Tram depot renovation derailed
PLANS to renovate a former tram depot in Birmingham will be resubmitted despite being rejected by city councillors over a lack of parking.
The project would have seen the wholesale renovation of the 102-yearold building in Highgate Road, Sparkbrook, to create a restaurant, banqueting hall and three-storey car park providing 160 spaces.
Members of the city council’s planning committee followed officers’ recommendations at last week’s meeting and knocked back the project on the grounds of vehicle access and parking, its effect on neighbouring residences and the loss of adjoining industrial premises.
But Naveed Ahmed, managing director at Made Architecture which lodged the application on behalf of an unnamed developer, told the Post this was not the end of the road for the scheme and a new application would be lodged which addressed these concerns.
“It was all rather unfortunate as we started the pre-application process in November and there wasn’t anyone from the highways attending these meetings,” he said.
“Planning officers from the council have been sincere and supportive throughout the project and still are supportive of redevelopment in principle.
“But we had no inkling of the concerns that highways were going to raise because they were not raised early enough.
“We didn’t hear about them until some two months after the application was submitted.”
He added: “The developer already runs similar ventures in Manchester, London and Bristol alongside sites in Dubai and the Indian sub-continent and is being supported by an international investor.
“We have meetings lined up with consultants next week to address the issues raised by the planning officers.
“We’ve already had long discussions with the developer and future operator and will look to address the parking and also the capacity of the building to reduce the number of people it can hold.
“We’ll be talking through the issues with great scrutiny. I can’t second guess how long this will take so we’re not sure at this stage when we will be able to resubmit.”
The building, 1913, has been which vacant opened in for several years and has fallen into a state of disrepair with part of the roof missing. The project would also have required the demolition of adjoining premises in Studley Street.
Originally, planning documents suggested the new venue would have created around 50 jobs in an area of high youth unemployment, something committee member Coun Peter Douglas Osborn (Con Weoley) said he was keen to see addressed.
He told the meeting: “What we really want to achieve here is this investment and the jobs that would come with it.
“We have all been told this has support from the city and I think it might need just a little bit of a push to get over these particular problems because that investment is important around there.
“There’s very high youth unemployment and to a certain extent they can’t find work in that area – this would enable them to achieve that so can we push for a development that would be acceptable to the planning department?”
Fellow committee member Coun Gareth Moore (Con Erdington) added: “I do agree with the refusal on these grounds.
“Something needs to be done with the building and I would like to see something brought forward which would bring some investment to this part of Sparkbrook.”