New land sales could net £9m for council

Thirteen more sites across Birmingham are set to be sold as part of efforts to reduce pressure on the city council's budget.

They include a former school site, Oscott Manor, as well as community centres, car parks, depots and youth centres considered surplus to the council's needs.

A cabinet committee will be asked on Wednesday to approve the sales, which the authority believes could generate £6m to £9m.

Some would be sold to existing tenants, while others are to be disposed of on the open market.

The sales are part of Labour-run Birmingham City Council's efforts to put its finances in order after issuing a section 114 notice in 2023, effectively declaring bankruptcy.

The council had already announced £56m of asset sales in the first part of 2024.

Sites like the Castle Bromwich Waste Depot, Centre of the Earth in Hockley and Highfield Hall community centre will be subject to negotiations with the organisations currently operating them.

But nine pieces of land are set to be put up for auction or tender.

Among them is the Malcolm Locker Youth Centre in Erdington.

The area's Conservative councillors, Robert Alden and Gareth Moore, have asked for the centre to be taken off the list to give local groups an opportunity to take it over.

They also questioned the proposed sale of a car park in their ward.

Moore said: "There is high demand for parking around the High Street and so the loss of Machin Road car park would be detrimental, especially if it was to be lost and redeveloped."

The local councillor for the old Oscott Manor building, Darius Sandhu, said it should be retained as a site for education: "Given the council's need for a SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) school, this site would be perfect, rather than the green space at Burford Road Playing Fields."

However, the report to councillors said the proposed sales would have benefits beyond the cash raised, cutting the cost of running and maintaining the buildings and offering "opportunities for inward investment and development within the city".

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