Retirement complex for pub site gets green light after appeal
Developers have won an appeal to build a retirement apartment complex at the site of a former Sutton Coldfield pub.
Plans by Gladman Retirement Living to replace The Wylde Green pub in Birmingham Road with a four-storey 57-apartment were rejected by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee in February last year due to issues with its size.
But the case was taken to The Planning Inspectorate and a decision has been made to allow the proposed development.
A report by Andrew Dawe, an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State, said the appeal had been made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against a refusal to grant planning permission.
And he concluded: "The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for Specialist Accommodation for the Elderly consisting of apartments with care, communal facilities, parking and associated private amenity space at Wylde Green Public House, Birmingham Road, Sutton New Hall, Sutton Coldfield in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref 2019/02929/PA, dated 1 April 2019, subject to the conditions in the attached Annex."
Councillor Alex Yip, from the Sutton Wylde Green ward, expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the appeal.
He said "The decision of an independent planning inspectorate to overrule the decision of Birmingham City Council, the expressed preference of local residents, resident groups, the Town Council, and locally elected members is bitterly disappointing.
"We have all opposed the proposals because we felt a four floor frontage some 200m long is out of keeping with the area, too imposing in a residential area, overlooks residents to the rear and has inadequate parking provision.
"I sadly forsee that this will cause many issues well into the future for residents.
“It was rejected by Council officers because of the scale of the proposal and the ‘elongated nature and height of the rear wing would be out of context with the surrounding properties and would be unduly dominant.
“I will be meeting with officers, residents and developers to consider our options moving forward.
"We will be holding the development to the conditions required for how and what they build to minimise the impact as best we can.”
But in terms of the development's character, the report concluded: "The proposed building would be substantially larger than the existing building and would occupy a large part of the site frontage with a continuous front elevation.
"Although the elevation facing onto Birmingham Road would be much longer than any others relating to existing single properties in the near vicinity, it would also be occupying a significantly wider site frontage compared with those other properties.
"As such, in this respect, together with the provision of some space either side of the proposed frontage building, its length would appear as being appropriately proportionate to the width of the site and without appearing cramped."
