Although information is sketchy it appears that Birmingham City University wants to close the Bournville campus and to relocate the arts and design courses. Instead the building will be used to run courses for foreign students preparing for other university courses.

The two buildings affected would be Ruskin Hall on Linden Road which has always been the original School of Arts and the Maple Road building which at one time was used to educate Cadbury employees.

These colleges were built by George Cadbury who was passionately committed to the education of his workforce and the residents of Bournville.

Bournville has always been at the forefront of architectural design. The Bournville Village was built in the Arts and Craft style, a famous design style that originated and flourished in England during the second half of the nineteenth century. Ruskin Hall was the first public building to be opened in Bournville in 1903 and aimed to promote the style as an art college.

The university web site describes the Bournville campus as  ‘a beautiful, extensively refurbished environment with a 100-year pedigree’ and yet the university intends to shamefully discard all of this art and craft history and instead use the buildings to run courses preparing foreign students for other courses within their university program.

This information was released by the university in a very suspect and low key way over the Christmas period which is why we still do not have a clear picture.

There has been absolutely no consultation with any of the 3 Bournville councillors about this development and we are outraged that the University can even consider closing these colleges.

In a city that still has ambitions to be a leading design and manufacturing centre the notion that we should close such a prestigious art and design college is unthinkable.

The 3 Bournville councillors call upon the University to think again and to reverse their plans to vandalise this historic campus.