{"id":602799,"date":"2025-11-30T06:18:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T06:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/602799\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T06:18:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T06:18:14","slug":"huge-once-in-a-generation-scheme-to-transform-birmingham-city-centre-enters-important-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/602799\/","title":{"rendered":"Huge ‘once-in-a-generation’ scheme to transform Birmingham city centre enters \u2018important phase\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The enormous project is set to transform the former wholesale market site, turning it into a landmark destination in the city centre.<\/p>\n

The plans, which were given the green light by council planners last year, include proposals for homes, retail space, civic squares, a market complex, leisure facilities, a park and more.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the city council confirmed archaeological works have begun at the site of the scheme, marking an \u201cimportant new phase\u201d for the \u00a31.9bn regeneration project.<\/p>\n

\"AA visualisation of the Birmingham Smithfield regeneration scheme. Taken from Birmingham Council website.<\/p>\n

It says an investigation, led by Cotswold Archaeology on behalf of the council and development partner Lendlease, will provide an insight into Birmingham\u2019s<\/a> medieval past.<\/p>\n

The area being explored sits just north of the city\u2019s former moated manor, once home to the Lords of Birmingham.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny findings will be carefully documented and preserved in line with national guidance,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of Manor Square in Smithfield, Birmingham. Taken from planning application\\\\\\’s design and access statement. <\/p>\n

The investigation is set to be carried out until mid-December 2025 before redevelopment begins early next year, it added.<\/p>\n

Selina Mason, director of masterplanning for Birmingham Smithfield Lendlease, said momentum was \u201creally building\u201d at the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis excavation marks another important step forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medieval manor and market is at the heart of Birmingham\u2019s most historic area, it helped shape the city we know today and honouring that heritage is central to Birmingham\u2019s regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coun Sharon Thompson, deputy Leader at Birmingham Council<\/a>, described Smithfield as \u201cone of the most significant regeneration projects\u201d in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to ensuring that its future is built on a deep respect for its past,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese archaeological works give us a unique opportunity to uncover and celebrate the city\u2019s medieval heritage before redevelopment work<\/a> begins to deliver new homes, jobs, and vibrant spaces for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CGICGI of the Smithfield development, with Manor Square in the centre. Taken from a design statement included within the planning application\u2018Wider pressures\u2019<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a huge amount of optimism surrounding the project and the positive impact it could have on the city.<\/p>\n

But financial challenges have seen a number of proposals squeezed, an outline business case revealed earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The Art Shed cultural building and the Round House music venue for example is now set to be incorporated into a single building rather than two separate structures.<\/p>\n

The council said it needed to reduce the funding requirement, as requested by government-appointed commissioners, who were sent in to oversee the authority\u2019s recovery after it declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo address the budget shortfall the council set a principle not to commit to any new prudential borrowing and to consider any new investment in regeneration projects on a case-by-case basis,\u201d the outline business case said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn September 2024, the commissioners did not support the \u00a3209m EZ [Enterprise Zone] funding ask for the Smithfield proposal and requested that the EZ gap funding ask be eliminated or reduced to the minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The requested funding linked to the Enterprise Zone, which invests in projects and initiatives that drive economic growth, is now \u00a3172.8m according to a report over the summer.<\/p>\n

The council said the changes could not have been foreseen at the time of procuring development partner Lendlease and highlighted \u201cwider, viability pressures\u201d arising from the higher levels of inflation recorded during 2022-24.<\/p>\n

The outline business case continued: \u201cTo assess if Lendlease\u2019s proposal is still the most economically advantageous when compared to the final tenders of other bidders cannot be accurately and fairly benchmarked.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said other bidders would have also needed to change their proposals to respond to the \u201cchallenges\u201d which Lendlease had faced.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs such, with all things being equal, the council still considers Lendlease\u2019s proposal as being the most economically advantageous bid,\u201d it continued.<\/p>\n

The city council has faced financial turmoil due to Birmingham-specific factors such as an equal pay fiasco and the disastrous implementation of an IT system, as well as other issues such as the rising demand for services and funding cuts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The enormous project is set to transform the former wholesale market site, turning it into a landmark destination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,8823,379,12,2516,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-602799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-ldrs","13":"tag-local-hubs","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-property","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115637198748794932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}