Major regeneration plans approved for Birmingham City Centre

Major Birmingham Smithfield plans have today been given the green light after a key amendment was made to the enormous project.

The ‘once in a generation’ scheme was previously deferred amid concern over the size of the proposed Smithfield Park but those behind the project committed to making it bigger in response.

The huge development is set to transform the former Birmingham wholesale markets near the Bullring shopping centre into an iconic new destination with residential buildings and cultural spaces.

It could also boast a pub/bar, market, theatre/cinema, park, retail, office space and more.

Proposals for what the Smithfield could provide have sparked hope that it could boost Birmingham’s international standing and become a landmark area for the city.

In May this year however, concerns over public open space meant the Smithfield plans were deferred at a planning committee meeting.

Both the proposed Smithfield Park and Manor Square were two areas of particular discussion among councillors at the time.

“It’s critical we get Smithfield right and so much of what is proposed is really good,” Cllr Lee Marsham said during May’s meeting. “I think it just needs a slight tweak or two.”

Smithfield Park

A council officer’s report, published prior to today’s planning meeting at Birmingham City Council, said the applicant had committed to a 23 per cent increase in the minimum size of Smithfield Park following previous concerns.

“This is considered by officers to be a meaningful increase in public open space that addresses comments made by members with regards to the size of Smithfield Park,” the report stated.

Cllr Martin Brooks, chair of the planning committee, acknowledged the proposal which was before them “doesn’t meet some of the aspirations that people had in terms of what can be achieved” from the Smithfield development.

“In many ways, that’s what happens when we get a planning application where we’ve got all kinds of competing demands,” he continued. “We’ve got demands for residential, the requirement for a new market hall, elements of public open space and park land.

“Given that the Smithfield Park is part of the outline planning application, not a full planning application, we should at least ensure that those elements are actually brought back to committee when it goes to final planning permission.”

Councillor Yvonne Mosquito was optimistic about the project and said the increase in the park size should not be dismissed.

“This is an opportunity, in my view, to transform an area of the city that I have represented since 1996,” she continued.

“It’s also about generating jobs for local people who are struggling.”

“No, it doesn’t do everything we wanted,” Cllr David Barrie added. “Yes, we want more space for Pride, they have withdrawn their rejection.

“We have achieved a significant increase in public open space so I think the officers have got the most out of this particular one so I’m happy to support it.”

A previous report, published prior to the meeting in May, described the Smithfield project as a “very dense city centre proposal”.

“Therefore providing open space requirements on this character of development would make the proposal unviable, as much of the site would be open space and not developable,” it said.

Manor Square

There had previously been concerns over the scheme regarding the size of Manor Square and its ability to be used for events such as Pride.

Focusing on the public square, the new report published ahead of today’s meeting stated that it could host events of “varying scales” whilst also functioning for everyday use.

“The applicant provided an indicative event capacity study, which shows an indicative 6,900 people capacity event,” it said. “This information shows that Manor Square is of sufficient space to accommodate large scale public events whilst also being flexible in the nature and scale of events that could be programmed throughout the year.

“In addition, the space is well designed to function well when temporary events are not occupying the space”.

Rhiannon Hill, principal development planning officer, told the meeting today that Birmingham Pride had removed their objection to the proposal.

She said they had stated that following discussions with Lendlease, the group behind the proposals, they were satisfied the short-term future of Birmingham Pride was secured.

She also said that Pride has said that Lendlease would work with them to accommodate the event where possible throughout the development phases.

According to the report, the benefits the development could bring to the city include the creation of new jobs, further investment in the area, housing, a new public square and publicly accessible open space.

It adds that Smithfield Park, along with Manor Square, Market Square and other pedestrianised spaces, ensures a “well-connected, permeable development made up of interconnected high quality spaces for public use”.

Lendlease announcement

Questions were raised last month as Lendlease announced it would be stepping back from UK construction.

In May, it revealed major restructure plans which would see development and construction become ‘Australia only’.

According to a strategy document, Lendlease plans an “orderly capital release” from overseas development projects in the UK and US while trying to maximise value and preserve key stakeholder relationships.

A spokesperson for Lendlease told the Local Democracy Reporting service in May: “We’re working hard on securing a planning consent to regenerate this 17-hectare site in the heart of the city and look forward to presenting our application again in the near future.”

Speaking to Estates Gazette, European chief executive Andrea Ruckstuhi also said Lendlease would keep pushing the Smithfield scheme to a “value stage”, making it an investible project for capital to come in on.

“We are not stepping away from any of our projects in Europe,” he said.

“It is not about stopping. Looking forward we will be more focused on capital recycling and on how we take historical capital in the project out and how we align with third-party capital to find a solution for projects.”