Plain English Version
The Council want your view on everything that is going to happen in and to the city centre over the next twenty years. In this document there are statements, options and questions, and you can comment on them all — but if you have any ideas that aren’t covered you can still say what you think on any subject.
If you give your opinions the council can look at them as work on the Big City Plan continues.
You can do this by post, to:
BIG CITY PLAN TEAM
16th Floor Alpha Tower
Suffolk Street
Queensway
Birmingham
B1 1TU
Or by email to: inquiries@bigcityplan.org.uk
News of other ways to get involved will be released on the Big City Plan website: http://www.bigcityplan.org.uk
Consultation ends on the 6th February 2009 — you can comment on the Plan up to that date.
Details of other LDF documents that we are preparing at the moment can be viewed at www.birmingham.gov.uk
This report is available form the council in large print, other formats and other languages. They aim to supply you them within ten working days.
You can call 0121 303 3075 or email inquiries@bigcityplan.org.uk If you have hearing difficulties please use RNID Typetalk 18001 0121 303 3075 or Relay Assist 08702 409598
Original Document
The purpose of this report is to seek your views on the issues that will affect development in the city centre over the next twenty years. The report sets out the main issues that we need to consider in producing the Big City Plan, as well as a number of broad options, or scenarios, for the future development of the city centre. These issues and scenarios, however, are by no means exhaustive and your views are welcome on any other issues which you feel are relevant to the production of the Big City Plan.
Please let us know your opinions on the issues and options so that we can take them into account as work on preparing the Big City Plan progresses.
BIG CITY PLAN TEAM
16th Floor Alpha Tower
Suffolk Street
Queensway
Birmingham
B1 1TU
Or by email to: inquiries@bigcityplan.org.uk
For more details about how to get involved in this consultation and information about future consultations on the Big City Plan please visit our website: http://www.bigcityplan.org.uk
The period of consultation on this document will run from 12th December 2008 until 6th February 2009
Details of other LDF documents that we are preparing at the moment can be viewed at www.birmingham.gov.uk
You can ask for a copy of this report in large print, another format or another language. We aim to supply what you need within ten working days.
Call 0121 303 3075 or email us at inquiries@bigcityplan.org.uk If you have hearing difficulties please contact us via RNID Typetalk 18001 0121 303 3075 or Relay Assist 08702 409598
Plain English Version
This is an unofficial ‘plain English’ version of the section of the Big City Plan Work in Progress, originally entitled “Foreword“.
The ‘Big City Plan’ is a city-wide development project to plan for the next 20 years of change in Birmingham. We aim to be one of the top 20 cities in the world where people most want to live.
We started this process in 2006 when we asked Professor Michael Parkinson from Liverpool John Moores University to do a study [link to PDF document]. We took the next step in 2007, when we named the project the “Big City Plan” and asked some Birmingham experts their opinions. We wrote a report containing their thoughts and ideas, which came out at the start of 2008. I am very excited about the work that has happened so far. We won an award for the best city plan in the world, beating Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
The ‘Big City Plan’ deals with the area within the ring road (the pink line on this map) and covers the physical environment (such as buildings, roads, transport, and so on), the economy, culture and creativity (such as art, design, music, dance, and so on). We need everyone’s help to acheive this, by discussing the ‘Work in Progress Report’.
We have split up the ‘Work in Progress Report’ to match areas within the ring road. We have come up with ideas about housing, creative workplaces, more shops and offices, and more public areas (such as parks). We also have ideas about transport, how different types of places fit together and how to make sure we can keep them going. We want you to help decide the future of Birmingham. How do you see Birmingham becoming an exciting and attractive place to live and work? What sort of culture do you think Birmingham should have? How do you and your family want to use the city and travel around it? We need to think about these questions and many more and I hope that the information in the Work in Progress Report will help you have your say.
We don’t just want your opinions on the things in the Work in Progress Report, we want to hear about anything that you think is important to include in our plans. We think that these plans will also help the whole of the city of Birmingham (not just the parts within the ring road) – see our ‘Core Strategy‘ plan for more information. We will ask for more feedback from the public and permission from the Planning Committee in the future, and that will be affected by what you tell us now. We hope to officially start work on the ‘Big City Plan’ during 2009.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about what we can achieve in the city centre and the whole of Birmingham. I am excited about the ideas in the ‘Big City Plan’ for Birmingham and the choices we are thinking about to make it happen. The finished plan will be something very special and will let everyone involved with Birmingham (including the Government and the Council) know exactly what we plan to do for Birmingham in the future to make sure it continues to do well.
