Hospital plans given second chance

Plans for a new private hospital and research institution to be built on the site of the former BBC studios at Pebble Mill, Birmingham, have been recommended for approval for a second time.Pebble Mill Investments is behind the latest proposals for its long-running regeneration of the site in Edgbaston, which is already home to a new dental school.Birmingham City Council was set to vote on 24 May 2018 on whether to grant permission for the 96,875 sq ft medical complex, which will also include 167 parking spaces, but councillors decided to delay making a final decision until more information was provided.The plans for the eight-storey building, which would face onto Pebble Mill Road and be used for research and development as well as a private hospital, will now be debated at a meeting on Thursday 21 June.The original application was submitted in 2017 for plot four but the applicant has added a further 43,000 sq ft to the proposals since then.Since the BBC relocated to the Mailbox in Birmingham city centre in 2003, the £50m Dental Hospital and University of Birmingham’s School of Dentistry was opened in April 2016 while construction of a new private hospital by Circle Health is expected to be completed later this year.Bupa has also opening a 62-bed care home and there will also be other leisure and retail uses including a pub and cafe and student accommodation while new sport fields have opened.