Developers behind a bid to bulldoze Birmingham’s Bull Ring Indoor Market and replace it with more than 700 flats have been left frustrated after it was refused.
Hammerson’s proposal for the 900-year-old facility was unanimously rejected by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee amid concerns around the long-term future of the market.
But, after Thursday’s (July 3) committee meeting, the property development company expressed disappointment at the decision.
The company added it remains committed to the scheme as it would be a ‘positive enhancement of the city’.
The proposed development for the site in Edgbaston Street would provide up to 745 apartments or up to 1,544 student bedrooms – or any combination of those uses – in the city centre.
Members of the committee had previously deferred the decision on two occasions to enable further discussions to take place to help ensure the future of the market.
Planning officers said those talks had proved fruitful and resulted in an extension of the council’s lease on the current location from September 2025 to March 2027.
They said this would enable a temporary home on the former wholesale market to be created before a move into a permanent location on the wider Smithfield development.
But members of the committee said they still wanted more assurances over the market’s future as well as other issues including the harm on the conservation area and concerns the development would create hundreds of one-bedroom flats.
In response, officers said it was only an outline application, it wasn’t known what the housing type would be and there had been no objections from the conservation officer.
A spokesperson for Hammerson said: “(The) decision is deeply frustrating given its continued focus on a non-planning matter.
“This is despite a substantial consultation process and repeatedly strong recommendations by the council’s planning officers.
“We remain highly committed to the redevelopment which we firmly believe will lead to a positive enhancement of the city.
“We await the committee’s full report and will confirm our next steps.”
Planning committee chairman Councillor Lee Marsham said the application had given him a ‘sleepless night’ before the meeting but agreed with other members that it was not right for the city.
Addressing Hammerson, he said: “Please continue to work with the city. We need you but you need us as well and we have to get this right.
“We say this in good faith and as a critical friend not as an enemy.”
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