Morrisons has been given the green light to build a new supermarket in Birmingham city centre which is says will create 300 jobs .
The supermarket’s initial designs for the Edgbaston Shopping Centre store were criticised by the council’s planning committee in August as being unworthy of the city’s landmark Hagley Road site.
However, the retailer’s revised designs have been welcomed by the committee for being more in line with the 1950s Marriot Hotel next door and the Victorian buildings surrounding the site.
The new plans feature a huge green fin over its entrance with five linked smaller shops and an outdoor public seating area adding life to the side fronting Hagley Road.
Committee member Bob Beauchamp said: “This is a massive improvement on what we were presented with the first time. It may not be the most magnificent and imposing structure, but it is much, much better and fitting for Hagley Road.”
“The investment in this landmark site is welcome, as are the hundreds of jobs created.”
Morrisons has promised that at least 60 per cent of the 300 full and part time jobs created by the new store will go to people in the local community.
The UK’s fourth-largest grocery chain said building work is likely to commence next year, with the store scheduled to open in mid-2012.
