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An audience with Cllr Ward: listen to the recording

On Thursday 17 September, Head of Strategic Communications, Nick Jones, hosted an audience with Councillor Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council.

A summary of the conversation is below and the full recording is available to listen to here.

COVID-19

  • There was record investment in Birmingham in the lead up to lockdown, evidenced by the number of cranes on the skyline, which are still there.
  • The city council must work closely with developers to make sure we continue to see this investment come into the city.
  • Working with all sectors to make sure that city centres respond to a long term change in working practices, which will see us working 2-3 days from home and 2-3 days from the office, and an acceleration of the existing trend towards online food and clothes shopping.
  • We need to continue to create quality developments so that Birmingham is a great place for people, to live, work and socialise and a place that continues to grow in the future.

Office space

  • I believe we are still going to see office development in Birmingham and there is a need for new office space and development. The question is how it will be utilised in the future. I think it will be repurposed to stimulate people, encourage creativity that leads to innovation, new business, new ways of working and new jobs.
  • Ian Ward is interested in views regarding office space and changes to class usage and what they might mean for the city going forward if offices change to residential use and others.
  • Socially distanced capacity at BCC head office is 400 but fewer than 10 coming in.
  • Exclusive Turley webinar poll suggests the future of offices is either important/very important to the future of city centres and investment decisions around city centres.

Active travel: taking advantage of the crisis

  • COVID has accelerated increased pedestrianisation to ensure Birmingham continues to be a very walkable city.
  • New road closures are in place to allow bars and restaurants to spill outside into the street giving a European feel when the weather is good.
  • Moving from petrol and diesel cars into electric cars won’t solve congestion.
  • Birmingham’s Big Moves, promotes active travel, managing demand for car use by reducing parking. BCC going to continue reallocating road space for cycling, walking and public transport, creating a sustainable, cleaner future by getting people out of their cars.
  • Must also promote more sustainable travel to schools, by introducing car free roads outside schools. Will help tackle the obesity crisis.

Housing need

  • The council wants to help facilitate development.
  • Keen to work with developers to understand what the art of the possible might be, with HS2 coming, the Commonwealth Games coming, to create a sustainable city, that meets the housing need going forward, with 90,000 units needed by 2031, as well as retrofitting existing homes across the city to make them more sustainable as well.
  • We are currently meeting our overall target for units, but falling short of the requirements for affordable and social housing.
  • Every time there has been a major housing drive across the country, it has been driven by public funding and the same thing is needed now.
  • We need to ensure the right type of noise insulation is in place for residents. Unfortunately it is covered by different legislation from the planning legislation.

Smithfield/Digbeth

  • Smithfield is the largest city centre mixed-use development site in Europe; LEP funding due to be confirmed in October; Lendlease JV contract due to be signed end 2020/early 2021.
  • Agreement reached with Commonwealth Games committee that the site will be used for basketball and beach volleyball and a large screen to make it a focal point during the games.
  • Digbeth has the potential to become like the Jewellery Quarter on the other side of the city centre, holding on to traditional working crafts while also introducing residential use.
  • There is an issue of ensuring residential development doesn’t impact the existing night time economy, so we need to ensure appropriate noise insulation is in place, but “unfortunately” it is covered by different legislation from the planning legislation.

Planning reform

  • BCC has increased performance regarding planning applications over the COVID period. Pride ourselves in meeting statutory timelines even though we take some time through the pre-app process to ensure we get the right development at the right time.
  • Don’t believe the planning system is broken, or that much tinkering is necessary. Government is watering down opportunity for the public to participate, by shifting engagement from developments towards the local plan as people don’t appreciate how it is going to impact on them at that early stage. They only become aware once they have something planned for their doorstep. The shift from engagement at application to local plan is backward step.
  • Also worried about changes to permitted development taking us way, way back, as a mish mash of development comes forward which conflicts with the emphasis on the design guide.

Cross-party working/devolution

  • There are tensions between the metropolitan authorities and the mayoral system, but by and large we’ve made a success of it in the West Midlands. Relations between Birmingham and the Black Country have also improved significantly under the Combined Authority.
  • Success is exemplified by managing to win extra national investment for transport infrastructure and land remediation.
  • Government currently consulting around devolution – we want decisions to be made as close to the people as possible with the same transport powers as London.
  • We want funding/power to deliver the social hosing target and employment strategy because we’re going to see significant post-COVID job losses and will want/need to intervene.
  • Hope Government isn’t just creating more Metro Mayors around the country whilst not recognising there is a real role for local government to play in all this as well.

WFH

  • Living at work does start to affect your mental health. You can’t do everything over online platforms. Chairing meetings is more difficult, for example.
  • Co-located living and working space is going to continue to grow in the future, across the city centre and in the suburbs as well.
  • Co-working particularly appeals to people leaving university and working for the first time.

PBSA

  • Despite COVID, there is still a need for PBSA in Birmingham. Students in Selly Oak occupying residential properties in large numbers is far from ideal.
  • We’re looking to continue to meet the need for student accommodation across the city with high quality PBSA. There is a need for continued development in this area.

For more information, or to discuss how we can work with you to help inform and/ or progress your development plans, please contact Nick Jones or David Blackadder-Weinstein.

5 October 2020

 

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