PLANS to build a new 100,000 sq ft supermarket and nearly 550 parking spaces on the site of Severn Trent’s former HQ have taken a step closer after Birmingham planning chiefs granted approval.
The project on the A45 Coventry Road in Sheldon, near Birmingham Airport, will consist of a 107,300 sq ft supermarket, built on stilts and with permission to sell both food and non-food items, and 544 parking spaces.
Along with the food store, the three-level building will also have a café, service yard, another retail unit, glazed atrium, warehouse and storage areas.
No occupier has yet been confirmed but negotiations are said to be ongoing with major retailers, with detailed plans being submitted to Birmingham City Council early next year.
Highways improvements will include a traffic filter lane for vehicles approaching from Birmingham Airport direction while £200,000 will be spent on the underpass after it was decided pedestrian crossings would interrupt the flow of traffic too much.
Edgbaston-based planning consultancy CSJ Brooke Smith acted on behalf of Chase Midland Estates which will also be injecting £350,000 into management of Sheldon town centre.
Permission was granted at this stage subject to approval of a Section 106 agreement – extra infrastructure or community work carried out by developers – the details of which are still being finalised.
CSJ Brooke Smith associate director Will Charlton said: “We are very pleased that the scheme has won planning permission.
“It will be a huge boost for the local economy, bringing jobs and investment. It will help to kick-start the regeneration of this part of the city.”
