You may have recently seen a feature in the Birmingham Mail under the headline “Bournville No Longer Dry as Newsagent gains Booze Licence”. This feature concerns a licence to sell alcohol granted on 29th September by Birmingham City Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee to allow a Newsagent’s shop in Mary Vale Road to sell alcohol from its premises.
The feature is seeking to make a clear connection between George Cadbury’s Bournville Estate and the premises at Mary Vale Road which now have a licence to sell alcohol.
We wish to make it clear – The two are NOT linked in any way. The premises in question lies well beyond the Estate boundary and ironically beyond the Bournville Social Club which is also off the Estate.
George Cadbury set up Bournville Village Trust in 1900 to develop, manage and maintain the Bournville Estate which he endowed to the BVT. It was indeed his wish that there should be no off-licences or pubs on the Bournville Estate. The fact remains, here in 2015, that there are still no such establishments here on the Estate.
This hopefully puts the record straight.
Peter Roach
Chief Executive, Bournville Village Trust.