Pictured: back row l-r, Julian Price - Morgan Sindall, Cllr
Les Lawrence - Birmingham City Council, Mark Batchelor - St.
Modwen. Front row l-r, Andrew Bilbrough age 16, Kerri Webley
age 17 and Kimberley Algar age 15 - all from the myplace Young
People's Forum who have been involved with the planning for the new
youth centre
St. Modwen has appointed Morgan Sindall to construct Birmingham
City Council's new 'myplace' centre at Longbridge. The construction
contract for the three-storey building is valued at £5
million.
Construction work is now underway and the flagship youth centre
is scheduled to open in summer 2012. The 17,000 sq ft 'myplace'
centre will provide a wide range of innovative and much-needed
services to 13 -19 year olds in the Longbridge area. Located off
Longbridge Lane, 'myplace' is the first youth centre to be
constructed in Birmingham for over five years.
Mark Batchelor, construction manager for St. Modwen said:
"Longbridge is a hub of activity with the new Bournville College
nearing completion, 115 houses and apartments being constructed at
the Park View scheme, 'myplace' now underway, and we are also
working towards construction work commencing on the new £70m
Longbridge town centre.
"Within the range of facilities that we are creating at
Longbridge, it is tremendous that a flagship youth centre for
Birmingham is part of the mix. Many teenagers are not aware of the
collapse of MG Rover nearly a decade ago and simply see Longbridge
as a place of significant development activity and new
opportunities, which is a great vote of confidence for what we are
delivering here."
The development of the new youth centre has been made possible
through a council-secured grant from the Government's myplace
programme, which is funded through the Department of Education and
administered through the BIG Lottery scheme, to invest in
state-of-the-art facilities for young people across the
UK.
Councillor Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children, young
people and families for Birmingham City Council, said: "The
'myplace' centre will address the lack of dedicated facilities for
young people in south west Birmingham and it will be a fantastic
focal point of activities for local 13 - 19 year olds. The location
of the site was chosen for its proximity to the new £66
million Bournville College campus, Longbridge train station and the
site for the new town centre development, maximising accessibility
and opportunity."
Julian Price, area manager at Morgan Sindall said: "Longbridge
is a transformational regeneration project and we're delighted to
be constructing this exciting new youth centre. We have a strong
relationship with St. Modwen and Birmingham City Council and we are
looking forward to working with them again on such an important
project for the area.
"'myplace' will make a positive difference to the lives of young
people living in the local area and there is a huge amount of
enthusiasm for the project from all involved."
The 'myplace' facility will play an important part in the
long-term social, cultural and economic improvement of Longbridge,
as there is currently no statutory youth provision. Providing a
safe and welcoming environment, the centre will give young people
the opportunity to participate in a range of activities and
enterprise programmes, with the space to socialise and enjoy new
learning experiences in preparation for their future. In turn, it
is envisaged that this will have a positive impact on the ongoing
growth and future prosperity of the area.
The building will feature multi-functional rooms, performing
arts space, sports hall and conference rooms. It will also
include an ICT suite, music and media centre, workshop area,
outdoor multi-use games area, café and garden. The new
centre has been designed to meet a BREEAM 'Very Good' rating.
The facilities will support a range of sporting activities,
creative and performing arts, active citizenship and volunteering,
youth business, social enterprise, guidance counselling (such as
health services), education, training and career advice. Based in
the centre there will be a team of professionally qualified Youth
Workers who will deliver the range of services to young people. The
voluntary sector will be key partners in the delivery of the
services. The partners currently include Catch 22, Birmingham YMCA,
Worth Unlimited, West Midlands Police and Birmingham Federation of
Clubs for Young People.
The 'myplace' centre funding was achieved by Birmingham City
Council Youth Service, which has created a Young People's Forum to
ensure young people's views have been central to the development of
the new youth centre. The Forum has brought together
representatives from local schools and was created to progress the
design plans and engender a sense of ownership from the outset. It
will be aligned to Birmingham Youth Service development plan,
Birmingham Children and Young People's plan, Local Area Agreement
indicators both for children and young people, and the Northfield
Constituency Strategic Partnership. The regeneration of
Longbridge is a £1 billion project covering 468 acres and
aspires to a total jobs target of 10,000 for the whole development
through a diverse range of industries, together with a 2,000 new
homes, a new town centre for Longbridge with a range of retail,
leisure and public facilities and new parks and public open spaces.