Transformation of Edgbaston Stadium tipped for approval

View of new stand from inside the stadium

The redevelopment of Edgbaston Stadium is set to get the green light from Birmingham City Council planning officers.

Proposals to transform the home of Warwickshire Country Cricket Club (WCCC) into a “world-renowned sports and hospitality venue” with redeveloped stands and a new hotel have been recommended for approval.

The stadium’s 3,133-seat Priory and Raglan Stands will be made into a 3,191-seat replacement stand, alongside a concourse with food and drink options and improved facilities for disabled spectators.

Plans lodged in November also feature a Radisson-operated 4* hotel under its RED brand, with 146 rooms for guests including 85 with pitch-facing balconies. It’s estimated that 59,000 people will stay at the site each year.

Eighteen of the pitch-view rooms will be fully convertible into hospitality spaces, whilst Level 4 will feature a rooftop restaurant and bar with a 1,720 sq ft outside terrace offering panoramic views of the Birmingham skyline. On the Radisson RED ground floor, a coffee shop will be made open to the public.

CGI of proposed hotel and stand from Edgbaston Road

In the planning statement submitted by Turley, WCCC believes the proposals will cement its position as not only a “venue for top-level international sport” but is a “mixed-use destination that will combine elite sport, conferencing and events with community uses that will improve health, social care, education, employment and social cohesion in the area”.

The Stadium welcomed 135,000 fans over six days of men’s and women’s Ashes cricket in July 2023, and for the first time in the Club’s history, all given days of the Men’s Ashes were sold out, and near capacity for the Women’s Ashes. In the future, Edgbaston Stadium will host major international fixtures for at least the next eight years – including an Ashes return in 2027.

Birmingham City Council will discuss the scheme at its planning meeting on February 13.