Abbey
Stadium
Presentation to Planning Enquiry
11 November
2005.
I moved to Redditch
in 1986 to take up a post as a teacher at
Arrow Vale High School
in Redditch. I
still live here and my children currently attend local
schools.
I became a Councillor on Redditch Borough
Council in 1990? And was elected to Parliament to represent
Redditch in
1997.
I have lived in
Redditch for 19 years and during all that time I have been in
contact with young people of the Town, been a user of local
services, met with groups representing all sorts of interests and
have been involved in several major local planning
issues.
I hope that my
experience has given me a grounding in some of the issues before
the Inquiry and I hope that you find my statement helpful as you
consider the matter.
History
of provision
Less than two years after I was elected
to Parliament in 1997 Redditch’s only
cinema, the ABC on Unicorn Hill, shut. It had
been a three screen set up that had been in need of refurbishment
for many years. I went there on occasions and it
wasn’t that good to be honest. So in March 1999
it shut. It was nearly two years before it re
opened – this time as bar.
At
the time I held meetings with young people who wanted to find other
uses for the building and look for other opportunities to entertain
themselves now their cinema had shut. However
things just got worse. The Mega bowl, a stand
alone bowling alley in a converted retail shed in
Redditch, shut at the end of
2000.
In
my view these two facilities failed because they were under
invested in, too small and they were stand alone
ventures. There weren’t enough reasons for
people to make the journey to the Mega Bowl site, there wasn’t a
broad enough choice of films at the cinema and it smelt and looked
bad too.
When
I take my family to the pictures now we travel to
Great Park in
Rubery. There there are is the modern set up
that seems to provide a sustainable future for cinema and bowling
across the Country. Redditch
has never come close to such a scheme on one site
before. And of course the project promises to be
much broader in the opportunities it offers to people in my
constituency for leisure. I think that it will
have a sustainable future within Redditch
and I will come back to the public reaction
later. However, I think that the scheme has a
regional significance that any development squeezed in at a Town
Centre site can’t deliver.
For
instance, the swimming pool. At present
Redditch has two pools one shared with a local
school that is 20 metres long, quite modern but often crowded and
is a simple design. The second pool dates from
1930s and underwent a rather unfortunate refurbishment in the
1970’s that it is now left with. I have never
liked it, its dark, smelly, and very
boring. Redditch
desperately needs new swimming facilities.
The Abbey Stadium development brings a 25 m competition pool plus a
teaching pool plus a leisure pool. There is no
prospect of such a scheme being delivered by the “market” in the
town centre. If Redditch is unable to secure the
new pools then those who wish to compete in swimming will still
have to go to the nearest appropriate pool in
Wolverhampton.
The Abbey
stadium development will also secure the expansion of tennis
facilities in our Town to be of regional
significance. I understand that the Lawn Tennis
Association are making a presentation to you on their
plans. Once again there is no prospect of these
improvements being delivered by the market in isolation and
certainly no prospect of them being built in the Town
Centre.
I
am delighted with the plans to have a larger more flexible sports
hall on the site. In
Redditch we have three other sports halls - all
shared with local schools. They are all about
the same size and design. I think that the new
hall will bring add another dimension to our
sporting facilities – again not one that can be put in the Town
Centre – not one that can be afforded by the local authorities
working on their own.
The snow
facilities will allow people to access not just ski ing but snow
boarding and other sports. These “extreme”
sports are the sports that my children look to often for their role
models – much more than in the past. My hero was
Bobby Moore! What I am saying is that these are
sports that are engaging with young people and that is important
when we are all trying to get them to leave their couches and do
some exercise. There is no prospect of the Snow
dome being built in the Town Centre.
I am
delighted that the Borough Council have agreed to fund the by pass
serving the scheme. There will be dual
carriageway links to the M42 junction 2 and Junction
3.
There was a major
campaign to get this by pass built several years
ago. Now it will be built.
The Town Centre activity has really picked up in recent years but
that didn’t deliver this much needed by pass.
This scheme does.
