Conservation campaigners are calling for Barratt Homes to halt plans to demolish the church and former orphanage as part of major new housing estate as both Save Britain’s Heritage and The Victorian Society have voiced objections to Birmingham City Council.
Conservation campaigners have launched a battle to save a historic Birmingham church and former orphans’ home which are due to be demolished as part of a major housing development. Barratt Homes unveiled its plans to build 772 houses and apartments on land at the corner of Bristol Street and Belgrave Middleway on the edge of the city centre. Both Save Britain’s Heritage and The Victorian Society have now written to Birmingham City Council voicing their objections to the plans to knock down St Luke’s Church and the Highgate Centre.
Completed in 1903 and fronting onto Bristol Street, the vacant church was designed by noted Birmingham architects Mansell and Mansell. The Highgate Centre, in St Luke’s Road, dates back to 1877 and was most recently used as a city council office building but was once a home for orphaned children. The 21.5-acre application site is owned by Birmingham City Council and the Homes and Communities Agency.
In a letter to the city council, Mike Fox, deputy director of Save Britain’s Heritage, said the ‘Bristol Street and St Luke’s Development Framework’ stated both buildings should be retained and if possible reused in any future development. He said: ‘We firmly disagree with the applicant’s heritage statement that St Luke’s is of limited architectural and historic interest. Mansell and Mansell are local architects of distinction and their surviving buildings are deserving of respect.’
Barratt Homes said: ‘In preparing the application, consultation was undertaken with a wide range of local residents and stakeholder groups. We have also had detailed discussions with the local planning authority over a number of months, particularly in the context of delivering their vision for the Bristol Street and St Luke’s Development Framework. The scheme will provide 772 homes over a range of types and sizes to meet local needs as well as providing high-quality open space and a series of connections with the surrounding area.’
Birmingham Post columnist and architect Joe Holyoak added: ‘St Luke’s could be retained and incorporated into the development and used to provide a number of different facilities which the new residents will need – a meeting room is one obvious facility which a redundant church can provide. One would hope that the planning officers and the planning committee would understand this. New developments need old buildings.’
Read the full story in the Birmingham Post
