[Billsmothers]

Restoring the grass at Centenary Square would be great.

But we know that's not going to happen, don't we?

Also the voids at Navigation Street should all be filled in and grassed over and become the permanent home if the German Markets.

Unhappily the voids at each end of New Street Station are here to stay as they are needed to ventilate it. Even more so now the transport secretary has decided that diesel trains are as good as, if not better than, electric trains.

 

[Billsmothers]

Currently the use of diesel trains in New Street Station makes the filling of the void impossible due to ventilation issues at the station but with central governments changing stance on diesel engines and the announcement of a complete ban on petrol and diesel engines by 2040 you would expect government to lead by example and come up with a plan to phase out the diesel train fleet in the not too distant future.

Unfortunately, in response to Network Rail's disastrous cost overruns on Great Western electrification. the Government has changed its stance in the opposite direction. According to gormless Grayling, diesel trains are now better than electric trains. So the dream of a diesel fume-free New Street has receded into the unforeseeable future.

 

[Billsmothers]

I don't think that the pavements along Corporation Street have the space to incorporate trees successfully.

They incorporated large trees successfully for 20 years, at a time when the street was also full of buses.

I think this idea of turfing Corporation Street is very odd and would raise serious maintenance issues. Like TJF, I don't see why they could not reintroduce a few trees: in fact, I originally assumed this was what was going to happen.