Students have launched court action that could halt a £120 million campus move and seriously damage Birmingham’s £8 billion Eastside transformation project.
An application has been submitted for a judicial review into the decision to allow Birmingham City University (BCU) to relocate – a scheme campaigners claim will be a hammer blow to one of the region’s most deprived areas.
A group of students, together with local businesses and residents, believe Perry Barr will face a disastrous downturn when the 9,000 people using the current campus move away.
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The university plans to move to a £120 million purpose built campus next to Millennium Point in September 2015, leaving only sports facilities and student accommodation in Perry Barr.
The legal challenge means the move has been thrown into doubt, until judges decide if the council acted lawfully when it made its decision to approve the plans.
If the BCU scheme is halted it will be a severe blow to the Eastside regeneration scheme because the education sector is crucial to its success.
The Eastside Development Framework established the quarter should focus on “learning and leisure” in 2001, and it now forms a major part of the Big City Plan – the over-arching proposals to grow the city and attract jobs and wealth.
The Give Perry Barr A Chance group (GPBAC) believes that Birmingham City Council failed to assess the economic impact of the move on Perry Barr when granting planning permission last year.
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In a letter to the council solicitor Arif Khalfe, who has been commissioned to act on behalf of the group, said: “GPBAC is extremely concerned that this decision was taken without proper consultation of those communities affected by the closure of Perry Barr campus, including students, staff, local businesses and nearby residents.
“These concerns were raised at the planning meeting and in response it was stated that full consultation had taken place. GPBAC contends that this was not the case and this important decision, despite its extensive and long-lasting consequences was taken without sufficiently detailed or extensive consultation.”
He adds that the group challenges whether the council gave full consideration to whether the new campus could adequately accommodate the 9,000 students and staff currently using the Perry Barr site. The group has organised an open public meeting on Friday night at the Redeemed Christian Church of God at Unit 3 Holford Drive, Perry Barr, from 6.45pm to discuss their action.
They argue that not only will the cost of living rise for students as they move closer or commute to the city centre but that many local businesses, including shops and student landlords, will suffer. They also say that BCU could spend a fraction of the £120 million cost of a new campus modernising facilities at Perry Barr.
Group spokesman Jaz Singh, a business student, said: “We are saying that Birmingham is bigger than the city centre. If it wants to be a world class city it needs to do more than concentrate on this small area around the centre.
“The success of the city needs to be more widespread.”
The university’s move is a major part of the ongoing transformation of Eastside and Birmingham’s Big City Plan. An earlier proposal for a BCU campus on Curzon Street was abandoned when the plans for HS2 and a new station was announced.
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A Birmingham City Council spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on any bid for a judicial review that may be brought. However, the establishment of the Birmingham City University campus on Eastside will be a tremendous addition to the city’s learning and technology quarter, helping to attract further investment into Birmingham and providing local people with learning and employment opportunities.”
The university has consistently denied it is abandoning Perry Barr – pointing out that facilities, including the sports centre and student halls, will remain there.
A spokesman said: “Birmingham City University is delivering ambitious proposals as part of our long-term estates strategy that are entirely in-line with the council’s Big City Plan and vision for the Eastside learning quarter.
“Our flagship city centre campus will bring huge benefits to our students, our strategic partners and the city as a whole.
“We will continue to operate from the Perry Campus for some years to come and remain a committed stakeholder within this area. The university has set up a task force of local business and civic leaders and we are working with property experts, the Council and the local community in the development of our proposals for the future use of our Perry Barr site.
“We too are committed to giving ‘Perry Barr A Chance’ and developing options that are in the best interests of the local community, the University and the rest of Birmingham.”