| Description | Minutes of the joint committee of Council and Senate appointed to consider funds for the University of Birmingham under deeds of covenant and a scheme for the development of the University on the Edgbaston site, and of various sub-committees appointed to manage specific aspects of the developments, including fund raising appeals and construction work, together with index book for minutes of the Developments committee. There is a complete set of minutes for the period from 6 July 1942 to 1 December 1954. The index book covers the period from 1942 to 1945. Minutes of fund raising sub-committees date from 1943 to 1945, and minutes of sub-committees dealing with specific building and service development programmes cover the period from 1949 to 1955.
The Developments committee's terms of reference were to make recommendations for planning for the post-war period, both in the development of real estate, and in the expansion of academic departments, endowments for new chairs, and the establishment of new departments. The committee was responsible for discussing plans and for overseeing appeals for funds under the deed of covenant or by direct contributions.
The first meeting of the committee, held on 6 July 1942, refers to a Joint Sites committee which had been appointed to 'consider matters in connection with future developments on the Edgbaston site', and mentions that suggestions raised by the previous Sites committee could also be considered, if necessary. Sites committee mentioned again in minutes 19 March 1943 when it was recommended that Developments committee should take the place of the Sites committee. No records of the Sites committee survive
The Developments committee was reconstituted by Council in 1953, and the first meeting since this change was held on 19 November 1953. W. Byng Kenrick continued to act as chairman, and the other members were Sydney Vernon (Pro-Chancellor), members of Council, the Treasurer, the Vice-Chancellor, academic staff, representatives of Guild of Students, Verner Rees, the architect, and the Secretary. The committee did not meet between 19 November 1953 and 1 December 1954, and had no power to make representations or suggestions to Council.
The Planning and Priorities committee superseded the Capital Buildings Programme committee (see UB/COM/5). Records of the Developments committees are a useful source of information for the study of the evolution of the University of Birmingham's post-war development plans, from their ideological origins influenced by the impact of the Second World War, to their adaption in the immediate post-war period as a result of restrictions on capital building projects, changes in expectations for the future direction of the institution, and limited financial resources |