| AdminHistory | In May 1972, the Council brought together the Parks, Baths, Libraries and Museum Committees to form one, amalgamated Leisure Services Committee. This new, all-encompassing committee comprised seventeen members of the City Council, exclusive of the Lord Mayor. The functions of the new committee were simply those of the old committees that it replaced; basically it was to take control the libraries and museums (including Aston Hall, Weoley Castle, Blakesley Hall and Sarehole Mill), the baths, cemeteries and parks of the Corporation, to administer their financial and staffing resources, provide public entertainments and facilities within, as well as maintain historical and archaeological collections (including archaeological excavations) and flora and fauna in the city parks and nature centre. The departments were not merged as such, in order to allow each to report separately to the main committee. The committee itself met twice a month.
The committee helped preside over the Council involvement in the ‘Tree Planting Year’ in 1973, when school children and others planted swathes of young trees in parks and on other Council land, such as on housing estates. The committee continued to preside over the Science Museum rebuilding work and the conversion of the Birmingham Zoo into the Birmingham Nature Centre. It was under this committee that the new Central Library was opened in January 1974. The committee continued to provide and expand the parks and leisure centre facilities, appropriating more land for sporting and recreational use, such as the planning of the swimming baths and sports centre at Castle Vale and the provision of a playground in Hockley in 1973. The committee continued to encourage parkland displays and events, such as bonfires, or special events such as the Tulip Festival in Cannon Hill Park in 1974. |