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ZONE RENEWS FUNDING FOR HAMS HALL TRANSPORT LINKS PROJECT

ebns funding towards the Hams Hall Transport Links service (previously Busterwerkenbak) is to be extended until March 2007.

The original ?Busterwerkenbak? project, run by Merlin Venture, was set up to provide a demand responsive bus facility for workers and jobseekers who struggle to reach their employment destinations. It was developed in response to evidence that many Zone residents could not access new job opportunities created by local regeneration due to poor transport links.

Busterwerkenbak was split into the Airport Link and the Hams Hall service when an evaluation of the pilot project suggested that it needed to focus on two main employment sites in order to reduce dead mileage and make the project sustainable after the withdrawal of gap funding. The new structure has enjoyed great success. The Airport Link has now moved beyond the need for Zone funding, and the Hams Hall service is expected to achieve the same status during the next funding period.

The decision to continue funding received AWM approval earlier this month. It will enable Merlin Venture, whose success with Busterwerkenbak was recognised in the Passenger Transport Executive Group?s 2005 Good Practice Guide, to continue their good work in improving employment access within the Zone.

SMALL BUSINESSES SPACE SURVEY

ebns commissioned Thomas Lister to undertake this survey of the supply and demand for small business space in the Zone as part of wider research into the barriers to success faced by emerging local businesses. The wards of the Zone have lower business start-up rates than the UK or Birmingham averages, while those that do succeed rarely achieve the VAT turnover threshold of £58,000.

The survey focused upon small office space below 3, 000 sq ft, aimed at start up and micro businesses. Results indicate that lack of appropriate, affordable space is a problem that could seriously affect the ability of the zone to attract and retain small businesses. While there is more than adequate provision for small industrial/manufacturing units for class B1(c) and B2 use, the supply of space suitable for small businesses in other sectors is inadequate to meet the growing market demand. Sixty per cent of all business space enquiries to Solihull Council in 2004/5 related to the availability of small workspace, while Aston Science Park, an existing cluster for small business space, reports that tenancy enquiries have doubled within the past two years. Demand is highest for space of 300 - 1500 sq. ft.

Rachael Lister, of Thomas Lister Chartered Surveyors, says, ?From discussions with agents, we understand that many small and emerging professional businesses typically locate to the West of the City Centre and that refurbished premises in Edgbaston are a favoured location for such operators. With the redevelopment of Masshouse and Eastside, we believe that there is a significant opportunity to improve the supply of workspace for emerging businesses east of the City Centre.?

The report also considered the requirements of the creative industries, which tend to be drawn to very specific types of space with an inspirational atmosphere, period features, and on and offsite facilities. It suggests that current creative clusters such as the Custard Factory, the Bond, The Arch and new proposals such as the redevelopment of Devonshire House are likely to satisfy demand for the present, but that further development will be needed within the next 3-5 years due to the rapid growth rate of creative industries (6% per annum).

The report recommends further research into the demand for space, and for organisations such as Birmingham Council to set up a system to monitor enquiries in this area. The data supplied by the survey will support the development of Zone?s SIPs, and related projects that are brought to the Zone for funding.

NECHELLS REGENERATION PROJECT ENTERS THE BURA AWARD FOR COMMUNITY REGENERATION

The British Urban Regeneration Awards are set up to reward and promote best practice in Regeneration. Competition guideline state, ?We are always looking for the cutting edge, the extraordinary, projects and schemes that overcome barriers and challenge traditional approaches.? The Nechells Regeneration project, part funded by ebns, epitomises this criteria in its sensitive adaptation of a listed building in a way that is appropriate to the needs of the 21^st century. The project transformed the disused former swimming baths, an iconic but derelict local building, into a community centre that provides a range of services to all ages of residents from newborns to people in their nineties. Since the centre opened in January the uptake has been astounding, with all nursery spaces and many groups currently oversubscribed.

We congratulate the staff of Nechells Regeneration Project on their achievements to date, and wish them every success with the competition.

VIVID WORKS WITH RENOWNED ARTIST RICHARD BILLINGHAM

VIVID?s first artist studio pod, funded by ebns, has been used to produce new work by internationally renowned Black Country artist Richard Billingham. The new pod has enabled VIVID?s production team to work closely with the artist in a professional environment to edit and produce the final work ready for touring. The resulting exhibition, Zoo, began its national tour starting at Compton Verney, a unique award winning gallery set in Warwickshire parkland, in September 2006.

Billingham was initially inspired by childhood visits to Dudley Zoo in the 1970s. In a recent interview with the Times Billingham told how his love of nature provided an escape from his rather turbulent childhood in a Midland?s tower block. He also relates the subject of confinement to his now famous photographs of his alcoholic father during that time of deprivation. Billingham says, ?He was a bit of an animal if I think about it. I thought he was a loser, but I thought: ?well, here is a figure in the interior?.?

