Lee Bank
Encyclopedia
Lee Bank is an inner city
area of Birmingham
, England
. It is part of the Edgbaston
and Ladywood
wards, inside the Middle Ring Road
, near to the centre of Birmingham. Together with the Woodview, Benmore, Five Ways
and The Sentinels
estates, it now forms the area Attwood Green.
Lee Bank's neighbouring areas are Edgbaston
, Ladywood
, Highgate
and Balsall Heath
.
Nearby is the former site of Matthew Boulton College before it moved to the Eastside
, and a new development called Opal One consisting of student housing.
Famous people that have lived on the estate include the former pop duo Hot 'N' Juicy, who achieved fame when their song, Horny
, was remixed by Mousse T.
.
back-to-back slum housing
. Unlike most industrial cities of the time these properties took the form of 3 and 4 storey courtyard based housing (with several families sharing one house). In the early 1930s, the notion of slum clearances had become popular in the country, however, clearing Lee Bank was delayed until after World War II
.
During World War II, Lee Bank was also the victim of night bombing raids
by the Luftwaffe
. Grant Street, for example, was heavily damaged by a raid on November 19, 1940. The raid resulted in the demolition of 80 houses and a further 200 requiring reparations, as well as the death of five people.
. It was named the Bath Row Redevelopment Area, and in 1948, the Birmingham Public Works Department produced a painting exhibiting their vision for the site. It consisted of numerous tower blocks in a Swedish-style mixed-use development, bounded by a ring road with fly-overs. Clearing of the estate did not begin until the 1950s when the Middle Ring Road was being developed. This required the destruction and realignment of Lee Bank Road.
About a quarter of the estate was designed in 1960 as a single unit by the then City Architect
A.G. Sheppard Fidler. These consisted of 6-8 storey, brick built structures, however, when landscape architect
Mary Mitchell was appointed to help in the design, 20 storey tower blocks were introduced. The Lee Bank project was approved in stages between 1963 and 1967. It consisted of four 20 storey tower block
s, containing 464 flats, and one 12 storey tower block.
The area was constructed in the early to late 1960s into a large council estate with a mixture of housing and high and low rise flats. George Wimpey
were commissioned by the council to design and construct the 20-storey tower blocks, as negotiated as part of a contract with A.G. Sheppard Fidler
, the city architect for Birmingham. Charlecote Tower was topped out
in February 1965, the first of the tower blocks to do so. By this time, A.G. Sheppard Fidler had walked out. Charlecote Tower was completed in 1965 and was followed by Chatsworth Tower and Packwood House in 1966. In 1967, Haddon Tower was completed, and in 1968, Longleat Tower was completed. Packwood House was the only 12 storey tower block on the estate.
The first multi-storey housing blocks to be completed were Avon, Nash and Lansdown House. They were originally not part of the Bath Row development, however, they were incorporated into the estate in later years. They were built in the 1950s, before most of the estate had been cleared and prepared for regeneration . They are named after the River Avon
flowing through Bath, Beau Nash
the master of ceremonies in Bath and Lansdown Hill in Bath, respectively.
The next group of tower blocks to be built were the Middleway row blocks; Audleigh, Chiswick, Faraday and Hogarth House. These were built in the early 1960s.
Lee Bank Primary School was opened in 1967 by Princess Alexandra, The Hon Mrs Angus Ogilvy
. In later years it was renamed Woodview Primary School.
The estate was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II
. It was also visited by the Queen Mother
on an official royal visit
. In the visit, she toured the three Y-blocks; Nash, Avon and Lansdown House. Together with a number of social housing estates near the city centre, it formed the Centre Estates group.
There were also social problems. Anti-social behaviour was common on the estate, and there were many problems with drugs
and crime
. The suicide
rate was 5 times the average for Birmingham and there were health problems too with half of the children on the estate suffering from asthma
.
The area became known as a new slum
in the 1990s, which was emphasised by local resident, Steve Austin, who achieved the area significant press attention when he covered a billboard on
the edge of the estate with a poster reading "Welcome to Lee Bank, Birmingham’s Slum Quarter". Demonstrations were also held on rooftops and outside Birmingham Council House
, with the slogans; "Reclaim Lee Bank". One of the most widely publicised demonstrations coincided with the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
which was being held in the city. In the demonstration, protesters scaled Birmingham Town Hall
to highlight their living conditions.
