Paradise Found?

After a frustratingly long wait, it finally seems that things are moving forward with the outdated Paradise Circus site in Birmingham, as Argent and Birmingham City Council unveil images of the latest proposed scheme, ahead of a public consultation exercise next week.

I've been writing about the Brum market for over 10 years and in that time plans for the eight acre area have been put on the shelf, dusted down and put back on the shelf again. What's different this time round is the removal of a major stumbling block (literally!) the Central Library building, which was recently granted immunity from listing. This means that this eyesore can be flattened (hoorah!) to make way for a mixed-use scheme of around 1.5m - 2m sq ft.

Argent has teamed up again with its trusty mate architect Glenn Howells (eg 11 Brindleyplace) to design the current scheme. I recently had the pleasure (!) of a walk round the site with Argent's joint managing director Gary Taylor and experienced for myself the dark, unsafe and smelly 1960's passageways (sorry Gary!) that will hopefully disappear. Plans could even see the one way road network that cuts through the site diverted which would make sense but will cause major upheaval in the process.

The ambitious proposals will need a buy-in from Birmingham's business community  and no doubt a significant prelet (most likely from the public sector?) to kick off the first phase. Should the current site which also houses the Copthorne Hotel, and the Conservatoire be flattened to make way for a modern, updated and civic version of Argent's Brindleyplace or should Argent go forward with a smaller scale refurbishment?

YOU decide. Go to www.paradisecircus.co.uk to have your say from next Tuesday (9 Feb).