Ambitious plans for the wholesale transformation of Kingshurst Village Centre have taken another leap forward with the submission of a Full Planning Application.
If approved, it will pave the way for work to begin on creating a radically transformed, high-quality and community-focussed new centre at the heart of Kingshurst.
The planning application makes provision for up to 79 new sustainable homes, the majority of which will be social rented housing through Solihull Community Housing (SCH), as well as a new vicarage for St Barnabas’ Church. It also shows an improved road layout linking the village centre to the surrounding area, with open green space and a wide footpath linking Kingshurst Park to the school and the heart of the development. Alongside the new homes the plans also make provision for 1207m² of modern floor space for a range of retail and high street uses and a further 2,001m² for health uses and flexible community spaces, including a community café, GP, dentist, opticians and pharmacy within a Community Wellness Hub.
The Full Planning Application is based on the updated Kingshurst Masterplan, which was shared with local residents and business owners both online and as part of a series of outdoor public events in September. Since Outline Planning Permission was granted in December 2020, feedback from consultation with residents and business has helped inform and further refine this final planning application. The latest plans for Kingshurst aim to build on the success of previous nearby schemes at Chelmund’s Cross and Smith’s Wood to transform the area by radically redesigning the village centre.
In another significant boost to the regeneration plans, the latest tranche of funding for the project was recently announced as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review. An additional £1.81m of Estates Regeneration Funding has now been allocated to the project from the Government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund.
Officers at Solihull Council, who are driving the project, will continue working with partners and external funders to identify and access additional funding streams as required but this latest round of vital funding will be used to complete acquisitions of land and property and support some early demolition and infrastructure works ahead of the redevelopment.
Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council and Portfolio Holder for the Economy, said:
“Our Full Planning Application provides a blueprint for a radically transformed, high-quality new centre in Kingshurst. As well as improving and enhancing the physical environment it seeks to help unlock some of the huge potential economic benefits Kinghurst stands to gain from its proximity to the airport, NEC, the forthcoming HS2 Interchange Station and the rest of the UK Central hub.
“A huge amount of work has gone into getting us to this point, so I would like to thank everyone who has helped make it possible, including all of those who have taken the time to feed in their thoughts and comments throughout the development of this application. We have a once in a generation opportunity to transform this important village centre, which is why it’s so important that we have been able to take the time to really try and get this right.
“This application finally confirms some of the key features of the development and will, hopefully, allow us to move forward to the next stage of the redevelopment soon. There is still a huge amount of finer detail to be confirmed at later stages of the scheme but it really feels like momentum is building now.
“The submission of the Full Planning Application brings us one step closer to realising our exciting and ambitious vision of a sustainable, well-integrated thriving new centre at the heart of Kingshurst.”
The Full Planning Application will be subject to a 13-week determination period, meaning that a decision is expected to be made by the end of February 2022.
The application and associated planning documents can be viewed on the Council’s online planning portal, using the following reference: PL/2021/03072/MAJFDW
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