Fears that Birmingham Olympic pool plan will cause traffic problems
Residents were able to voice their concerns ahead of the planning application which is expected to be decided before Christmas.
Chairman of the nearby St Marks Estate Resident Group, Michael Jones, said: “We welcome this with open arms, however we do feel that the wrong site has been chosen.
“Parking in the area is terrible already especially when there are events at the NIA. If it was to go ahead it would just make it worse.
“I think the planning committee should have a formal walk around the area to see what we have to endure. Then they would realise that the BALC should be built on another site that would be able to cope with everything that such a magnificent site needs.’’
Earlier this month it was revealed that the construction for the proposed site close to the NIA will not be completed before the London Olympics because the city council cannot find enough money to meet the tight timetable.
Birmingham will host the US track and field team and the Jamaican athletics team, but an attempt to provide facilities for the Chinese swimming squad failed.
In the current proposals it is stated that the multi-million pound investment will be able to provide major international events such as the Commonwealth Games, but local resident Graham Botley said this was simply not the case.
“The prospect of the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham is nil,” he said. “The earliest possible time for the Games to be held here would be 2022 and anyway the facility is not adequate to host an international event. The best we could hope for is a national event, so the proposals need to change because they are misleading.”
