Birmingham Wheels site to close after year-long row

A Birmingham leisure park is due to close on Sunday after a year-long row.

Birmingham Wheels operates on council-owned land in Bordesley Green, however the authority wants to develop it.

As a sporting facility, it is afforded extra protection under national and local planning rules, and campaigners said they would continue to fight the plans.

Birmingham City Council said it had been working with the tenants to find alternative accommodation.

It said the site was part of the Bordesley Park Area Action Plan which would "help create thousands of jobs and reset the economy in east Birmingham".

The council has received £17m from the government's Levelling Up Fund to press ahead with its plans.

Birmingham Wheels is home to a number of sports clubs, from racing to speed skating and the site itself has hosted sporting events for more than 40 years.

"This [facility] is the best thing that ever happened to this area," said Ruth Fry, who runs the speed skating.

"If this goes we will lose everything. The community will lose the best facility in the UK."

In February, one of the tenants, stock car race organiser Incarace, pulled out of Birmingham Wheels after failing to agree terms on a new lease.

At the time, the eight tenants were told development plans had been put back by a year while a replacement site was found.

Despite closing on Sunday, the Friends of Birmingham Wheels group hopes to find a way to improve the local area without losing the sports facility.

"Birmingham Wheels is a wonderful asset," Mark Bond, from the group, said. "It has a wonderful outreach programme and it really is a very special place."

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