Friends of the Earth Birmingham Action Briefing Feb 98/Mar 98

Visions!

For Sustainable Development in Birmingham

By: The Visions Team

Bham FOE is starting an imaginative and exciting project called "Visions! for Sustainable Development in Birmingham" which will draw an alternative picture of development in Birmingham and promote the proposal to the local people including the planners.

There are several current planning issues in Birmingham. For example: [City Centre] Martineau Galleries (a big shopping/leisure centre with another 3000 car parking spaces); Arena Central (a big commercial/leisure centre which will be the 2nd tallest building in the UK, including ice skating facilities). [Selly Oak] Closure of Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals and establishment of a larger hospital (with a bigger car park) on a green field site, and more roads. [Quinton] An old bus depot is becoming a Tesco supermarket with 302 car parking spaces, and a tiny community centre. [Erdington] A DIY shop with 573 car parking spaces.

(Some of these plans above have previously been reported in Action Briefing and remain unresolved). Is this the sort of development we want to see in Birmingham? Alright, we might want it, but is this really sustainable??

In order to ask these questions and draw an alternative picture of development in Birmingham, B'ham FOE is going to:

• Have detailed discussions on planning issues in some of the Monday meetings (just after the main meetings), and publish a pamphlet ("Visions! for sustainable development in Birmingham") to show Bham FOE's proposals to the planners and local people. Please come and join the discussions!!
• Have more stalls in Birmingham's suburban areas (as well as in the city centre) to have discussion with local people on these issues, and also to attract more people to Friends of the Earth. See Diary for 21st February .
• Have more actions promoting sustainable development in Birmingham. See Diary for 7th March)

...Watch out for more details.