I was disappointed to find out by pure chance that the site and building known locally as the Queensbridge Depot had again been listed by the council for disposal by auction on December 11th, 2024.
The site, which is located on Queensbridge Road next to Queensbridge School has appeared on the disposal lists several times over the years.
It was advertised for disposal in 2018 and removed after considerable representations were made by various community organisations and councillors for Moseley and Kings Heath and a substantial petition against the site’s disposal was presented.
It appeared again on the disposal list in 2020 and I, alongside former Cllr Martin Straker-Welds, supported attempts to get it listed as an Asset of Community Value, however the application failed due to the nomination being unable to demonstrate use of the asset by the community.
I also supported other organisations, including Queensbridge School, to explore options to take over the site and bring the buildings back into use utilising external funding from Sports England. We continued to lobby the then leader of the Council, Ian Ward and despite the school being unable to progress their wish to secure the site, we were successful in again removing it from the disposal list in 2021.
Following a meeting with officers last week, at which councillors called for a longer timeline before any potential disposal, this has now been confirmed with the site being taken out of the current auction cycle. will be established to allow for interested parties to come forward and progress discussions about its future use and that councillors will be kept informed during the process.
After meeting with officers and calling for a longer timeline before any potential disposal (originally on auction site for the 11th Dec) to allow time for interested parties to come forward and progress discussions about the future use of the site. This has now been confirmed and the site has been removed from the current auction cycle.
Given the scale of the financial challenges that the Council faces, this may only be a temporary reprieve for the site but that said, it will allow for organisations wishing to explore options the chance to make informed decisions about the possibilities of taking over the site and the process that may be needed to do so. Anyone wishing to find out more information about this should contact me via email at [email protected].
