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COUNCIL SAYS "SHHH" TO LIBRARY ENQUIRIES

13-10-2007

Birmingham Council finally unveiled plans yesterday for its new £193 million library incorporating the Rep Theatre - but The Stirrer has discovered that key financial details of the new development will be kept secret until AFTER the scheme has been "rubber stamped" by the city's cabinet.

Alan Clawley, who is campaigning for the preservation of the existing 1973 library designed by John Madin, made a request under Freedom Of Information to see the business case for the new scheme drawn up by the consultants Capita Symonds.

His bid was rejected because the Council reckon it's in the public interest to keep the sums hidden from their own citizens.

In a letter to Clawley, the Information Commissioner explains that "it has been recognised that there will be a detriment to the public if the information is released at this stage as there is substantial investment in this project, and therefore the appropriate time to release this information is following on from the Cabinet meeting which is to consider this matter."

So the citizens of Birmingham can't get crucial information about a major project in the heart of the city centre which will impact not only on Centenary Square (the site of the new library) but also on Paradise Circus where presumably the existing one will be demolished and replaced by offices.

In other words, we will only find out how our money is being spent AFTER the cabinet has decided that it's going to spend it.

It makes you wonder what they've got to hide, because on the face of it, the new scheme has plenty going for it.

The proposal involves linking up the new library with the Rep Theatre and creating a shared entrance area, as well as restaurants and other facilities.

Although the Rep will have to shut for period, when it re-opens in 2013 there'll be a new medium sized auditorium added as part of the project, bridging the gap between the theatre's main house and the studio-sized Door.

Council leader Mike Whitby argues that "by linking with The Rep we can create a new centre for learning and culture and complete the development of Centenary Square, at the heart of the City Centre."

He may be right. But there are questions to be asked about the suitability of plans to build part of the library underground as well as the proposed seven storeys above ground level.

There's also the issue of whether the Council has fulfilled a basic duty of care to its citizens by seriously examining whether the existing building could have been revamped instead.

Most important of all, we simply don't know how the entire project is going to be funded and whether the sums add up. Silence may be appropriate in a library - but it's surely not the best way to handle a major public project like this one.

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