Region needs to make more noise

DEAR Editor, The campaign to encourage the BBC to reinvest in Birmingham and the Midlands region after many years of neglect continues.

The pitching process is also under way for those cities keen to impress Channel 4 management with their credentials to be one of the locations for three regional hubs.

It is of concern that both of these issues seem to have gone rather quiet in our region.

People should be standing up and shouting loudly in an effort to make the BBC come to the conclusion Birmingham is the right place to reinvest after years of neglect.

It is still a battle to get our national broadcasting service to acknowledge the damage it has done to the city and region that was once the jewel in the crown of the BBC outside of London.

As far as Channel 4 is concerned it is already evident our ‘friends’ in the national press are already starting the drip- drip process of promoting certain Northern cities as their favoured localities for the three regional hubs.

So far Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds appear to be the favoured contenders according to the London-based media.

Their support for these cities is probably based on nothing more than usual prejudices and has nothing to do with any measured and logical argument.

If we fail to rise to the challenge now we will repent at our leisure.

Don’t sit back expecting other people in other regions to support our cause.

Make sure the decision-makers in London know it is not acceptable to be treated as being second best just because of their tired and predictable prejudices. David Emson, Belbroughton, Worcestershire