Cabinet Gives Green Light to Ladywood Aquatics Centre Study

I am delighted to report that the City council Cabinet has given the go ahead for a full feasibility study into the proposed Aquatics Centre in the heart of Birmingham.

The centre, as I blogged about here, is set for land next to the Nelson School opposite the NIA. It will contain a 50m pool, leisure pool, climbing wall, gym, sports hall, 5-a-side and 11-a-side football facilities and community rooms. I am impressed with the way that residents' concerns about parking have already been addressed within the plans.

Despite Labour's claims to the contrary, local residents have insisted to me this is their preferred location. It will encourage public transport use and be a terrific use of land which suffers from anti-social problems.

New Leisure Facility for Ladywood

Today I went with some friends to the consultation event for the proposed Birmingham Aquatics and Leisure Centre. A lot has been written and said about the pool over the last few months. You can make various assumptions from this, but the plans give another story. For example, did you know there was a sports hall, gymnasium, café, climbing wall, 11-a-side and 5-a-side pitches, community rooms and a police room all within the development?

It was useful that knowledgeable members of staff from the City Council and the Planning Consultancy were on hand to answer questions. From our group they answered questions on the organisational structure, potential fees, parking and other pools in the city.

Parking concerns from local residents seem to have been well addressed. The centre will utilise one of the NIA car parks with the design altered to incorporate better access from the car park. There will be a new coach park and a residents permit scheme for the St Marks Crescent area to ensure they are not swamped with visitors.

All in all, this is a fantastic development and a long-overdue leisure facility for the city centre and Ladywood constituency. The design and the content, in particular the leisure pool, is just right for getting kids across the city excited about sport.

I would urge everyone to give it their full support.