Planners send £10m plaza revamp back to square one Councillors criticise ‘cluttered’ Centenary Square proposals
THE £10 million revamp of Birmingham’s famous Centenary Square has been put on ice following scathing criticism from city councillors.
A network of 43 lighting columns were described as obstructive and overbearing, while proposals to alter the Hall of Memory called unnecessary.
There were also fears a new fountain feature would end up neglected and broken like the infamous ‘Floozie in Jacuzzi’.
Councillor Gareth Moore (Cons, Erdington) said: “It’s just a few trees, over-sized street lights and a paddling pool. That’s all it is for £10.4 million, I’ve seen more interesting dishwater. It seems very cluttered, very claustrophobic.”
Committee members could not understand how the square, with so many large lighting columns, would accommodate large outdoor events, the big wheel, concerts and the annual ice rink, or the large lorries and cranes needed to set them up.
Councillor Barry Henley (Lab, Brandwood) said there was little to gain from the work and that, left alone, it would feel more like a square once the ‘elegant’ new HSBC office was completed over the road.
“It does strike me as a waste of money and a pointless exercise. We’d be better off employing a block paving contractor to level it out,” he added.
There were also concerns about the loss of a historic London Plane tree installed in Broad Street in 1876 and the impact of the Metro tram extension over the next three years.
Such was the weight of criticism
It does strike me as a waste of money... We’d be better off employing a block paving contractor to level it out Coun Barry Henley