stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell. I know many Liberal Democrat members in Birmingham and readers of this blog are fans of this project.
Well folks, it's now or never.
A wide-ranging consultation on rail travel in the West Midlands comes to an end on 11th September. If you've not had your say by then, the opportunity to reopen the Camp Hill line may be lost.
To reopen this line, a new chord would have to be built at Bordesley into Birmingham Moor Street station, so along with three new stations plus work at Kings Norton, there is significant cost attached to the project. However, the new chord would open up the potential to route more services (such as Birmingham to Nottingham) through Moor Street station, freeing up the congested New Street. Not to mention the benefits for those living or working in Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell.
Take a look at Centro's Draft Development Plan. You can register your support for the prioritisation of the Bordesley chord and Camp Hill passenger line by emailing rdpfeedback@centro.org.uk
Ban The Protests. Keep Our City Safe.
The City Centre Neighbourhood Forum has received a response from West Midlands Police regarding the planned protests from EDL and UAF (English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism) in Birmingham on 5th September.
In the response, the Chief Superintendent says, “The ability to protest is a fundamental democratic right and one we are in no position to make any political or moral judgement about.”
As a Liberal and believer in free speech, I appreciate this statement. But hold on, are we asking the Police to take a political or moral judgement? No! We are asking them to ensure violence does not erupt on our streets for the second time in a month. We are asking them to keep residents of the city centre, shoppers and visitors safe on what will be a busy Saturday afternoon.
What concerns me is these further comments from the Chief Superintendent: “At this stage we believe two groups intend to protest peacefully, and would urge those seeking to use the situation to commit criminal acts to think carefully about their involvement.”
Intend to protest peacefully?
Let's remind ourselves of the events of 8th August. These two so-called peaceful protests in different locations quickly turned sour and led to over 30 arrests in ugly scenes that I never want to see repeated on our city's streets.
A repeat set of protests, held so soon after the last and very deliberately on the day of an England football match, WILL cause further trouble, of that I have no doubt. It is a deliberate call-to-action for all those who are “up for a ruck” and I am disappointed the Police are not taking this viewpoint.
Ban the EDL and UAF protests. Keep our streets safe.
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Going Away This Weekend?
I know many of you are planning trips away for the Bank Holiday weekend. I wish I was!
But if you're planning on travelling by rail from Birmingham - be warned - you may end up on a bus. Liberal Democrat analysis has found that over 1,000 miles of track is out of action.
The West Coast Main Line is one of the worst effected, so if you're travelling from Birmingham New Street to Birmingham International, Coventry, Rugby, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Watford or London, please do check with National Rail Enquiries before you travel. It's also worth checking if you hope to travel to Walsall, Shrewsbury, or from Birmingham Snow Hill / Moor Street out towards Kidderminster.
Cleveland Tower Residents Meeting
This evening I was invited to speak at the Cleveland Tower Residents Meeting. Cleveland Tower is one of a pair of giant 32-storey residential tower blocks on Holloway Head, owned by Optima.
About 20 residents came along to discuss issues largely related to Optima. The atmosphere was quite emotional due to an issue with a popular concierge.
I spoke about the massive response I'd had to my recent residents survey, with issues largely related to anti-social behaviour, both in the block and the surrounding areas. I invited the residents to come and discuss their concerns with me and Cllr Ayoub Khan, Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety. I'm pleased to say a large number agreed to come along so I look forward to making progress on those issues. I also took away some specific issues with nearby buildings and parking.
I had planned on staying for 20 minutes but in the end I was there for an hour. It was a pleasure to meet some really friendly people!
JQ Promotion Opportunity for Social Enterprises
According to a letter posted by Spaghetti Gazetti, the foyer space of the Big Peg in the Jewellery Quarter is to be used to promote local social enterprises - for free.
"Just by way of context, 'exhibitors' so far have included a premium chocolatier and a paint-balling company, both of which were actually selling on the days they were here. The space will accommodate a good sized (6ft-plus) table and exhibition stands. There is a fair amount of through traffic (tenants and visitors)."
For those unaware, the Big Peg is an office block for mainly creative businesses towering over much of the Jewellery Quarter on the corner of Warstone Lane and Vyse Street. It is the sister development of the Custard Factory and also houses a police station and a post office.
Birmingham Says No to Elected Mayor
Birmingham city council has ruled out an elected mayor for its people. The Labour government is forcing cities to choose between three methods of leadership and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat ruling coalition is adamant the existing system of leader and cabinet should remain.
Good call!
An elected mayor will take power further away from the people of the city, into the hands of one man or woman. The danger is an election for mayor could boil down to a popularity contest where personality triumphs over policy.
It's a further blow for the Birmingham Mail's tiresome campaign for an elected mayor.
But there could be a final sting in the tail. If David Cameron's Conservatives come to power at the next General Election, then Birmingham could be forced into accepting an elected mayor, no matter what the city council think. I'll be watching this chasm between national Tories and local Tories with great interest.
West Midlands Bus Services Under Investigation
I welcome the announcement from the Office of Fair Trading that local bus services, including those in the West Midlands, are to be referred to the Competition Commission.
I'm long been appalled at the consistent price rises from Travel West Midlands, now National Express West Midlands. It's now £1.70 for a single bus journey across Birmingham. Bearing this in mind, it's concerning that the West Midlands was excluded from the OFT’s analysis looking at the relationship between price and the level of market concentration, “because National Express did not consent for the Department for Transport to release its data in this area”.
Presumably now the Competition Commission are involved there will be an obligation on National Express to release the data.
In my eyes, the OFT's comments that “healthy competition” exists in the West Midlands is open to debate. On certain services, there is a genuine choice of providers, but other routes are dominated or solely operated by National Express West Midlands.
Many of those routes will be the subsidised Centro services operated by NEWM, but all this does is encourage people to buy the cheaper National Express only bus pass, instead of the general multi-operator bus pass, placing the competitors at a disadvantage.
I'll be watching this one with interest.
Sparkbrook By-Election: Runners and Riders
The list of candidates for the upcoming by-election in Sparkbrook has been released.
Along with the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Respect, the seat will also be contested by the Conservatives, the Greens and one independent candidate. The Liberal Democrat campaign will be led by our candidate Naeem Qureshi and our Parlimentary candidate for the new Birmingham Hall Green seat, Cllr Jerry Evans.
This by-election is due to the controversial financial tale of former Respect councillor Nahim Ullah Khan. That, together with the controversial timing of the by-election which falls around Ramadan, will make this by-election very interesting to watch as it unfolds.
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