Original Document
The ‘Big City Plan’ is the most ambitious and far-reaching citywide development project ever undertaken in the UK: to create a world class city centre by planning for the next 20 years of transformation, to be in the top 20 most liveable cities in the world and to ultimately progress the city’s continued regeneration, in the spirit of Birmingham, as ‘a global city with a local heart’.
The process for a new masterplan for Birmingham began in 2006 when Birmingham City Council commissioned a visioning study led by Professor Michael Parkinson. During 2007, the framework for a city centre masterplan, known as the ‘Big City Plan’ was taken to the next stage, by engaging leading thinkers in Birmingham to help shape the future of the city. Their initial thoughts and ‘Big Ideas’ were captured in a charter which we launched earlier this year as the council’s statement of intent. I am very excited about the progress that has been made to date and highly impressed that accolades are now following our work in progress. An example of this was winning the award for the best emerging city master plan in the world, beating Singapore and Abu Dhabi to the accolade.
Covering the greater city centre, within the ring road, the ‘Big City Plan’ will create the foundation for Birmingham’s future growth, to shape and revitalise the city; physically, economically, culturally and creatively. Extensive engagement with colleagues, partners, stakeholders and citizens will be required to help achieve this: the Work in Progress Report is the catalyst for debate.
In the Work in Progress Report, we have matched relevant themes and ideas to specific areas within the ring road, identifying proposals to address city living, creative industries, expansion of the retail and commercial offers and creating and connecting public spaces. These are supported by recommendations about connectivity and transportation, sustainability and cultural development. We want you to help shape the city’s future. How do you see Birmingham developing as an exciting and attractive place to live and work? How would you like to see Birmingham’s cultural offer expanded? How would you and your family want to use the city and travel within it? These and many other issues need to be addressed and I hope that the information contained within the Work in Progress Report will encourage you to take part in the debate.
I want to assure you that the options within the Work in Progress Report are by no means exhaustive: your views are welcome on any other issues which you feel are relevant to the production of the ‘Big City Plan’. Similarly, while our initial proposals sit alongside the City’s Core Strategy and its review of the options for the wider city of Birmingham as a whole, there will be obvious synergy and economies of scale to be gained as both initiatives progress. Your response to this consultation will help inform the preferred options on which further public consultation and Planning Committee approval will be sought. We hope to formally adopt the ‘Big City Plan’ during 2009.
What we can achieve in the city centre and Birmingham as a whole, I look forward to receiving your thoughts. I for one am excited by the prospects presented by the ‘Big City Plan’ for Birmingham and the options currently being considered to realise and deliver our vision!The prize will be something that is quite exceptional, and none the least providing clarity, certainty including and consistency for everyone , investors, developers, funders, Government and ourselves at the City Council for the long term context for continued growth and revitalisation of our great city in these challenging economic time.
Plain English Version
A million people live in Birmingham, and if you include surrounding towns and cities nearly two and a half million people live nearby. Birmingham is Britain’s second biggest city, and is also big when compared to most cities in Europe. The average age of the people of Birmingham is young when compared to other towns, and also contains people of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. The population is also growing. So far, we think the regeneration of the city centre has been a success and it has attracted a lot of money into the city.
We would say that Birmingham has:
- new high technology manufacturing
- a fast growing amount of professional services, and other business
- good universities, and researchers
- conference facilities comparable to the best in the World
We think Birmingham should aim to:
- attract more investment from abroad
- be better known internationally
- be an exciting and attractive place
- to be know for it’s great public spaces
- be known as a “Water City”
This report is to help us produce what we call ‘The Big City Plan” – which is a plan for the future of Birmingham’s City Centre. When we say City Centre we mean the area within the Ring Road (the Middleway) inside the pink line on this map. This is 8 square kilometres or 3.09 square miles.
The plan will show what we wish for Birmingham over the next 20 years.
The city centre is not just shops and offices, but everything that the area covers:
- homes
- businesses
- universities, schools and colleges
- culture
- and everything else.
