3.8.3
Original Document
The River Rea is another part of the hidden environment under Birmingham. It is in a deep cutting and hemmed in by industrial buildings. In conjunction with the Environment Agency there is scope for opening out and improving access to the river and for developing it as a wildlife corridor.
Plain English Translation
The River Rea is hidden under Birmingham. It is in a trench restricted by industrial buildings. We could work with the Environment Agency to open up the river, make it easier to get to and encourage wildlife along it.
I’m all for excavating the river — it’s a theory of mine that the city centre is lacking a focus that a river or dock provides, and that’s a reason for some of the odd planning decisions over the years (is Victoria Sq the focus, the Bull Ring, St Phillip’s?). But environmentally, are large scale water features a good idea? Do they just take up valuable space that we could use at different times for different things?
Is it a laudable aim to “shoot for the moon” and decide to be renowned for the one thing we don’t naturally have (water) — or are we just setting ourselves up for lots of sniggering from the same media that panned the (very successful) beach?
OK, this is news to me. We have a river? I'd love to be able to navigate around riverbanks, and see the wildlife etc.
As Jon above mentions, such a continuous feature is key; whenever we consider how many canals we have in the city, its a travesty that we don't have access to the river.