Major facility planned for Edgbaston Medical Quarter
A new hospital or research facility is set to be built in the Edgbaston Medical Quarter under plans submitted by a subsidiary of property company Calthorpe Estates.
Pebble Mill Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Calthorpe Estates, is proposing to build a 5,000 sqm building on the site of the former BBC studios in Edgbaston.
The building would support the Edgbaston Medical Quarter by being used for either medical or research and development use.
A design and access statement has been prepared by David Lock Associates in support of the proposals.
The scheme is actually a replacement for an approved-development which was never progressed and for which planning consent has now lapsed.
However, the developer claims there are still valid reasons why the formerly approved scheme is still viable.
It says the proposed five storey building would link into previously authorised infrastructure as well as with the new dental hospital and the already approved Circle Hospital, construction of which is due to start shortly.
The design brief states that the context for investment in medical and life sciences has not changed greatly since the last application to develop the site in 2013.
It said there had continued to be investment into the sector, mainly through the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP’s Local Growth Fund. This has funded a new life sciences academy in partnership with Bournville College and a new life sciences campus adjacent to the University of Birmingham and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
“Having considered the surrounding context within which the Pebble Mill site is situated it has become apparent that there are very real opportunities to create effective and efficient links between medical technologies, research and treatment within the overall framework of the Edgbaston Medical Quarter,” states the document.
“It is in this context that Calthorpe Estates wishes to reconfirm the appropriateness of a medical use for this part of the site, as part of the wider Medical Park.”
The building would be five storeys high but is still less of a presence than the former television studios.
The site has been vacant since 2003 when the former BBC studios were demolished. The former regional development agency – Advantage West Midlands – sought the redevelopment of the site to support the wider regional spatial strategy.
Since the demise of that organisation changes have taken place in the planning framework but the use of the site for medical research and innovation is still encouraged.