The plan will aim to help Birmingham continue to be successfully and get better and better known in the UK and abroad. It will aim to make sure all development fits together sensibly, and the city centre becomes a more attactive place to live.
The Big City Plan will be part of what is called the Local Development Framework (or LDF) — a collection of documents that describe how a city is planned. The LDF will also include a plan for the whole of the city.
The plan has to match national government plans, Regional Spatial Strategy and with the Birmingham Plan. The Regional Spatial Strategy says that Birmingham needs 50,600 new homes by 2026, 1.3 square kilometres (0.502 square miles) of places people work (growing up to 3.9 square kilometres or 1.51 square miles) and 225,000 square metres of shops by 2021 (355,000 sq m by 2026) and also 590,000 square metres of offices in the city centre.
There is already a report called Birmingham 2026 which sets out some aims for Birmingham in the year 2026, and a three year plan called the Birmingham Local Area Agreement — the Big City Plan will have to work with these.
Some work has already been done to get the Big City Plan into this shape, but it’s now time for everyone to tell us their opinions. After this it will be turned in to a final version which you will again have chance to see and talk about. It will then be passed to the Government. If all this goes well, Birmingham will be able to start work on the plan later this year.
Original Document
Birmingham is a city of a million people at the centre of a conurbation of two and a half million. Birmingham is Britain’s second city and is big on the European scale. It has a young, diverse and growing population. In the face of massive economic change, the city has achieved great regeneration success and has attracted large amounts of inward investment, with more to come. It has new high technology manufacturing, a rapidly growing business and professional services sector, a strong university and research sector, and world-class business conference and exhibition facilities. It wants to attract more high value international investment, and register much more strongly on the international scale. It wants to be an exciting and attractive place where individuals and families choose to live and stay. It wants to be a place renowned for great public spaces and as a ‘Water City.’
This Issues and Options Report is a stage in the development of The Big City Plan, a plan for Birmingham’s city centre. The city centre is the area within the Ring Road (Middleway), and covers some 800 hectares. The Big City Plan will develop the new vision for the city centre and set a new direction for the city centre over the next 20 years. The city’s aspiration is to be in the top 20 most liveable cities in the world within 20 years. The Big City Plan will be an important instrument in realising that ambition.
The city centre is not only the core area of shops, offices and hotels, but all the myriad activities that take place within Birmingham’s quarters – its homes, start up businesses, universities and educational establishments, cultural scenes, specialist services, creative industries – in fact, everything within the area bounded by the Ring Road. The plan will build upon Birmingham’s success and will ensure that the city raises its performance and its profile nationally and internationally. It will provide a coherent approach to regeneration and development and will help to make the city centre a much more attractive and liveable place.
The Big City Plan will form part of the Local Development Framework (LDF). The LDF will be made up of a portfolio of documents including Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Documents, and will be an important means through which to deliver our vision for Birmingham’s city centre. Also in the LDF will be a new Birmingham Plan, which will be the core strategy for the whole city. It has not yet been decided what type of document the Big City Plan will become.
The Big City Plan has to be consistent with national policy guidance, the Regional Spatial Strategy and with the Birmingham Plan. The Regional Spatial Strategy sets out some important requirements for Birmingham: 50,600 new homes by 2026 over the city; a 130 hectare city-wide reservoir of employment land with a longer term requirement of 390 hectares; and 225,000 square metres of comparison retail development by 2021 (355,000 sq m by 2026) and 590,000 square metres of office development in the city centre.
The Big City Plan takes forward our shared vision for the future of the city (Birmingham 2026) – helping to deliver our five key outcomes that Birmingham people succeed economically, stay safe, are healthy, have a high quality of life and can make a positive contribution. Birmingham 2026, and our three-year implementation plan (the Birmingham Local Area Agreement) can be found at: http://www.bebirmingham.org.uk/2026/
Work on the Big City Plan is being carried out in several stages. We have been undertaking research for some months to gather information to ensure that the proposals and policies which emerge later in the process are grounded in robust, up to date information. We are now at the issues and options consultation stage where everyone interested in the future of the city centre has the opportunity to get involved. In the next stage we will produce a preferred options report which will be subject to formal consultation for 6 weeks. After that we will produce a draft plan which will be submitted to the Secretary of State for examination. We hope to formally adopt the Big City Plan in 2009.