Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice.
I’m sure this is a fact known to many Digbeth is Good readers, but I just thought I’d reiterate! Digbeth has plenty of canals, which were utilised in the industrial era, but which are now great for walking and/or cycling.
To see a recent walk taken by the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society along the Digbeth Branch Canal, look no further! (Photos and credit to Birmingham & Black Country Canal Walks.)
When: 14th-18th March 2012
Where: Various venues
Hold onto your popcorn – it’s not long until Flatpack Festival, one of the most innovative film festivals in the country, returns to Digbeth in March.
There will be shows at the Custard Factory as well as Eastside Projects and many other venues around Birmingham. For up to date details of the programme, which are being added to regularly, visit the Flatpack Festival website.
If you want to get involved with the festival as more than just a spectator, the Flatpack’s organisers are looking for super duper volunteers! To find out more about volunteering, and the rewards of doing so, click here.
Last week was extremely busy week, with the fight to prevent Island House from being demolished coming to a climax. Click here to see a history of Island House, and join the campaign on Twitter by searching for #saveislandhouse. Tomorrow there will be a protest to save the historic building, please see Nicky’s post for further details.
As a reminder, the Digbeth Summit will be touching upon issues like the proposed demolition of Island House. Please ensure to click here to see more information about the summit.
In related news, DRA‘s counterparts in the Jewellery Quarter, MyJewelleryQuarter (@MyJQ on Twitter) offered us their formal support in the campaign. Not only is this fantastic news, but as the second cultural quarter in Birmingham, having the support of residents in the Jewellery Quarter can only help to bring about positive change in the city.
After I reported the Birmingham St Patrick’s Parade was in jeopardy, the local media showed interest in the story and DRA’s Chairperson, Val Wooodward, appeared on BBC WM Radio as a result.
Here, John McMahon of Birmingham’s premier Irish magazine, An Craic, has very kindly written an article for us to bring us up to date with what happened at the EGM recently:
Having successfully arranged the previous two Festivals, the St Patrick’s board have now passed on the torch to new directors – synching with the torch bearing tradition of this the Olympic year. Not surprising then that the main focus for the parade on Sunday March 11 is Irish Sport, and it is with great pleasure that the leading lights of Irish sports men and women based in Birmingham have been asked to be this year’s flag bearers. If you’re a sportsperson with Irish connections – get in touch – for yourself, your sport or your team. We’d love your support at this years parade.
Preparations are well underway to continue the great tradition of the Birmingham St Patrick’s Parade and its supporting fringe events. The civic reception and launch this year will be at The Irish Centre on Friday March 9th. Set your clocks though to be bright and early at the main event – The Parade – Sunday March 11 at twelve noon. As ever the principal feature and focus is The Birmingham Irish and its surrounding communities – blending the traditional with the contemporary: floats and walking groups from the counties, traditional marching bands, GAA groups, dancing schools and the general weird and whacky of Parade day. ‘St PatRocks’ will continue the custom started several years ago of showcasing more contemporary local Irish bands whose members have Irish roots – this will be hosted at the HMV institute.
As with previous years anyone heading to Digbeth on parade day will be submersed in a sea of green and overwhelmed by the infectious sense of such a good natured and joyous occasion. Marvel at the parade – and then enjoy the Craic in many of Digbeth’s finest hostelries – many of which remain resolutely Irish in their devotion. Other fringe events leading up to St Patrick’s Day itself include an Irish Film night, Art installation, Race night, Irish Ale night, Irish literary event and Irish music nights.
We need You. As ever being a voluntary organisation we really do count on the support of individuals – so whether you can volunteer as a steward, are keen to enter a float or walk in the parade, are prepared to help raise sponsorship for us – do contact us. And if everyone can remember to throw a pound into the collection boxes – you will be doing your community proud.
St Patrick’s Festival 2012 starts with the civic reception and launch night on Friday 9th March at The Irish Centre. For tickets and details of the launch, parade and all St Patricks’ events – visit the website at stpatricksbirmingham.com.
Thanks John!
When: 10th March 2012, 10:00 – 21:00
Where: The Custard Factory
The Livewell Clinic is opening at the Custard Factory in February; to celebrate, they are holding a Natural Health Fair in March.
Visit the Custard Factory to enjoy a wide range of natural therapies including Shiatsu, massage, Tai Chi and Pilates. It is completely free to attend, but ensure to register here to get your ticket.
There is a protest is planned to oppose the demolition of Island House on Wednesday 1st February at 1200pm-1.30pm (Facebook event page here). Go along if you can to show your support for the campaign to Save Island House!
This protest aims to bring this issue to the wider attention of the city’s residents. By working together we can stop the needless removal of our city’s heritage and save a wonderful building and local landmark.
On Thursday 26th January a planning application was passed to allow the demolition of the grade B locally listed Island House. It is a prominent local landmark, designed by a Birmingham architect, George Pepper, and one of only a handful of buildings more than ten years old in the Eastside development area of the city. Once Island House has been demolished the site will be restored to provide a temporary landscaped area. No one other than Quintain Estates wants this.
Quintain are claiming that the building will have to be demolished to make way for a new high-speed railway station, but this is factually inaccurate. No detailed plans have been created, and all indicative images thus far show that Island House is not in the way of the station, and could easily be incorporated into any future development.
