好色先生TV

Birmingham councillors have voted to approve the demolition of the Ringway Centre for the second time in the face of a legal challenge brought by campaigners.

The council鈥檚 planning committee voted seven for and four against Corstorphine & Wright鈥檚 1,750-home plans to replace the brutalist landmark with three residential towers up to 56 storeys.

The Twentieth Century Society, which was part of a campaign collective which challenged the council鈥檚 initial vote to approve the scheme in September, said it was the 鈥渨rong decision for the city鈥檚 heritage, environment, businesses and residents鈥�.

Yesterday鈥檚 vote came after lawyers representing campaign group Save Smallbrook 鈥� which brings together organisations including the Twentieth Century Society, Brutiful Birmingham and Birmingham Modernist Society 鈥� warned city bosses that errors related to the approval gave rise to two grounds of challenge.

Campaign barrister Estelle Dehon KC said it had been wrongly stated at September鈥檚 planning committee meeting that government heritage adviser Historic England had no objection to the proposals, when the organisation had expressed concerns. 

She had also argued that the planning officers鈥� report that recommended the scheme for approval had failed to give full consideration to housing and communities secretary Michael Gove鈥檚 because of its climate impact.

Dehon had called on Birmingham city council to bring the Ringway Centre application back before planning committee members so it could be determined 鈥渨ith access to full information鈥�.

But a council report ahead of the planning committee meeting had urged councillors to again approve the application and argued that the issues raised by Dehon did not amount to a legal error.

They said that the committee member who told the meeting Historic England had not objected to the Corstophine & Wright scheme had been 鈥渇actually correct鈥�, because the heritage body had not formally objected. Officers said this was not a statement that needed to be corrected during the meeting.

In relation to Gove鈥檚 M&S decision, officers said that despite the communities secretary鈥檚 words, a 鈥渟trong presumption鈥� in favour of the repurposing and reuse of buildings had not been created. 

They added that the retail giant was also challenging the secretary of state鈥檚 decision in the High Court and that Gove had overruled the advice of a planning inspector in reaching his conclusion.

The 230m-long curving groundscraper was completed some years before Roberts鈥� other central Birmingham landmark, the Rotunda, which was granted grade II status in 2000. 

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud had joined the campaign to save the building ahead of yesterday鈥檚 vote. He said: 鈥滻t鈥檚 beautiful long thing, a ribbon of craftsmanship, of 1960s optimism, it comes from that great period of regeneration of the city. It鈥檚 under threat of being demolished and once it鈥檚 gone, of course, it can never be properly replaced. We need to be rescuing more of the city鈥檚 post-war buildings.鈥�

Proposals for retaining the Ringway Centre and converting it for housing use were floated at the end of 2022.

An eight-page assessment by planning consultant Turley that looked at the feasibility of retaining the Ringway Centre was submitted to Birmingham council in support of the Corstorphine & Wright scheme ahead of September鈥檚 committee meeting.

The document was written as a direct response to Gove鈥檚 M&S decision and claimed retention of the Ringway Centre would not be viable as it would require works such as recladding, installing new fire-safety measures and repositioning floor plates.