Birmingham Friends of the Earth strongly support the Save Island House campaign to preserve an important historical building and put an end to the environmentally unsound culture of demolishing and starting from scratch, which has been so dominant in the city’s planning over the last few decades.
Campaigns Support Worker, Joe Peacock said:
“Eastside has been decimated already and it’s time that Birmingham learned a lesson that flattening everything and starting again is not always the best way to go about making places better. We really should not allow one of the last buildings of note there to go, too.
“This is a very usable building and we see no reason why there can’t be an inventive short-term use of it while consultations are ongoing over what will happen to that area of town and plans are drawn up.
Even though the HS2 station is likely to be very close, there is no reason why this beautiful building can’t be incorporated into the plans if they do go ahead. We would like to see the council working together with the owners who are legally obliged to retain and renovate it to find the best way to do this.
“If they are really concerned about sustainability, they should consider reusing the building as the best solution, not knocking it down.”
There will be a demonstration outside the building tomorrow to demonstrate the strength of feeling for saving this precious building and members of Birmingham Friends of the Earth will be there in support.
