Demolition of Ringway centre approved

The Ringway Centre will be bulldozed to make way for apartment blocks

Plans have been approved to demolish Birmingham's Ringway Centre despite a campaign to save it.

Three apartment blocks with one, two and three-bedroom homes will replace the brutalist building in Smallbrook Queensway.

A barrister appointed by the Save Smallbrook campaign group had claimed there were grounds for a legal challenge on the decision.

However, Birmingham City Council said the matters raised did not amount to a legal error in the decision.

Campaigners wanted the site to be repurposed rather than knocked down and feared Birmingham would lose its "best" modernist building.

Councillor Jane Jones also opposed the demolition and argued a retrofit "was the future" of the building.

Meanwhile, another councillor said the benefits of the development outweighed any harm.

Under the plan, a minimum of 15% of homes will be allocated for affordable housing.

Developers said the scheme would provide new public spaces to "revitalise the area" and attract new visitors.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.