Eastside regeneration progresses to stimulate new EZ

THE regeneration of Birmingham’s Eastside – a key part of the city centre Enterprise Zone – has begun with the first phase of the new £11m city park.

Featuring formal lawns, public squares, water features and planted gardens, the 6.9 acre Eastside City Park will stretch from the city centre out into Eastside, past Curzon Street Station and Millennium Point.

Funded by Birmingham City Council the £11.77m park adjoins the current development site for the new Birmingham City University (BCU) campus, and has been designed to sit alongside the Government’s proposed High Speed 2 Station.

To facilitate the work, the council has handed over a number of dedicated parking bays within its new £11.8m Eastside multi-storey car park to Millennium Point. The bays are being used as replacements for the car park currently in front of Millennium Point as the land is being used for the park development.

In addition to dedicated spaces for Millennium Point the new car park will also provide more than 500 public car park spaces for future visitors to the park and other developments set for the local area.

Cllr Timothy Huxtable, cabinet member for Transport, Environment and Regeneration, said: “Work beginning on the park clearly demonstrates how we are now moving to the delivery stage of the whole Eastside regeneration programme.

“As outlined in the Big City Plan the park will act as a real catalyst for the development of the whole area, providing not only a great public space but also instilling confidence in developers within the area that we are moving forward with plans at a pace.”

Being developed by Wates Construction, Eastside City Park will feature 400 trees, a canal feature and 25 jet fountains. Feature lighting will run through the park as a mixture of LED and fibre optics provide ambient lighting to welcome visitors into the evening.

Chairman of Millennium Point Trust, Sir Bernard Zissman said: “As Millennium Point celebrates its 10th birthday this year, it is great to also celebrate the launch of the new City Park. The City Park will transform the Eastside of Birmingham, and represents a highly significant development in future plans for the city.”

Development work is expected to take 15 months with the Park due to open in late 2012.