Jobs
and the Economy
The Abbey Stadium Development will bring
customers and their money directly to the Abbey Stadium project and
to Redditch’s local
economy. Apart from the direct support for jobs
created in the scheme I am sure that more people will go on from
enjoying themselves at the Abbey Stadium to try out the Kingfisher
Shopping Centre, our parks and restaurants in the
area.
Advantage
West midlands think that the Abbey Stadium will bring a different
segment of tourism into Worcestershire. It
is certainly going to be of regional significance and it will
help Redditch build on its increasingly
positive image.
The
employment and training aspects of the Abbey Stadium project are
very important to me.
Redditch has the highest unemployment rate in
Worcestershire at around 3.3%. Some areas of the
Town like the two wards adjacent to the Development have much
higher unemployment. Batchley has 5.2% and Abbey
4.2%.
We need, as
a Town, to make the most of our people and providing them with more
opportunities for work and training on their doorstep can only be
good. It will be good for the individuals
involved but it will be good for our wider economy
too. More people in work means more tax paid,
more support for local services, healthier and happier people, more
spending in our local shops and so on.
I
am pleased to see the prospect of extra hotel provision for
Redditch. Being just 25
minutes away from the centre of Birmingham
or the NEC and with such good links to the motorway
network Redditch is certainly well placed
to tap into that market. But with hotels
linked to things like a top class cinema, swimming facilities, the
snowdome, tennis and bowling a visitor to one of our hotels is much
more likely to remember us than if they visit
now.
This
project that will create around a 1000 jobs and related training
opportunities. It will really help
Redditch diversify its
economy. At present 30% of the workforce work in
the manufacturing sector. (Adv West Mids) .
There was a Rover effect earlier this year and I don’t want to see
jobs in our town so focussed on one sector …. One that is always
under pressure.
I am aware
that the Kingfisher Centre owners have some concerns about this
development. I have to say that I have had very
good working relationships with the managers of the Centre over the
years.
The
major development at the Centre in recent years has been the
purchase of the old market square from the Borough Council and the
construction of the new Debenhams Department Store and the new Bus
Station. The two developments took place at the
same time. And both have been very
welcome additions to the Kingfisher Centre. But
no other significant development has taken place since
then.
Throughout
the planning and development stage for the Kingfisher expansion
references were made to a cinema project.
Following the closure of the ABC cinema this was a significant
political interest to me and I raised it often at my meetings with
managers over the years. I am afraid to say
that, as an obvious statement of fact – no cinema has been built,
and that situation remains unsatisfactory for my
constituents.
I
raised the issue of the Abbey Stadium development with Thornfield
managers last year setting out my support for the scheme and asking
about their plans. I told them last year and I
remain hopeful that they will be able to satisfy themselves that a
successful scheme at the Abbey Stadium will be a benefit – not a
threat – to their
business.
I
have been aware of massive public support
for the Abbey Stadium development. I carry out a
lot of surveys in Redditch asking what
people want from me, the government and for their local
area. I have thousands of letters from
constituents each year. I can count on one hand
the number of objections I have received to this
scheme.
It is not
as if I have hidden away from supporting the Abbey Stadium
development. My Parliamentary Report of 2003/4
included a statement of support for the scheme and was sent to
every household. In March 2004 I wrote in
support of the scheme’s inclusion in local Plan No3 and this was
covered in the local press and on my website.
Whenever people
have written to me on the matter I have always championed the
scheme.
My
support for the development of the Abbey Stadium was one of five
pledges on local services that I made in the last general
election. The pledge appeared on thousands of
leaflets and in the local
papers.
I
have, I hope, a reputation in Redditch
for taking up local campaigns. I am
involved in opposing hospital service changes, fought against the
development of an animal incinerator, the Studley By pass and
others. In all these cases thousands of letters
are sent to me and many oppose or question my support for one
position or another. I can say that in this case
- despite my well known support for the scheme, despite being known
as an MP involved in local issues - very very few objections to the
Abbey Stadium have ever come my
way.
I hope that
you allow this project to go forward.
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