In 1999, the 2,800 properties and substantial land holdings were transferred from Birmingham City Council to Optima Community Housing Association. The housing association also received four other estates and together formed the area of Attwood Green. They produced a master plan with the aim of redeveloping the Attwood Green area and in doing this, Attwood Green was split into five phases, one phase for each estate. Lee Bank was designated phase 1.
Optima began to work with Birmingham City Council to produce the best solution to redeveloping the Lee Bank estate. They decided that the site should be completely cleared to make way for a new housing development. They secured a grant from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund from the government to proceed with the regeneration project. Crest Nicholson
entered a partnership with Optima to develop the new housing for the tenants who lived in the area.
The project was named Park Central
, and is to include two public parks with low rise housing. The first stage of redevelopment was clearance of the site. Longleat Tower was demolished along with its sister tower, Charlecote Tower, using controlled explosions in 2000 to signal the start the Park Central development. Chatsworth Tower was demolished in October 2002 by a controlled explosion and Haddon Tower was demolished on 23 July 2006, the last of the 20 storey tower blocks to be demolished. They were all demolished by Coleman & Company Ltd.
Seven tower blocks in total were refurbished. A row of four overlooking the Middleway called Audleigh, Chiswick, Faraday and Hogarth House were refurbished early in the development. A group of three shorter tower blocks known as Avon, Lansdown and Nash House were also refurbished.
The name Lee Bank is now no longer used for the area. Park Central is currently under construction with many properties already available for purchase/ rent.
Optima won the 2005 Deputy Prime Minister's Award for Sustainable Communities for its work as a community led housing operator, run by specialists, politicians and residents.
, which forms the Middle Ring Road. The section that runs along the side of Park Central is known as Lee Bank Middleway. Belgrave Junction marks the corner of the estate where the Middle Ring Road meets the A441
. The nearest train station
is Five Ways railway station
.
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
area of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is part of the Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
and Ladywood
Ladywood
Ladywood is an inner-city area in Birmingham, England. It is a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Ladywood ward and the wards of Aston, Nechells and Soho. In June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a city-wide "Ward Boundary...
wards, inside the Middle Ring Road
A4540 road
The A4540 is a Ring Road in Birmingham, England, also known as the Middle Ring Road, or the Middleway. There are proposals to make it a red route. It runs around the centre of the city at a distance of approximately . Birmingham City Centre is the area within this ring road. The ring road was...
, near to the centre of Birmingham. Together with the Woodview, Benmore, Five Ways
Five Ways, Birmingham
Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. It takes its name from a major road junction, now a busy roundabout to the south-west of the city centre which lies at the outward end of Broad Street, where the Birmingham Middle ring road crosses the start of the A456 .-History:The name of Five Ways...
and The Sentinels
The Sentinels
The Sentinels are two 90 metre tall residential tower blocks on Holloway Head in Birmingham, England. The two towers, called Clydesdale Tower and Cleveland Tower, are both 31 storeys tall and were part of a major regeneration scheme following World War II which consisted of the construction of...
estates, it now forms the area Attwood Green.
Lee Bank's neighbouring areas are Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, Ladywood
Ladywood
Ladywood is an inner-city area in Birmingham, England. It is a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Ladywood ward and the wards of Aston, Nechells and Soho. In June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a city-wide "Ward Boundary...
, Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
and Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath is a working class, inner-city area of Birmingham, England. It is home to a diverse cultural mix of people and the location of the Balti Triangle.-History:...
.
Nearby is the former site of Matthew Boulton College before it moved to the Eastside
Eastside, Birmingham
Eastside is a district of Birmingham City Centre, England currently undergoing a major redevelopment project. The overall cost when completed is expected to be £6–8 billion over a period of ten years which will result in the creation of 12,000 jobs. 8,000 jobs are expected to be created during the...
, and a new development called Opal One consisting of student housing.
Famous people that have lived on the estate include the former pop duo Hot 'N' Juicy, who achieved fame when their song, Horny
Horny (song)
"Horny" is a house song by producer Mousse T. and pop duo Hot 'n' Juicy, which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998.The single entered the UK chart at number three on 6 June 1998, peaking one place higher the following week and staying on the chart for 17 weeks...
, was remixed by Mousse T.
Mousse T.
Mousse T. is a German DJ and record producer of Turkish descent. He is best known for his collaboration with Tom Jones, "Sex Bomb", released on the album Reload.-Biography:...
.
