COUNCILLORS have agreed a deal to sell off land in Lichfield city centre for housing.
Under the proposals, CB Collier will buy the former Tempest Ford plot at the corner of St John Street and Birmingham Road and build a mix of more than 100 apartments and townhouses.
It would also feature a “linear park” running through the development to connect with the wider city centre and new cinema scheme.
Lichfield District Council voted in favour of the sale at a meeting last night (15th October).
Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of the authority, said:
“I’ve been involved intimately in every detail of this process – and what has come forward is a brilliant scheme that resonates with the architectural history of Lichfield while addressing a housing need on a brownfield site opposite the train station.
“It is the right thing for this council to approve.”
The proposal for the plot – which has sat empty since the collapse of the Friarsgate development plans – was put forward after work by the external Create Streets agency saw a new design code introduced.
But six members of the council abstained from the vote on the sale of the land, with Liberal Democrat representatives highlighting some concerns over the proposals.
Cllr Miles Trent said:
“The bidder proposes 106 residential units, which I would suggest is a significant number for that corner of the Birmingham Road Site – and many residents might agree.
“We’re informed that proposal meets the design code, but Create Streets talks about ‘gentle density’ to what is created in terms of the development. Members should consider very carefully whether 106 dwellings is gentle density.
“The Create Streets report also says the design should allow pedestrian permeability and the new development must encourage walking and cycling with streets prioritising pedestrians and cyclists. Do these designs do that?
“I do support the linear park design, but in my view this site is so important as a gateway to our city that we must get that balance right and ensure that the Birmingham Road Site is not overdeveloped.”
But other members said the time was now right for the council to move forward and resolve the long-standing legacy of the failed Friarsgate scheme.
Labour’s Cllr Steve Norman said:
“This site was discussed way back in 2000, so I don’t in ten years time still want to be here discussing it with no action.
“I’m always interested by references to this being gateway site when it was a car sales showroom previously – I’m not sure why that is nostalgic now and people like to go back to that and not to the housing being proposed in this project.
“I understand that it’s high density, but it doesn’t look that way to me and it’s not over-burdening.
“There’s been a number of launches over the years where we get very excited and then nothing happens.
“This is a scheme that isn’t perfect but you have to have mixed developments. If you don’t have housing then you don’t have funding to get the other things.
“It may not be easy to sell to people outside this chamber, but this at last gives us the opportunity to make the changes we’ve wanted to for some time.”
“This is a good scheme”
Cllr Richard Cox, Conservative member for Armitage with Handsacre, was another who echoed the call for action after years of frustration on the site.
“This scheme is what I would consider to be the nearest and best we’ve ever had.
“In the past we’ve had schemes that have had grandeur, but couldn’t be delivered, or that were optimistic and haven’t been delivered – but this is reality.
“This is a good scheme.”
Cllr Cox’s fellow Conservative ward councillor, Cllr Thomas Marshall, said the proposals would be something capable of bringing pride to Lichfield.
“CB Collier have come forward with something which will be incredibly beneficial for the city.
“High density can be a positive provided the design is correct – and what we have here is something inspirational and architecturally fantastic.
“Lichfield has come to a crossroads where we need to make sure all the development taking place from now on is something which we can be rightly proud.
“Who knows, in another 100 or 150 years time people will visit and go away full of pride and thinking that ‘all those years ago because of the guidance of the councillors and officers Lichfield got it just right’.”
