Residents have their say on landmark Lichfield development

Lichfield residents were given the chance to have their say on a landmark development opposite the City Station in a special weekend consultation.

Local residents were able to share their thoughts on a new building and design code for future development on the land opposite Lichfield City Station, known as the Birmingham Road Site.

Lichfield District Council and Create Streets have produced the design code following extensive engagement with residents over the past 18 months.

Online engagement saw 5,747 responses from residents, while over 30o visitors discussed design and development on the Birmingham Road site on Create Streets’ stalls at Lichfield Christmas Fayre and Three Spires Shopping Centre.

Create Streets exhibited the code and answer questions at The Hub at St Mary’s, on Market Street, and also had a stall at Lichfield Christmas Fayre, in the city centre.

The code follows discussions with many key groups and civic organisations in Lichfield including colleges, business groups and key local stakeholders. The code will provide rules and design requirements for what can and cannot be built on the site, based on the prior engagement.

Design codes are becoming increasingly popular approaches for local authorities and neighbourhood groups to have design input for new development.

The new design code applies only to the Birmingham Road Site, large parts of which have remained empty for several years.

Create Streets’ Ed Leahy said: “We’ve had a fantastic response from Lichfield residents over the past 18 months, who have given us a strong direction for how the site should look and feel.

“Design codes are a great way to capture what residents want to see from new development, which too often consists of generic, low quality, ‘could be anywhere’ buildings.

“It’s been a privilege to work alongside Lichfield District Council talking to residents about what they want from development on the site, and we’ve put it to paper in this code.”

Councillor Janice Silvester-Hall, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for High Streets and Visitor Economy, said: “We would like to thank everyone in the district who has given their views to help develop a design code for the Birmingham Road Site.”