00:00A former University of Birmingham chaplaincy site in Edgbaston is about to change beyond recognition.
00:08Built in the 1950s, it's been empty since last summer when the last students moved out.
00:13Soon it'll be replaced by four townhouses and 28 apartments in a four-storey block.
00:19The old chapel offices and accommodation all levelled.
00:23Midlands-based Spitfire Homes has brought the land.
00:26Demolition starts within weeks.
00:28Construction is due before the year's out.
00:31The company points to Edgbaston's draw, top-righted schools, independent restaurants, green spice and fast routes into the city.
00:39As reasons, buyers will pay a premium.
00:42But the plan wasn't universally welcomed.
00:45Council has warned that 25 parking spaces for the flats and height for the townhouses could spill cars into neighbouring streets.
00:52Others said the mix misses the mark.
00:55A suburb crying out for family housing were getting mostly one- and two-bed flats aimed at singles or couples.
01:02Affordability was another fault line.
01:05The council's own report said the scheme couldn't support affordable housing under its financial model.
01:10After negotiation, three units were added, all smaller flats.
01:14That's 9% of the total and still short of the family-sized affordable homes the council's housing team said they'd prefer.
01:21Even so, the design met planning policy, passed impact tests and was judged to improve local ecology and landscaping.
01:30For the developer, it's a foothold in one of Birmingham's most expensive postcodes.
01:34For some residents, it's a reminder that hitting the numbers in a planning report doesn't always mean meeting the needs of the people who live here.
01:42For the developer, it's a matter of aêt-to-pro HOTO.
01:47For the developer, it's a master-class put in a plan and you can understand it.
01:51The seller-part of the family-sized debilers are the most expensive test-coated andUpon-Galile.
01:53But the company was also known as the owner-class put in the church.
01:55For the developer, it was only a man, you can see him for aseys.
01:57That he has three-handed method that was anyways.
01:58The owner-class put in the middle of Birmingham's most superb mail.
01:59The owner-class put the owner-class put in the middle of the door.
02:01The owner-class put in the level of the building that the owner-class put in the middle queue is the middle of the house.
02:03The owner-class put in the low or-class put in the middle of the house door.
Comments