This planned demolition is rushed and unwanted. Despite many and varied objections the Council had few options under planning law and had to approve the application. Scaffolding has already begun to appear on the building in preparation. However, an existing S106 planning agreement between the applicant, Quintain Estates, and Birmingham City Council enforces the developer to restore Island House to a good condition before demolition can go ahead. Quintain are currently trying to have this changed, and we need your support in opposing this. You can help by lodging an objection here.
For further information please see the associated facebook group.
Just a reminder that the next meeting of Digbeth Residents Association will take place on Monday 13th February at 6pm in the Nomad room, ground floor Zellig, Custard Factory. This will be an Annual General Meeting.
Please find links to papers for the AGM below:
Minutes 07.02.11 AGM
Constitution 2011
Agenda 13.02.12
Minutes 09.01.12
Constitution 2012
All residents, local businesess and interested parties are welcome to attend! If you would like to submit apologies or just ask a question, please feel free to contact Secretary Pam.
If you would like to nominate yourself for one of the Committee positions, please inform Pam by the 10th February. In addition, if you would like to volunteer as a facilitator for the upcoming Digbeth Summit, please contact Pam by Wednesday 1st February at the latest please.
See more events at the All Brum in Digbeth website.
Monday, 30th January
Spotted Dog
Traditional Irish Music
All Musicians welcome
Alternate Monday Nights
Tuesday, 31st January
Jazz at The Spotted Dog
The Bebop Resurrection Society
The Spotted Dog hosts Jazz every Tuesday. Music starts at 9pm - free entry with collection. Click here for more information.
Wednesday, 1st February
Adam & Eve
The Mantra Above The Spotless Melt Moon
Thursday, 2nd February
Fazeley Studios
191 Fazley Street, Digbeth, B5 5SE
The Rachael Cohen Quartet with Nick Jurd, Jim Bashford, and Tobie Carpenter.
Click here for more info about Fazeley Music Nights.
Friday, 3rd February
Adam & Eve
An evening with Howard Marks
Friday, 3rd February
Moseley Arms
I Am Ryan
Pressure Kids
Leela and the Spaceship
Sunday, 5th February
ALL-DAY ACOUSTIC GIG
Adam & Eve
Mezzotonic
Rhesus
The Downfalls
Ricardo Thompson
Lottie Phazey
Cherry Street
Island House by Ell Brown
Island House is situated in a prominent position at the west end of Fazeley Street at its junction with Albert Street. It is a prominent landmark and a fine Classical style building, described by Andy Foster in the Pevsner Architectural Series volume ‘Birmingham’ (2005) on p190 as “of 1912-13 by G. E. Pepper. Mannerist, e.g. the reversed orders on the corner entrance: Ionic below, then Doric, then Tuscan.” Island House was built as offices and warehousing for Churchill & Co, and has parallels in other commercial and industrial buildings designed by Pepper, of which 75 Vyse Street in the Jewellery Quarter, constructed in 1909, is now listed by English Heritage at grade II.
Island House is locally listed. This means it is recognised by the City Council as having architectural or historic interest, but not enough to be statutorily listed at a national level. There is a convention that a Grade A locally listed building, if threatened with demolition, can often be added to the statutory list, but Island House is only Grade B. A locally listed building enjoys no special protection, but its listed status should be taken into consideration by the Planning Committee when considering planning applications.
After the Eastside designation by the Labour administration in around 1999, a lot of demolition took place around Island House in conjunction with the demolition of the elevated Inner Ring Road. Eastside was parcelled up into big redevelopment sites. Island House was part of a site labelled City Park Gate, along Moor Street from Masshouse to Moor Street Station, for whom the developers were originally, I think, Countryside Quintain. Richard Rogers made an earlier scheme, but in 2006 the architects Make made a very good masterplan, one of whose successes was the intelligent way in which it integrated Island House and the Fox and Grapes into the new development. This masterplan gained outline planning permission, and the Section 111 agreement to retain and refurbish Island House is part of this approval (2006/07395/PA). Quintain have now submitted a Deed of Variation by which they seek to relieve themselves of this obligation. This is currently out for public consultation until 6th February (2012/00182/PA).
The hotel which is currently under construction on Moor Street is the only part of the Make masterplan to be constructed. The announcement of the intended HS2 early in 2010 meant that the development could not be completed, as the new station cut across it. BCC commissioned a new masterplan from Glenn Howells Architects, to show how the new station could be related to other adjacent developments. This was published for public consultation in December 2011 (open until 23rd March; www.birmingham.gov.uk/eastsidemasterplan).
The masterplan does not show Island House, or refer to it. Plans in the document are small scale and diagrammatic (the station has not yet been fully designed, after all), but it appears that the site of Island House does not actually impinge on the footprint of the station. It comes close, but could be integrated into the development, just as it was in the 2006 masterplan.
Here’s a statement from Quintain Estates explaining why they wish to proceed with the demolition of Island House:
“Due to the proposal to introduce High Speed 2, we are unable to proceed with our plans for the City Park Gate scheme, which expressly provided for the retention and refurbishment of Island House. In the current circumstances, no tenant is interested in taking occupation of the building as they will have to vacate in a few years to make way for the new HS2 station, and we are left with a vacant building in an advanced state of disrepair, which attracts vandals and is sporadically used as a location for drug-related activities. Regrettably, the only sensible course of action is to demolish the building to prevent the anti-social behaviour continuing and then landscape the area.”
We Are Eastside – arts and culture Birmingham Post: Digbeth articles
