John Lewis plans given green light

DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis has been given planning permission to built its new 250,000 sq ft store in Birmingham’s New Street Station despite protests and a legal challenge.

The plans, first unveiled in February, received opposition from House of Fraser which said it contravened Birmingham City Council’s own policy on department store projects.

It claimed the council’s own guidance on department stores stated they should be built in either Bullring or Martineau Galleries.

In a separate development, the High Court in London has ruled that a legal challenge by Argos against the new John Lewis store should not be upheld.

The store in the Pallasades shopping centre is to be knocked down as part of the wider £600m New Street Gateway project.