Our projects - places and green spaces
Places and green spaces are an important part of the East Birmingham Programme.
We are working in partnership with the local community and partners to:
- enhance green and grey spaces across East Birmingham
- support our local retail centres
- encourage improved connectivity
- support community organisations realise their ambitions for their local environment
Projects include:
Urban Green Partnership
A partnership between the council and the National Trust.
This looks to address unequal access to nature, beauty, and history, making East Birmingham a better place to live and work for more people. So far, activity has included:
Green Infrastructure Masterplan
The masterplan has been developed, setting out an ambitious programme of projects to transform East Birmingham. This includes the Cole Valley ‘Green’ Corridor.
Pocket Parks
Pocket Parks is an important part of the City of Nature Plan. It is a joint project with the National Trust, looking at new approaches to manage Birmingham’s green spaces.
It includes community led and community designed improvements to numerous under-used spaces, transforming them into pleasant green areas known as ‘Pocket Parks’.
The project has created 1,716 sqm of regenerated green space and almost £400,000 of direct investment into the sites. Each Pocket Park has a designated community organisation who are responsible for maintaining their park, with support and grant funding from the project.
Watch our East Birmingham Pocket Parks video
Ward End Green Skills Hub
A major part of the EBNS Growth Zone, Ward End is an important area at the heart of East Birmingham.
It is a key area for HS2, hosting the new Washwood Heath Depot and Integrated Control Centre alongside the historic Grade II Ward End Park House.
Projects and activities have created new capacity to develop skills and enterprise using the park as a focal point.
Dolphin Women’s Centre refurbishment
Investment of £3 million to completely transform the building. This has allowed the opening of the Lakeside Café, a social enterprise café, creating:
- employment and training opportunities for local people
- disabled access
- high-quality meeting room space throughout the building
Ward End Park House renovation
Investment of £355,000 through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) for essential repairs to this impressive Grade II listed building.
This has also opened the way for further funding to completely restore the building and redevelop the courtyard area.
Green skills and employment agenda
Building on the ‘New to Nature Scheme’, encouraging people from under-represented backgrounds into the environmental sector.
Local Green Hubs
Such as the St Margaret’s Road area, where smaller local environmental initiatives are connected to create a larger hub.
This is a trial project, and we will look to roll this out further to other parts of East Birmingham.
Green infrastructure improvements
The East Birmingham Programme also leads a number of improvements to local green spaces. This includes:
Enhancing Glebe Farm Park
Securing £165,000 to help connectivity and make the park easier to use, by installing:
- 1,000m of new pathway
- play equipment
- new bins and trees
This has also delivered the first phase of the Glebe Farm Park Masterplan.
Supporting community groups to enhance their local green spaces
Support includes helping groups set up, discuss plans, and gain the permissions they need to make their plans a reality.
Tyseley Strategic Alliance – Green Initiatives
The alliance was established in late 2022 to make Tyseley Birmingham’s ‘Green Energy Innovation Quarter’.
This was recommended by the Tyseley Clean Energy Masterplan for Growth, which established a joined-up vision for the area, co-designed with partners including:
- Tyseley Energy Park
- University of Birmingham
Download the Tyseley Energy Park Masterplan
Projects linked to this include:
River Cole Community Commons
This £1.3 million investment project which has seen many improvements to an area covering 139 hectares, including:
- cleaning the riverside
- natural play equipment
- signage and biodiversity enhancements
Fast Followers
This Innovate UK funded project is supporting local businesses with the transition to net zero. The project has mapped 230 businesses.
Eligible businesses are supported to apply for UKSPF funding, allowing them to develop net zero business plans.
Though originally focusing on Tyseley, the success of this project means that we will be rolling it out to other areas.
National Centre for De-Carbonisation of Heat (NCDH)
The East Birmingham Programme has secured £20 million from the Local Renewal Fund to construct a National Centre for the De-Carbonisation of Heat (NCDH) in Tyseley.
This partnership is led by the University of Birmingham with industry stakeholders, catapults, local government, and colleges.
It will target 1 of the most complex and significant elements to achieving net zero – the decarbonisation of homes.
The new centre will enable the rapid scaling up and development of new heat solutions which are necessary for the UK to meet our carbon reduction targets.
It builds on the role that Tyseley Energy Park has developed in demonstrating low-carbon energy and transport solutions in the West Midlands.
Page last updated: 10 October 2025
