Archive for April, 2011
Birmingham Big Screen Royal Wedding
Patriotic Brummies will be able to watch the wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton live on the Big Screen located in Victoria Square. 
Anita Bhalla from the BBC said: “The BBC Big Screen network is delighted to be bringing comprehensive coverage of the Royal Wedding to the public. The Big Screens platform allows us to provide the public with a wide variety of content with local and national significance, the screens play a vital role in bringing people together to experience and share special moments”.
Coverage of the Royal Wedding on BBC Big Screens across the country will start at 8.00am and run throughout the day.
Birmingham Royal Wedding Celebrations
Patriotic Brummies are getting ready this week to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Official figures reveal that 25 street parties will be held in Birmingham compares to 14 in Dudley, 10 in Wolverhampton and 7 in Walsall . 
Overall figures show that in total 5,500 street closures will occur across the UK.
Many pubs bars and restaurants across Birmingham and the West Midlands region are having Royal Wedding themed events with discounts to those dressed for the occasion.
Many more will be bringing out the bunting in quieter cul-de-sacs where road closure orders are not required.
The prime minister recently clarified the issue when he urged people to hold street parties and not to be worried by red tape.
Mr Cameron said: “Samantha and I will be holding one in Downing Street and bringing together local people and charities.
“It’s incredibly simple. All you need to do is to get in touch with your council if you need to close the road. They’ll let you know if there are any issues.
“My message to everyone who wants to have a street party is: I’m having one and I want you to go ahead and have one too.
“The truth is that this is a great chance for communities to come together and celebrate.
“So go on – bring out the bunting and let’s make this a day to remember. For everyone.”
Minister for health and safety Chris Grayling said: “The royal wedding will be a great national occasion and I want to reassure everyone that they can have street parties with friends and family and bring out the bunting to celebrate in time-honoured British tradition.
Birmingham St George fête
St Georges day celebrations will take place in Birmingham in the heart of the city center. On the 23rd of April, festivities will commence at 11am in Birmingham Victoria and Chamberlain squares.
Events will include morris dancing, music, crafts and free face painting for children.
Melvyn Haigh, festival organiser of the Birmingham St George’s Day Association said, “The Birmingham St George’s Day Association was formed to promote our English culture in the form of music, dance and the many other arts for which our nation can be rightly proud.
“In partnership with Birmingham City Council we have made Birmingham the place to be to celebrate St George’s Day. It’s time to celebrate England at the family friendly festival.”
Enterprise Zone Jobs Bonanza
Ambitious plans to create an enterprise zone in Birmingham could lead to the creation of 50,000 new jobs. Business leaders have predicted that the enterprise zone could raise up to 700 million for the region. 
The plans to create the zone have been set out by Local Enterprise Partnership chairman Andy Street. Businesses will be encouraged to move into the area with the promise of a reduction in taxes for upto 5 years. Its it believed that the enterprise zone will stimulate the local economy and provide much needed jobs for the West Midlands that has been blighted by the effects of the global economic crisis.
The proposed enterprise zone will cover a large parts of the city center including East-side and millennium point.
BIRMINGHAM HS2 FIRST GLIMPSE
Digbeth based architects Glen Howells have revealed a striking vision of Birmingham’s future. Plans to transform the east side area of Birmingham have been sketched out to reveal the dramatic designs for Birmingham’s new transport hub. 
Transport body Centro have announced the image will be part of leaflet campaign to make the case for the new High Speed 2 rail network.
The design shows a modern glass covered station terminating at Curzon Street. Commuters would be whisked to London in a draw dropping 49 minutes cementing Birmingham’s place as the UK’s second city.
Birmingham Science Garden
Birmingham is set to get the UK’s first science garden according to the Welcome Trust. It we be built outside of Think Tank at Birmingham’s Millennium point. 
Scheduled to open in June 2012 visitors will be able to interact with outside exhibits and explore the principles of the word we live in.
Clare Matterson, from the Welcome Trust, said: “Birmingham’s Science Garden will be a permanent public space where children can explore their natural curiosity of science through play. As one of the original founders of Think Tank since its beginnings over a decade ago, we are pleased to support this project and hope that it will encourage more people to step inside and explore the many hands-on exhibits the museum has to offer.”
Work will begin on the site in August 2011 and cost a total of 2.6 million pounds.
Birmingham No1 for Smart phone use
Tech savvy Brummies have put the rest of the country to shame today says a new report into our technology habits. Smartphone usage continues to soar with the biggest rise in data consumption reported in Birmingham. 
Marc Allera from the three mobile network said ” we expect more than 90 per cent of customers to choose a smartphone when they get a new contract.
Stats show that data usage grew in Birmingham by 102 per cent compared to 87 per cent in London.
Birmingham Enterprise Zone
A submission has been made to the government for the creation of an enterprise zone in Birmingham. 
The Chancellor has earmarked Greater Birmingham as one of 21 areas that will benefit from an enterprise zone in his budget speech last month.
The plans were outlined yesterday at Local Enterprise Partnership meeting and include a second phase to create an enterprise belt covering the remaining area of the LEP.
Bridget Blow, chair of Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, said the plans make “a compelling business case for government to grant out proposals for creating both an enterprise zone and belt.”
Birmingham HS2
Businesses in Birmingham and Solihull are ‘overwhelmingly in favor’ of the high speed rail link between London, Birmingham and the north, new research reveals today.
A survey by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce indicates that 72% of Birmingham and Solihull businesses believe that HS2 will open up ‘inward investment, employment and economic prosperity opportunities for the future.’
Birmingham Chamber is a member of the Go-HS2 alliance and fully recognizes HS2’s strategic importance to the West Midlands and the whole country.
Other members include Centro, the region’s transport authority, Birmingham Airport, The NEC Group, Birmingham City Council and Business Birmingham, the city’s inward investment agency.
Christine Braddock, Birmingham Chamber’s president, said:
“Reduced travel times and increased capacity will create new market opportunities, attract inward investment and increase the region’s access to customers.”
Centro said that the survey also revealed that 75%t thought HS2 could have a similar impact here to abroad and that high speed rail operates ‘successfully in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and China.’
The distances between population centres in the UK are ‘roughly comparable to that of other countries that have HSR networks such as Germany, where the most successful high speed service is between Frankfurt and Cologne. The two cities are 110 miles apart – the same distance as between London and Birmingham.’
Dr Braddock added:
“Unemployment in our region is 9.7 per cent so developing sustainable long-term jobs is paramount. We require skilled jobs that won’t disappear, which this region has failed on over the last decade.
“With London benefiting from Crossrail and Thameslink, the business community here in Birmingham is desperate to also benefit from investment in first-class transport links which would no doubt help re-balance the economy.