Plans Discussed to Demolish Snobs Nightclub

The future of Birmingham nightclub Snobs has been put in doubt following a recent public meeting to discuss the future of the Ringway centre, where Snobs is based.

As Dudley News report, the news came after the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) attended the meeting held on the 28th February. The Commercial Estates Group (CEG) have launched a planning application to replace it with ‘three giant buildings with around 1,750 flats, a spa, cinema, gym and nightclub’, as Dudley News reports. Mary Keating, who founded Brutiful Birmingham, attended a meeting on Tuesday. She commented ‘We grow up with buildings, we live our lives with buildings, they're part of the way we understand ourselves and the memories we have with our friends, our family, and everything else in the world’. Keating also spoke about the disturbance the proposed plans would cause, claiming that it would cause ‘up to 14 years of disruptions’.

BirminghamMail spoke to CEG representative Nick Jones. Speaking on Snobs' potential future, Jones responded ‘They're a tenant. And the lease is coming to an end. We've had various discussions around whether they should be able to come back in or not, but then this will be a construction site for a number of years. So for them to continue trading would be to find a new location.’ The Ringway centre, located along the Smallbrook Queensway first opened in 1962.

Architect John Christophers at Zero Carbon House, a housing firm which aims to advocate for sustainable development in cities, said that the developments would have ‘marginal economic benefits’ for Birmingham. He went on to say that: ‘In the planning application submitted, there's an economic statement which appears to suggest that the economic viability of the scheme is so marginal it justifies 0% of affordable housing, in contrast to the 35% which has already been mentioned as the as the city's housing policy. I think that speaks for itself.’

There have been conflicting reactions from the community in response to the proposed plans. Robert Kornreich, aged 80, who previously worked as a sociology teacher, said he was "disturbed" by the plans. He commented ‘The way in which the council is not really controlling and enabling the public - they're not even controlling themselves, let alone the public - I mean, it's really quite shocking the dereliction of duty.’ Conversely, Jack Hansen, a 34 year old heritage consultant, said who is interested in the projects is key. Hansen said that ‘I think the building has a lot of interest but I'm quite interested in to whom it's interesting too. It obviously needs a lot of improvements, and I think the alternative scheme shows that there's a viable option.’

Rebrick’s Print and Features Editor Sophie Utteridge commented that ‘it was the first club I went to as a fresher so it would be quite upsetting to see it go if it did’. An anonymous student, who grew up in Birmingham, commented that ‘I personally am sad because its location was so perfect and convenient opposite the train station and didn’t include a trek to Broad Street or Digbeth so hope it doesn’t move too far away…And if they move to an area more dense with clubs it’s prices would probably have to go up and that’s not the charm that Snobs has.’

According to the Snobs website, they describe themselves as a ‘Brummie institution’ and ‘one of the most loved nightclubs in Birmingham’. Snobs have declinded to comment on the matter.

Being Treasurer for Redbrick is certainly not an experience I imagine myself forgetting in a few years’ time. That may be because I’ll still be in contact with the people I met in the society, or because I’ll be using some of the skills that I’ve gained on my journey with Redbrick, but in all honesty I think it’ll be a mixture of both. This is why I have enjoyed my time with Redbrick so much – I’ve been able to do enjoyable work with people that I enjoy being around.

Granted, upon first sight, the role of Treasurer may not seem like the most glamourous position in the world. And I’ll be real: it isn’t. It’s a lot of emails, a lot of data and a lot of paperwork. But who said that a position had to be glamorous in order for it to be engaging? I've learned to tame my inbox, wrangling both email ghosts and over-communicators alike. The data analysis I’ve been able to do has also been very interesting: every month I receive a breakdown of our website performance from Google Analytics so I can figure out exactly why Redbrick is the most fantastic student publication in the country and how we can continue to be so (please note that this claim has not been verified but I expect it’s true given my own experience with the very hard-working peo- ple who are part of this society). Regarding the paperwork: regrettably and perhaps unsurprisingly, it is simply paperwork and there isn't much more to say about it. You just deal with it, nothings perfect. website-related for Redbrick and will sadly miss all things Redbrick next year. When I joined Redbrick almost a year ago, I knew very little about the paper and the people that ran it, but over the past year I’ve gotten to know both very well which I’m extremely grateful for. While at times the role has been frustrating for me and everyone, especially when the website goes down (which I’m almost always responsible for), it has been extremely fulfilling seeing the changes I’ve implemented published for all to see and to help shape the future of Redbrick and its digital presence. Much has changed on the website since I have taken over, changes both visible and behind the scenes, but there is much more to do and there are a few things I’ve been working on that I hope to be able to share with you in the coming weeks. It’s also been great seeing all the different articles published in both print and online, and I want to show my appreciation for all the writers and the work they do as they are the ones that make the website the great place that it is.

But as I said, the work that I’ve been doing has only been half of what being Treasurer has meant to me. The other half is in the people I’ve met. If you’re the Treasurer of Redbrick, you are also part of the committee of Redbrick, and if you are a part of the committee of Redbrick, you’re a part of a tight-knit group of lovely people who get to discover how challenging it may be at times to work with the Guild, whilst still going along for the ride of this extremely fulfilling journey.

It’s not just the committee who I’ve loved getting to know over the past year, but the editors, the other media societies and, of course, the readers. Without you the society would not have any money for me to pretend to know what I’m doing with, so thank you and I hope you keep the paper thriving for years to come!

I’ll still be around next year and I’m excited to see the direction the new committee takes Redbrick, but the rest of this year’s committee won’t be, and I want to thank all of you so much and I wish you all the best in the next part of your lives!

Editor-in-Chief

Dan Hunt editor@redbrickonline.co.uk

Deputy Editors

Isobel Radakovic

Sofia Salazar Studer deputy@redbrickonline.co.uk

Print&Features Editors

Eleanor Bergin

Sophie Utteridge print@redbrickonline.co.uk

Digital Editors

Cara-Louise Scott

Nouria Lambert de Rouvroit digital@redbrickonline.co.uk

Lead Developer

Kirk Mellors developer@redbrickonline.co.uk

Marketing Secretary

Nikhil Handa marketing@redbrickonline.co.uk

Social Secretary

Kylie Clarke social@redbrickonline.co.uk

The end of the academic year is fast approaching and so is the end of my time as Redbrick’s lead developer. I’ve had an amazing time doing everything

News Editors

Anna-Marie Fischer

Kitty Grant

Joshua Herman

Charlie O'Keeffe

Oliver Shaw news@redbrickonline.co.uk

Comment Editors

Weronika Białek

Eva Cahill

Gwydion Elliott

James Konn comment@redbrickonline.co.uk

Culture Editors

Halima Ahad

Charlotte George

Daisy Griffin culture@redbrickonline.co.uk

Music Editors

Bas Bevan

Emma Gardner

Faith Parker

Vicky Wilson music@redbrickonline.co.uk

I want to especially thank Dan for putting up with my constant questions about random things (especially during those first few weeks) and to Cara, whose patience always amazes me when the website stops working! I also want to thank the rest of the committee for being the amazing people that you all are!