Entire 60s council estate now set for regeneration
Major plans to demolish tower blocks and build new homes
AN entire 1960s Birmingham council estate is to be regenerated in the latest bid to ‘level up’ the run-down area.
The city’s cabinet has rubberstamped a proposal to kickstart development in neglected parts of the Druids Heath estate.
Parts of the estate, on the southern tip of Birmingham, have already been earmarked for development.
In 2018, the council agreed on a scheme to 250 build homes.
The plan was to see 370 low-rise properties and 13 tower blocks demolished but partly stalled.
In 2021, following requests from Druids Heath residents, Birmingham councillors agreed to initiate a more comprehensive regeneration, with the east of the estate being approved as phase one.
The clearance of obsolete housing began in 2020 with the demolition of 50 homes in Heath House.
In total, 250 homes across five tower blocks have been earmarked for demolition.
Saxelby, Kingswood and Barratts House are also vacant, with the demolition of these buildings expected to start in April. Residents of Hillcroft House also currently being rehoused.
Cllr Julien Pritchard (Green) said: “The council obviously needs to listen to and work with the whole community to redevelop Druids Heath in the way residents want and need.
“It never made sense to do the plan for only part of Druids Heath.
“We need to see progress and momentum, and reassurance Druids Heath hasn’t yet again been forgotten. We still don’t know when most of the new housing will be built, or when residents will see improvements.”
City leader Cllr Ian Ward said: “We’ve changed our plans as a response to what we have heard from the community in Druids Heath.
‘‘There is an ongoing dispute about whether it was right to bring forward a strategy for the whole of the area, or whether what we should have been doing was ploughing on with some demolition and rebuilding before we had that strategy in place.”
In December 2021 the cabinet agreed on a wider plan for the estate that would be delivered in two phases, with the remaining areas also regenerated.
It will see the redevelopment of the
area to the south of Bells Lane. The regeneration area would also be extended to cover the open space of the Chinn Brook Valley and Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.
Druids Heath has also been promised a community hub which will include a new community centre, youth club, sports pavilion, library and commercial space but as of yet the funding has not been secured and a start date is yet to be announced.