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A pensioner is being forced out of the home he as lived in for 41 years due to major redevelopment in Birmingham
Birmingham City Council has issued a compulsory purchase order on Fred Grove's canal-side home as it moves ahead with its Eastside Masterplan.
The council said it is regrettable his home is in the development area but if he does not move he will be living in the middle of a building site.
His home sits in the middle of the Eastside area of the city where the council is "acquiring sites" to be regenerated into a City Park and technology-led development area.
The council said it was up to the developers to decide if the property is refurbished or demolished. Mr Grove has until 23 May to lodge an objection to the order.
4th May www.bbc.co.uk
Planners stop design not right for canalside
A multi-million pound retail park planned for Great Bridge have been slammed by Sandwell planners for being ugly. The £7.5 million retail and tradw centre was set to be built on the 4.5 acre canalside site opposite the Asda superstore but Midlands investment company Baycrest who drew up the plans have been told to rethink the design
Councillors at a meeting of Sandwell's planning committee were concerned the steel frame constructions, designed to blend in with Asda and the Great Bridge Retail Park, would detract from the canal environment. Councillor Tony Ward described the whole design as "awful" and said the proposed structures resembled "some of the buildings put up in the late sixties". A major concern was a high concrete wall which would run along the back of the park beside the canal.
Councillor John Blyth said: "This was a wondeful opportunity to maximise the canal feature into the design. But this has'nt happened."
Great Bridge Councillor Pete Allen said: "The canals are our heritage and part of our future. We need to ensure that any development such as this... makes its boundaries with the canals a feature of the development that will contribute to the future quality of life for the residents of Tipton - not just a convenient brick wall." Express & Star April 2006
Birmingham Canalside Apartments - too expensive?
..... But while the much needed redevelopment of the city centre continued at a pace, it appeared that the desire to live in the city centre had began to wane and in the last couple of years developers had struggled to fill their swanky developments.
Indeed if reports are to be believed, in some of the city's more exclusive canal-side developments, residents have been left with up to £50,000 of negative equity before they have even moved in.
B'ham Post 04/06