Zoo is an exploration of the impact of confined spaces on animal behaviour. It focuses on the psychological space of the zoo enclosure, and captures the complexities of the viewing relationship between captive animals and their public audience.

Billingham was born in Birmingham in 1970 and achieved international recognition after a series of his photographs depicting his family were published in the book Ray?s a Laugh in 1996. In 1997 he won the Citibank Photography Prize and his work was also included in Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection at the Royal Academy. This was followed by the TV film Fishtank, commissioned by Artangel in 1998. Billingham was shortlisted for the Turner Prize at Tate Britain in 2001.

Zoo is showing at Compton Verney until 10 December 2006. Billingham?s acclaimed film Fishtank will also be screened on 30 November at 7pm. For further information and images contact Helen Street at VIVID on 0121 766 1301 or email helen@vivid.org.uk

OTHER ZONE NEWS

An Aladin?s Cave of Hidden Treasures: Open Day- Saturday 28th October, Museum Collections Centre, Nechells

Visitors to the Museum Collections Centre will be given the chance to view hundreds and thousands of objects from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG?s) collection, which are not displayed in the Museum itself. The objects on view in any Museum make up a small part of its full collection, and reserve collections are often stored in small, cramped basements. The Museum Collections Centre on Dollman Street addresses this issue by housing eighty percent of BMAG?s stored collections under one roof. It was created to give the public access to these hidden treasures, and to reveal to visitors the ?behind-the scenes-workings? of Museum life.

Public access to the Museum Collections Centre is currently only available during open days. On 28^th October the Centre?s wealth of objects will be presented as a ?working store? collection, without the standard museum showcases, to create an exciting journey of discovery. Displays will include objects from the city?s science and industry collections, the Birmingham History collections and the applied art collections.

The day will run from 10.00 am - 4.30 pm. A free vintage bus service, organised by Aston Manor Transport Museum, will be available to collect visitors from St Edmund?s Street in the city centre. The first bus will leave at 10.30 am and the last return bus will run at 16.00. For further details, including transport advice, please email julia.kirby@birmingham .gov.uk, or call 0121 303 2836.

The Big Lottery Fund?s Community Buildings Programme.

The Community Buildings Programme is aimed at improving the quality of community life by providing monetary grants to organisations working to create economically, socially and environmentally sustainable building s that are designed to serve a wide range of local residents.

The projects likely to be successful in obtaining funding are those which

• promote community interaction/self help
• improve community relationships and networks
• improve community access to a range of learning opportunities
• improve the skills, knowledge and capacity of organisations to respond to community needs
• provide sustainable buildings that serve the community for a long period of time, but with minimum effects on the environment

Project guidelines state, ?Successful applicants will show that their building will be accessible to as many people as possible, and that the local community will be strongly involved in using/managing the building.?

Applications are invited from voluntary and community organisations, parish councils, or church based faith organisations. The closing date for submission is 30 April 2007. For more information please visit http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

Birmingham Creative Nominated for Woman of the Year Award

Rhonda Wilson, Creative Director of Rhubarb-Rhubarb - The UK's International Festival of the Image, held annually in Birmingham- has been nominated as one of The Women of The Year 2006. Wilson visited Buckingham Palace in July to receive an MBE from the Queen for Photography and International Trade. On Monday 16th October, she joined 400 women from around the world at the Millenium Hotel, Mayfair, for the Women of the Year Lunch and the Annual Awards Ceremony. The lunch is one of the most significant assemblies of women in the world, bringing together ordinary women who have made extraordinary achievements across forty different professions.

The growth of the creative industries has recently moved up the regeneration agenda, and Wilson?s work provides an inspirational success story and a leading light for Birmingham in this area.

She says, "This year has been quite an adventure - mostly taken up with showing the creative talent of Birmingham in international cities, in a range of initiatives and exhibitions related to photography and international trade. It's been brilliant. We've made new partners in a range of countries, and thousands of people in Europe have seen images made by West Midlands photographers, leading to more exhibitions and sales of their work. Next year we're putting our efforts a little closer to home and will bring our new partners together to create projects which involve the local communities, students and international artists, partnered up by regeneration and corporate support.

These accolades awarded to me have made much more possible than anything I could ever have imagined and I'd like to thank everyone who has supported our international and local initiatives.?

Wilson is planning a sale of her own photography in the New Year, contributing to the Acorn Childrens Hospice fund. Details will be posted on www.rhubarb-rhubarb.net, in January.

Wilson is still looking for a venue for the sale, and any offers will be gratefully received.

Rhonda Wilson can be contacted at: rx@rhubarb-rhubarb.net

Thank you for your time.

ebns
www.ebns.co.uk