Regarding your article on the threat to nightlife in Digbeth from proposals by the Midlands Rail Hub Alliance (‘It brings soul into this sterile world’: the Birmingham clubbers fighting to save their patch – and Britain’s nightlife, 3 November), as someone who spends a lot of time in this district of Birmingham, I think it’s also worth recognising that it is getting major investment, turning it into an area you want to visit and even live in.
There are new TV and film studios, street refurbishments, residential flats, a new tram route and better bus services. Access to the area is increasing. The new tram route – wholesale street redesigns, but mothballed until connecting tracks can be laid across HS2’s Curzon Street site – has been particularly painful during construction and has spurred mistrust from businesses.
The Midlands Rail Hub Alliance recently came forward with early and heavy-handed designs for a project half a century in the making. The proposals demolished too many buildings, many of which are currently leased from Network Rail. Naturally, business owners want certainty about their premises’ future, which is hard to guarantee early on, and we would complain if proposals were too advanced to change.
The project is transformational for rail travel within Birmingham and beyond. It means no longer being constrained by capacity at New Street station. One standout benefit is returning the cross‑city line, one of the busiest rail commuter lines outside London, to 10-minute frequency.
Network Rail mismanaged its stakeholder engagement approach, with some businesses finding out via X. However, my observation is that they are being listened to. Birmingham city council set out conditions for the scheme that formalised the concerns expressed by businesses and the mayor recently took political oversight of one the main organisations promoting the rail hub. We now need to take a breath and wait for fresh designs at the next consultation.
Martin Price-Phillips
Birmingham
Digbeth has always been home to fascinating units and great nights out but, unless on National Express coaches, it has never been easy to get to. During Covid we were told that access would be simplified with the new Digbeth tramline. After six years of construction and temporary traffic lights, the tram has still not made it to Digbeth. By the time it opens, it seems the tram will only take you to see the remaining interesting sites being demolished to accelerate train line updates. What Digbeth really needs is a joined-up approach to urban planning to ensure any future decisions do not undo the progress of past successes.
Harry Shaw
Cradley Heath, West Midlands
Of course Digbeth cannot be demolished! For about 200 years this area has been Birmingham’s mecca for many styles of music and its genres have moved with the times.
The London museum music hall, created in Victorian times, and the Digbeth civic hall, where the 1960s folk scene flourished and popular bands from the Cure to the B-52s performed, are just two examples. The Irish centre celebrated 50 years of traditional tunes, and a terrace house in a street called Cheapside gave birth to classics like Girls on Film and Rio. These are a few of the venues where music has been enjoyed and created in this historical industrial hub, situated next to the city centre. All have all contributed to international successes and have put Birmingham on the musical map.
At the moment Digbeth is celebrating a fabulous party scene and in time it will evolve again and produce another kind of venue that will be culturally driven and call people to celebrate en masse in an area where music is truly rooted. A transport hub does not fit the remit.
Janette Brown
Castet-Arrouy, France
