Council's big screen dream

Tramps, hoodlums and the various other categories of loiterer who clutter both Chamberlain and Victoria Square in central Birmingham must be bracing themselves for the return of their BBC Big Screen television that was removed from Chamberlain Square eight months ago.

The screen has been remounted in Victoria Square due to the nearby Waterloo House office block obtaining an injunction for noise disturbance and planning irregularities, but having spent £365,000 on the colossus Birmingham City Council were not about to give it up as a bad idea.

Far from ditching the screen, it has been reported today that the council will be building an ‘acoustic barrier’ at an undisclosed cost to ensure that office workers can work in peace whilst new arrivals to the country can be treated to the delights of Doctors, al fresco.

The council have insisted that the screen has a vital role, stating that it is the “key to our future development and status as a forward-thinking global city”. Eh? Now that’s an awful lot of emphasis to place on the presence of a big TV outside the council…

Of course, at the root of this is that Birmingham City Council are preoccupied with what the city looks like, rather than what it does and who it serves. They seem to think that if they pack enough screens and tall buildings (another obsession) into the centre and cross their fingers, it will eventually morph into New York. They seem to overlook that the aesthetic of somewhere like NY is purely a bi-product of what it does.

When you really consider the function of a big screen of Birmingham, it’s actually very difficult to pinpoint any particular benefit at all (aside from the benefit to those who don’t have a TV at home, or indeed a home).

In New York’s Time Square a screen might be used to advertise or to relate international news to tourists and workers from the four corners of the earth, acting almost like a sort of global mirror, whereas in Birmingham it plays Midlands Today to those visiting the Bullring from Dudley. If anything it only serves to magnify the more local and provincial nature of our city, something that Birmingham City Council seem to be ashamed of. 

Even if the council have good intentions, today’s Birmingham Post told of a £600,000 bill for the screen by 2012, a large amount of money that surely could have been put to much more constructive use?

Victoria Square is undoubtedly the jewel in central Birmingham’s crown, regularly surprising first-time visitors who have previously thought of the city as an urban concrete jungle. That Birmingham City Council would want to attract attention away from the magnificent council house building and the newly refurbished town hall with a ‘flashy’ oversized TV really does beggar belief.

Big screens are a great idea for sporting or music events during the summer, but having one as a permanent all-year-round fixture just isn’t necessary. If Birmingham wants to make an impact as a global city then the council are going to need residents on board, and when they’re wasting our money on frills like this that seems increasingly unlikely.

Comments

[Christine Melsom, Isitfair]

Do you know when this 'big' screen was originally installed?

[Hardeep _Singh]

When the ideas run out (tried and failed) you embark on the next act of lunacy such as this giant TV screen. Do they not realise that almost everyone walking past this screen has a mobile phone capable of accessing any snippet of news at anytime? Further with all the "we're holier than thou" green sermons being handed down to all and sundry just how much electricty will this TV require? Bad planning I think it was more a case of absent planning.

As with New York, Singpaore, Tokyo, etc I agree it's a by product of what the city or region does and not just a "dress up" and pretend tea party that the council clearly thinks it is. Councils need to realise that they're not there to win a popularity competition and few if anyone is going to take note of you so just get the job done and the essentials addressed. After all our society is awash with unsung heroes but the councils up and down the country are desperate to be loved. Lower the taxes and spend wisely, I sure people may not necessarily love you for it but they might have few gripes with the public sector.

[Andrew Conner]

We already have a big screen in Hull and it has caused no end of controversy mainly down to how much it cost, how much its upkeep is, and the fact the council just decided to put it up without much consultation. No one pays the blindest bit of notice to it as you walk by and the sound is just an irritation.