Photo opportunity: Chunks of Masshouse Circus in R.I.P display case with Sale sign, at The Warehouse, Allison St, Digbeth – or by Masshouse demolition site. Phone Birmingham FOE on 0121 632 6909 to make arrangements.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth are selling pieces of Masshouse Circus this week to commemorate the end of Birmingham's Concrete Collar.
The campaign group will be selling a few chunks of the road, donated anonymously, at their environmental centre The Warehouse in Allison Street, Digbeth.
Karen Leach from Birmingham Friends of the Earth said, "People can have their own symbol to keep forever of this historic moment. Like the Berlin Wall, Masshouse Circus was a symbol of outdated thinking, and a divisive barrier cutting people off from one side of the city. We welcome its demise."
The destruction of the 1970s concrete collar is at last a sign that the city is beginning to put people, not cars, at the heart of its planning and transport strategies.
Now the city needs to prioritise public transport, cycling and walking, and to minimise the need for transport of people and goods by sensible planning: – putting facilities near the people that use them. The city should also take part in international Car Free Day on 22nd September to give people a taste of the benefits of a car free city.
Birmingham FOE also welcome the fact that the demolished road structure will be reused in construction of the new streets, thus saving natural resources and their unnecessary transport.
Donations received for chunks of the concrete collar will go towards Birmingham FOE' s campaign funds.
"This is just the beginning" Ms Leach continued, "In a few years we hope to be selling pieces of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road"
ENDS