Victorian era to World War II
Historically, the area consisted of VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
back-to-back slum housing
Back-to-back houses
Usually of low quality and high density, they were built for working class people and because three of the four walls of the house were shared with other buildings and therefore contained no doors or windows, back-to-back houses were notoriously ill-lit and poorly ventilated and sanitation was of...
. Unlike most industrial cities of the time these properties took the form of 3 and 4 storey courtyard based housing (with several families sharing one house). In the early 1930s, the notion of slum clearances had become popular in the country, however, clearing Lee Bank was delayed until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
During World War II, Lee Bank was also the victim of night bombing raids
Birmingham Blitz
The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe of the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, beginning on 9 August 1940 and ending on 23 April 1943...
by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. Grant Street, for example, was heavily damaged by a raid on November 19, 1940. The raid resulted in the demolition of 80 houses and a further 200 requiring reparations, as well as the death of five people.
Post-World War II redevelopment
After World War II, Lee Bank was designated as one of five redevelopment areas, which meant that regeneration of the area was encouraged by Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
. It was named the Bath Row Redevelopment Area, and in 1948, the Birmingham Public Works Department produced a painting exhibiting their vision for the site. It consisted of numerous tower blocks in a Swedish-style mixed-use development, bounded by a ring road with fly-overs. Clearing of the estate did not begin until the 1950s when the Middle Ring Road was being developed. This required the destruction and realignment of Lee Bank Road.
About a quarter of the estate was designed in 1960 as a single unit by the then City Architect
City Architect of Birmingham
The City Architect of Birmingham was a high-ranking position within the Public Works department of Birmingham City Council and provided the holder with a lot of power in the planning decisions of Birmingham, especially in the post-war period in which Birmingham underwent enormous regeneration...
A.G. Sheppard Fidler. These consisted of 6-8 storey, brick built structures, however, when landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
Mary Mitchell was appointed to help in the design, 20 storey tower blocks were introduced. The Lee Bank project was approved in stages between 1963 and 1967. It consisted of four 20 storey tower block
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
s, containing 464 flats, and one 12 storey tower block.
The area was constructed in the early to late 1960s into a large council estate with a mixture of housing and high and low rise flats. George Wimpey
George Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
were commissioned by the council to design and construct the 20-storey tower blocks, as negotiated as part of a contract with A.G. Sheppard Fidler
Alwyn Sheppard Fidler
Alwyn Gwilyn Sheppard Fidler CBE was a Welsh architect and town planner who was chief architect for the new town of Crawley from 1947 to 1952 and City Architect of Birmingham from 1952 to 1964....
, the city architect for Birmingham. Charlecote Tower was topped out
Topping out
In building construction, topping out is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure, or an intermediate point, such as when the roof is dried in...
in February 1965, the first of the tower blocks to do so. By this time, A.G. Sheppard Fidler had walked out. Charlecote Tower was completed in 1965 and was followed by Chatsworth Tower and Packwood House in 1966. In 1967, Haddon Tower was completed, and in 1968, Longleat Tower was completed. Packwood House was the only 12 storey tower block on the estate.
The first multi-storey housing blocks to be completed were Avon, Nash and Lansdown House. They were originally not part of the Bath Row development, however, they were incorporated into the estate in later years. They were built in the 1950s, before most of the estate had been cleared and prepared for regeneration . They are named after the River Avon
River Avon, Bristol
The River Avon is an English river in the south west of the country. To distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in Britain, this river is often also known as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon...
flowing through Bath, Beau Nash
Beau Nash
Beau Nash , born Richard Nash, was a celebrated dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century Britain. He is best remembered as the Master of Ceremonies at the spa town of Bath.- Biography :...
the master of ceremonies in Bath and Lansdown Hill in Bath, respectively.
The next group of tower blocks to be built were the Middleway row blocks; Audleigh, Chiswick, Faraday and Hogarth House. These were built in the early 1960s.
Lee Bank Primary School was opened in 1967 by Princess Alexandra, The Hon Mrs Angus Ogilvy
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy
Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy is the youngest granddaughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and Mary of Teck. She is the widow of Sir Angus Ogilvy...
. In later years it was renamed Woodview Primary School.
The estate was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. It was also visited by the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
on an official royal visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
. In the visit, she toured the three Y-blocks; Nash, Avon and Lansdown House. Together with a number of social housing estates near the city centre, it formed the Centre Estates group.
