Last week, in an effort to contribute something constructive to the Big City Plan consultation that’s about to begin, I put forward the idea that Digbeth should have 20 buildings painted from top to bottom by artists to put it on the map, nationally and internationally, as a place where art and creativity happens. I cited the old DEP studios and neighbour on Fazeley St and the Custard Factory as great examples of this already in existence. I’d be interested in your opinions (and, if you have any ideas of your own for how Birmingham might develop them, start putting them on your blogs - they will, I’m told, be read and taken on board.)

In the comments on that post local historian and all round good bloke Richard Trengrouse sounded an alarm bell:

The draft conservation strategy for Digbeth is very much against murals or the painting of buildings. In fact it seems to imply that all murals including the one on the FOE gable end and the painted elevations of the Custard Factory should be scrubbed back to the brickwork. This not yet City Council policy but if it is not amended at this stage it could put paid to a lot of interesting developments in the area.

So I went a digging through the council’s websites and after a while came across the page for the Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area which contains a PDF draft document for which the public consultation lasted from October 6th to November 14th. Oops. Must have missed the memo on that one. But it still makes for interesting reading. You can download it here (2.8mb) or read it in this handy embedded box:

Now I’m not expert at reading government documents but a quick search didn’t lead me to anything specific about the Custard Factory needing to be scrubbed down to the original brickwork other than this section under Loss, Attrition and Intrusion on page 34:

9. The bright painted brickwork of the Custard Factory on Heath Mill Lane and Gibb Street dominates views of the Old Crown public house as seen from beyond the conservation area boundary on Deritend High Street.

It’s worth remembering that this document has at its heart the conservation of historic Digbeth which “contains the most significant remnants of mediaeval settlement in Birmingham including the fifteenth century Guildhall of St John (now the Old Crown public house). These early townscape elements are of considerable significance in the history of Birmingham’s development and were of particular importance in the designation of the area.” So this is not so much about the future development of the area as making sure that development doesn’t destroy what is currently there. A similar conflict occurs in the City of London where the Museum of London Archaeology Service works to prevent the destruction of historically significant sites by commercial development. This is valuable and essential work but a balance does need to be struck between the preservation of the past and the move into the future. Devonshire House, a listed building, should rightly not be painted bright purple but does that mean the other buildings shouldn’t be resplendent in yellow, pink, blue and green?

This document is, don’t forget, a draft and not council policy. While the initial consultation has passed you can still contact the Planning Department with any ideas or opinions you may have. And if you decide to blog them leave a link in the comments after this post.

It’s worth pointing out that while I’ve tried to keep this post neutral any opinions you might pick up are my own and don’t represent the Custard Factory management who, for all I know, have been involved with the document from the outset. I provide this information as a service to residents and workers in the area.