£85m Parkgate scheme given green light

AN £85m retail-led development in Solihull has finally been given the go-ahead after more than a decade of planning wrangling.

The ‘Parkgate’ scheme in Shirley will comprise an ASDA superstore alongside around 20 new shops, cafés, restaurants and more than 150 new homes.

It is estimated the development will create up to 800 jobs, most of which will be sought from the local economy, and the town centre itself will undergo around £500,000 worth of facelift work.

The scheme (artist’s impression below) has been given the green light by the planning inspectorate after an appeal in May and brings to a close 13 years of battling after ASDA first tried to build a supermarket on a nearby plot. Construction work is expected to start early next year.

The scheme was rejected by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council’s planning committee in December and February and planning inspector David Cullingford said the authority should pay costs.

He added: “I fear that the prospects for Shirley would be bleak in the absence of this scheme.

“I consider the scheme would form an essential element in the long-sought aim to enhance the town centre and to foster the vitality and viability of Shirley.”

Robert Birch, of the scheme’s developer Shirley Advance, added: “Our proposals have now been endorsed by two separate planning inspectors.

“We hope this decision will reinforce our objection to the proposed relocation of M&S Simply Food from Stratford Road in Shirley town centre to the out of town Sear’s Retail Park.

“We really do think that, if allowed to proceed, this will be a travesty for Shirley town centre and we will continue to object to this entirely inappropriate proposal accordingly.”