More than 1,300 homes to be delivered around Digbeth river
More than 1,300 homes will be delivered in Digbeth after Birmingham City Council’s planning committee approved an application from Dandara Living.
Warner’s Fields will be centred around a renaturalised River Rea which runs through the middle of the site, but is not currently accessible to the public.
Dandara is set to invest in excavating and landscaping the river, creating public spaces along its banks, as well as a implementing a new bridge connecting Charles Henry St. with Rea Street South.
The scheme will be delivered over across ten new blocks of four to 15 storeys and in five phases. The first four, involve river works alongside the development of 1,056 one to three-bedroom apartments (597 one, 420 two & 39 three-beds), as well as more than 30,000 sq ft of commercial/flexible floor space across the entirety of the ground floor.
Phase 5 could see a further 295 homes and over 46,000 sq ft of flexible floorspace developed.
The development will spearhead the delivery of the Council’s Rea Valley Urban Quarter regeneration with successive phases delivering further homes, workspaces, commercial space and new active travel routes. No affordable housing will be provided, due to the work involving the public realm and the River Rea.
Dandara Living has already delivered sites in the city at sites at Aston Place and Unity & Armouries.
Rachel Allwood, planning director at Dandara Living, said: “We are delighted that Birmingham City Council’s Planning Committee has today approved our application to deliver a new neighbourhood at Warner’s Fields.
“The redevelopment will deliver much-needed new homes to meet Birmingham’s housing need and drive the ecological and environmental transformation of this part of the city by renaturalising the River Rea and delivering significant net biodiversity gain.
“Phase 1 will see the excavation and landscaping of the River Rea for the first time in decades, alongside over 1300 new homes and 2,700m2 of commercial space. This initial investment will catalyse the construction of successive phases, including further mixed-use developments and bring much needed regeneration into the area.
“We are grateful to the Officers at BCC who recognised the necessity of this phasing and recommended the scheme for approval and to the Committee Members who approved it.”
