The £12 million project is part of Birmingham’s plans to “modernise” the city’s waste management services.
It will see the existing “dated and inadequate” Montague Street and Redfern Road depots brought together to form a single ‘super’ facility, comprising a vehicle workshop and a two-storey office block.
The council sold the Montague Street site to affordable housing body Homes England in March 2020 and plans to sell the Redfern Road site.
Repairs, maintenance, and MOT servicing of the council’s fleet will be undertaken at the new depot, as well as MOTs on vehicles owned by the public.
The depot will also contain training facilities and serve as a base for crews to operate from.
The development of the depot follows Birmingham investing £7.2 million in street scene services last year, which saw the council roll out a fleet of ‘mobile’ household waste and recycling centres among a range of other projects to reduce fly-tipping (see letsrecycle.com story).
Construction
When the plans were unveiled last October, the council said the depot could be operational “as soon as mid-September 2022”.
However, it is thought the pandemic may have delayed the project, though no new timeline has yet been published.
Once operational, the facility will be furnished with a mixture of new equipment and “surplus items” from the former council building at 1 Lancaster Circus.
‘Cleaner, greener streets’
Cllr John O’Shea, Birmingham city council cabinet member for street scene and parks, said: “We recently announced that we are investing £7 million into our frontline services to meet a top priority for the people of Birmingham – cleaner, greener streets.
The effort our staff put in means they deserve first-class facilities to provide a first-class service
- Cllr John O’Shea
“The project shows our commitment to our employees, who work hard all year round to provide one of the few truly universal services the council offers.
“The effort our staff put in means they deserve first-class facilities to provide a first-class service and this scheme will help us do that.”
Framework
Morgan Sindall was awarded the contract to build the depot through the Constructing West Midlands (CWM) framework.
Established to deliver cost and time savings in procurement across the West Midlands, the framework is a collaboration between Solihull metropolitan borough council, Sandwell metropolitan borough council, and Acivico Limited.
A building services consultancy wholly owned by Birmingham city council, Acivico has been appointed to handle project management and some design services on behalf of the council.
Under its own contract, Morgan Sindall will carry out all construction work on the depot, including building offices, ablution blocks, garages, and workshops.
Dave Kelly, CWM framework manager at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “Cleaner, greener streets are integral to sustainable communities. Birmingham city council’s strategy in this area is progressive, ambitious and will make a real difference to the people living, working, and playing in the city region.
“We’re proud to be delivering this key facility to support the agenda and to be doing so through the Constructing West Midlands framework.”
Morgan Sindall has worked with Birmingham city council for the past decade via the CWM framework.
Birmingham
Representing an estimated population of more than 1.1 million, Birmingham city council had a household waste recycling rate of 22.5% in the 2020/21 financial year, one of the lowest in the country.
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