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A ground-breaking television studio which once placed Birmingham at the heart of Britain’s broadcasting industry should be re-opened, according to a city MP and mayoral candidate.
The former ATV Centre in Broad Street, Britain’s first purpose-built colour production studios outside London, should be brought back to life to give the city’s creative industries a major boost as the BBC turns its back on the city, said Gisela Stuart (Lab Edgbaston).
She is to meet Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for regeneration, Timothy Huxtable, to discuss the proposal.
The ATV Centre, home of shows such as Tiswas and Crossroads, was such a success following its 1969 opening that it prompted the BBC to build its own major studio in the city, at Pebble Mill.
But Pebble Mill has been demolished, and the site is set to become a dental surgery, while the ATV Centre in Broad Street closed in 1997 and has also been partially demolished.
Now, the BBC is set to downgrade operations in the city by moving production of factual programmes such as Gardeners’ World and the Hairy Bikers to Bristol, while there will also be cuts to radio, current affairs and news operations.
Around 150 jobs will be lost in a move which has been condemned by MPs and the city council, although the BBC insists it remains “committed to Birmingham” and will continue to produce drama such as Doctors and The Archers in the city.
The ATV Centre is due to be fully demolished to make way for the planned 7.6-acre Arena Central development, which has been hit by a series of delays and disappointments.
It was originally set to include 500,000 square feet of office space, high quality shops, a 300-bedroom hotel and up to 1,300 apartments, including 700 in a new 50-storey building.
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However, the number of new homes is to be reduced and bank HSBC, which had been due to occupy the offices, pulled out.
Planning permission for the project was granted back in 2000, and the city council has worked closely with developers Arena Central Developments to get work started, but for now it remains the largest vacant building site in Birmingham city centre.
Ms Stuart said she believed backing Birmingham’s creative industries would bring greater benefits to the city than simply building new hotels, apartments and shops.
A working television studio would also provide an attraction for customers at whatever elements of the Arena Central scheme did go ahead.
She said: “As things stand, ten per cent of Birmingham’s wealth and four per cent of its jobs come from the creative and media sector.
“We need to think seriously about how we are going to support that sector and putting the ATV Centre back to good use is one of the steps we need to takes.”
A new studio would need major refurbishment or rebuilding – including the removal of asbestos which is currently at the site – and the installation of modern technology.
“If you are seriously asking yourself where the future of Birmingham lies and where jobs are going to come from then this is a project we need to look at and see if we can make it work.”
The MP announced earlier this year that she intends to seek the Labour nomination to stand for the post of Birmingham’s mayor, if residents vote “yes” in a referendum in May on whether to create a mayor.
There is a precedent for a local authority backing a studio after Hertsmere Borough Council bought Elstree Studio in Hertfordshire, which it runs through its company Elstree Film Studios Ltd.
The studio is now the stage for TV shows such as who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Big Brother on Channel Five. Oscar-winning picture The King’s Speech was also filmed there.
Also attending the meeting with Ms Stuart and Coun Huxtable will be artist John West, a set designer and draftsman who has worked for the BBC and Pinewood Studios, the Buckinghamshire studio where a number of Bond films were made.
He said: “We have plenty of empty shops and empty office blocks in Birmingham. We don’t need more.
“Film and television studios give a city glamour and status. Without it, you’re just another station on a railway line.”
The blueprint for Birmingham’s studio known as the Big City Plan did not include a single television or movie studio, he said. By contrast, Salford, in Greater Manchester, had created a “media city” including a studio complex housing seven high definition television studios.
“As things stand, Salford is going to wipe Birmingham off the map,” Mr West warned.
Coun Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment and Regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said: “We are keen to explore all options that ensure Birmingham continues to have a strong media presence and there are several proposals on the table at present.
“A number of creative media companies are setting up, or want to set up in the city. We look forward to discussing these at this week’s meeting and during other talks we have scheduled with key players from within the broadcasting industry in the weeks ahead.”