Plans for Calthorpe Estates’ £110m Edgbaston Galleries mixed-use development in Birmingham have stalled after city planners rejected designs for a proposed Morrisons superstore calling it “awful.”
Morrisons had submitted a planning application for a 52,000 sq ft supermarket – which is to be the retail anchor for the scheme – plus 11,000 sq ft of offices and standalone retail space at the site located on the north eastern fringe of Birmingham city centre.
The food retailer had worked closely with Calthorpe Estates on the project, for which it had hoped would start work on site later this year.
But planning cabinet members refused to grant consent to the proposals, describing the design as uninspiring and deemed it not good enough for the important gateway entrance into the city centre.
Committee member councillor Bob Beauchamp said: “This is a pretty poor show for a site that sits on one of the major routes into the city.
“It is just awful in comparison with the buildings that surround it and is a sub-standard design as far as I am concerned.”
The city council received 26 written objections to the scheme from local people and organisations.
Morrisons will now look to revise the plans and will resubmit a revised planning application in due course.
If the store goes ahead, the scheme could kick-start work on the remainder of the 420,000 sq ft, £110m Edgbaston Galleries redevelopment.
Although outline consent was granted in 2006 and Calthorpe demolished existing buildings the following year, progress has stalled during the recession.
lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com
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