New hope after hard times

Birmingham leaders put past behind them as they try to woo investors

- JANE HAYNES Political Reporter

A vision of the proposed Martineau Galleries plan as seen from Colmore Row

STRIKING new vision of Birmingham city centre by 2045 has been brought to life in a video designed to entice investors from around the world to back Brum.

Against a thumping rock soundtrack, the CGI video shows how the area around landmark locations in Curzon Street, Cherry Street, Cathedral Square, Martineau Place, Martineau Galleries, High Street, Union Street, Cannon Street and City Arcade will look within two decades if outline and preview proposals become reality, as hoped.

It opens with the words 'Something is Stirring' before viewers are transported along the HS2 line out of London to the centre of Birmingham, the view overlaid with the words 'Birmingham is on the move.

While a rock riff plays, the camera passes Ozzy the Bull grazing alongside the rail tracks before a biplane swoops down to watch HS2 Curzon Street station emerge.

Then we see new buildings spring up around the 'central heart, together creating up to 8,000 new jobs, 5,000 homes and over 400,000 square metres of commercial floorspace.