Deterioration
Chronic underinvestment from the mid-1980s onwards led to considerable tenant based demonstrations. The area deteriorated following a lack of maintenance. Many homes suffered from damp, and residents only got repairs from the council when they took them to court. However, repairs were still unreliable as new windows were often faulty.There were also social problems. Anti-social behaviour was common on the estate, and there were many problems with drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
and crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. The suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
rate was 5 times the average for Birmingham and there were health problems too with half of the children on the estate suffering from asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
.
The area became known as a new slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
in the 1990s, which was emphasised by local resident, Steve Austin, who achieved the area significant press attention when he covered a billboard on
the edge of the estate with a poster reading "Welcome to Lee Bank, Birmingham’s Slum Quarter". Demonstrations were also held on rooftops and outside Birmingham Council House
Council House, Birmingham
Birmingham City Council House in Birmingham, England is the home of Birmingham City Council. It provides office accommodation for both employed council officers, including the Chief Executive, and elected council members, plus the council chamber, Lord Mayor's Suite, committee rooms and a large and...
, with the slogans; "Reclaim Lee Bank". One of the most widely publicised demonstrations coincided with the Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The presenters were Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson...
which was being held in the city. In the demonstration, protesters scaled Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
to highlight their living conditions.
Regeneration
In the late 1990s, officials from Birmingham City Council contacted residents to gather opinions and ideas into how to produce economic and social benefits for the estate in the future. In 1998, 62.1% of residents voted in favour of transferring the estate to an independent, charitable landlord.In 1999, the 2,800 properties and substantial land holdings were transferred from Birmingham City Council to Optima Community Housing Association. The housing association also received four other estates and together formed the area of Attwood Green. They produced a master plan with the aim of redeveloping the Attwood Green area and in doing this, Attwood Green was split into five phases, one phase for each estate. Lee Bank was designated phase 1.
Optima began to work with Birmingham City Council to produce the best solution to redeveloping the Lee Bank estate. They decided that the site should be completely cleared to make way for a new housing development. They secured a grant from the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund from the government to proceed with the regeneration project. Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson is a British housebuilding company based in Chertsey, Surrey.-History:The Company was founded by Bryan Skinner in 1963 as Crest Homes and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1968. One of the characteristics that differentiated Crest from most other housebuilders of the time was...
entered a partnership with Optima to develop the new housing for the tenants who lived in the area.
The project was named Park Central
Park Central
Park Central is a large development under construction on the outskirts of Birmingham city centre in England.The Lee Bank area on which Park Central is located, had become rundown over time and required redevelopment. As a result, Crest Nicholson decided to develop the area with new mid and high...
, and is to include two public parks with low rise housing. The first stage of redevelopment was clearance of the site. Longleat Tower was demolished along with its sister tower, Charlecote Tower, using controlled explosions in 2000 to signal the start the Park Central development. Chatsworth Tower was demolished in October 2002 by a controlled explosion and Haddon Tower was demolished on 23 July 2006, the last of the 20 storey tower blocks to be demolished. They were all demolished by Coleman & Company Ltd.
Seven tower blocks in total were refurbished. A row of four overlooking the Middleway called Audleigh, Chiswick, Faraday and Hogarth House were refurbished early in the development. A group of three shorter tower blocks known as Avon, Lansdown and Nash House were also refurbished.
The name Lee Bank is now no longer used for the area. Park Central is currently under construction with many properties already available for purchase/ rent.
Optima won the 2005 Deputy Prime Minister's Award for Sustainable Communities for its work as a community led housing operator, run by specialists, politicians and residents.
Transport
The area is bounded by the A4540A4540 road
The A4540 is a Ring Road in Birmingham, England, also known as the Middle Ring Road, or the Middleway. There are proposals to make it a red route. It runs around the centre of the city at a distance of approximately . Birmingham City Centre is the area within this ring road. The ring road was...
, which forms the Middle Ring Road. The section that runs along the side of Park Central is known as Lee Bank Middleway. Belgrave Junction marks the corner of the estate where the Middle Ring Road meets the A441
A441 road
A441 is an A-road in England which runs from central Birmingham to Cookhill, Worcestershire.-History:Once one of the main routes between Evesham, Redditch and Birmingham, the A441 has now largely been superseded by A435 which has been upgraded to the East...
. The nearest train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
is Five Ways railway station
Five Ways railway station
Five Ways railway station is a railway station serving Five Ways and Lee Bank in Birmingham. It is situated on the Redditch-Birmingham New Street-Lichfield Cross-City Line.-History:...
.