Vision for homes on former factory site

Editor’s note – link to consultation website: Community Consultation (19 October – 2 November) Developers have revealed proposals to build dozens of new homes at the site of a former factory near Edgbaston Reservoir.

A public consultation was launched this week on the proposed scheme, which would transform the former industrial site on the junction of Osler Street and Icknield Port Road.

Hermetic – a business which develop rubber items such as vehicle mud flaps – were the most recent occupier of the site for commercial production purposes.

But the land is now derelict and exists “closed off from the community”, with brick walls to four sides.

Against this backdrop, Stonebond Properties is proposing building 47 new homes, which would feature a mix of traditional housing and low-rise apartments.

These include 18 three-bedroom homes and three four-bedroom homes.

“The proposal includes a strong focus on affordable housing, with an anticipated provision that will meet or exceed local planning policy requirements,” the consultation website reads.

There are also ambitions of providing new pedestrian links along Osler Street and Icknield Port Road, along with new viewpoints for the canal.

“The site is currently very poor for on-site ecology and biodiversity, with significant areas of hardstanding,” the website continued.

“The proposal will be supported by ecological surveys that will inform the final layout and mitigation measures, in line with planning policy requirements.

“The proposal recognises the contribution of the canal and reservoir for bird and bat populations.”

It added that the vacant land “sits directly adjacent to existing residential housings and within walking and cycling distance of local amenities and services”.

“The site is located in an area with the lowest likelihood of flooding and appropriate for residential development,” it said. “A review of drainage and flood risk will be undertaken as part of a formal planning application.”

The consultation is open until November 2, with aims of submitting a planning application to the city council by early winter this year.

On the project’s possible timeline, the website said: “The application should be decided within 13 weeks of a submission, but this is subject to local planning authority capacity.

“Following this, a period of discharge of condition applications may be required prior to works starting. Construction will likely start in 2028.”

The consultation website can be found here.

By Alexander Brock | Local Democracy Reporting Service