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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Tamlyn Jones

Birmingham student flats plan back after council rejection

Plans for a major new development of student accommodation near Birmingham city centre have been brought back to the table after planners rejected them earlier this year.

Fusion Students lost its bid in April to secure consent for the project on the A38 Bristol Road in Edgbaston.

It would have comprised 657 bedrooms and other shared amenities but was thrown out amid fears over its potential impact on neighbouring heritage assets in the surrounding conservation area.

The London-based company has now returned with revised plans for the site at the corner of Lee Bank Middleway to build 620 bedrooms in studios and shared apartments across four connected blocks of eight, ten, 11 and 17 storeys respectively.

They would be arranged around a private courtyard and there would also be shared amenities, including a games room, cinema, gym and basketball court, new landscaping, five disabled parking spaces and 162 bike spaces.

It is estimated the project would create 13 new jobs if it receives the backing of Birmingham City Council planners.

The application site, next to a McDonald's drive-thru restaurant, was once home to The Trees pub but is now unused and has been vacant for more than a decade.

Proposals for the plot were first unveiled in autumn 2020, with plans then to build a series of six connected blocks reaching up to 31 storeys and containing 732 bedrooms and other shared facilities.

CGI of Fusion Students' plans to build 620 student bedrooms in Birmingham (Corstorphine + Wright)

These were later scaled back to the designs rejected six months ago which would have reached 26 storeys had they received the green light.

A statement submitted in support of this latest application said: "Redevelopment of the Bristol Road site represents a significant regeneration opportunity and financial investment in Birmingham which will form a key component in the cityscape and provide a landmark building at the city centre gateway.

"The proposed buildings and landscape design are of the highest quality and standards as illustrated, resulting in a refined and well-mannered development that will sit comfortably within Birmingham and make a positive contribution to the distinctive local character."

The project, which has been designed by West Midlands architecture practice Corstorphine & Wright, would herald a debut in the Midlands for Fusion Students.

It would "complete" the redevelopment of the crossroads at Bristol Road and Lee Bank Middleway where Park Central estate and Belgrave View student flats already sit.

Barratt Homes is also building 778 residential units diagonally opposite the application site at the former home of Matthew Boulton College and St Luke's housing estate.

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