Public report on Paradise work is ‘too little, too late’

BIRMINGHAM City Council has been accused of not treating its citizens with the “respect they deserve” over a report on the Paradise Circus developments.

The council’s cabinet met on Tuesday to discuss a range of issues, including the HS2 development, but just 12 hours before the meeting, a further item on the Paradise Circus works was added to the agenda without the prior knowledge of many councillors.

But the public report, entitled ‘Paradise Circus Update’, gave very little detail over just a page and a half. Most of the new information on the development was included in a private report instead.

Tory group leader Councillor Robert Alden, criticised the lateness of the report and the lack of public information.

“I think it’s very disappointing the way this report has come forward,” he told Council Leader Ian Ward. “It’s another late report, emailed out at 8.31pm last night.”

He added: “I also think it is incredibly disappointing how much is in private, on the report. Frankly from the public report it’s impossible to tell what’s actually being discussed, there is so little information on it.

“And I’m sure people will be sur- prised that publicly available information such as the fact the council has handed over control of the enterprise zone to the LEP, which was in The Times and the LEP’s own public documents, is missing from this report.

“There’s no mention that the Paradise redevelopment is overspent by £100 million, that’s been in the Birmingham Mail and The Times, so again is public information and yet is not in the public background information for this report.

“The council has confirmed to the Birmingham Mail that more funding is being sought, but that’s not included in the report. And indeed the Birmingham Mail reported that the council had specifically asked the LEP for more funding, but that’s not in the public report either.”

But Cllr Ward said that the decision did need to be taken in private, rather than in the public section of the meeting, due to commercially sensitive information.

He did, however, accept more information could have been made available to the public.

The Paradise development will deliver offices, bars, restaurants and a four-star 250-bedroom hotel on the old Central Library site.

Last month, the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership confirmed further funding had been sought by the council.