Commonwealth Games box park scheme still planned

Birmingham City Council has confirmed shipping containers are being moved on to Perry Barr's box park site two years later than planned

A Commonwealth Games project delayed in Birmingham for two years is finally gaining some momentum, according to the city council which has offered an update on the stalled plan to use shipping containers to screen sports events publicly.

The council had originally planned to use 14 shipping containers in Perry Barr during the 2022 Games hosted by the city, with a further 72 to be added after the event concluded.

But plans for the box park - meant to be a temporary fixture making way for new housing - were pushed back in July 2022.

The council said the park was still planned, however, with operators starting to move containers on to the site, with more "due to be manufactured".

The authority had said in 2022 the project would provide "activity and business opportunities" ahead of the area's eventual redevelopment for "much-needed housing".

But it never appeared.

A council spokesperson said the revitalised attraction would now "enhance the quality of life for existing and new residents", with its later opening "more closely" aligning "with the start of the occupation of the new housing".

Elsewhere in Perry Barr, the residential scheme for what was originally intended to be an athletes’ village has been identified as a financial risk in a council report.

"The sales proceeds initially anticipated are unlikely to be achieved in quantum and on time," it stated.

"This will result in an ongoing cost to the council in the form of financing costs to repay the unrecovered amounts."

Earlier this month, the council’s cabinet agreed to retain more than 200 homes within the complex for social housing.

The city council last year declared itself effectively bankrupt amid a huge financial black hole linked to equal pay liabilities and costs associated with a botched upgrade to IT systems.

Despite the warning of financial risk over the village site, council leader John Cotton insists Perry Barr still has a "bright future".

He said at a recent meeting the area had been "utterly transformed as a result of the legacy from the Games".

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.