A developer hoping to build the next generation of sustainable living in Birmingham says he has been left in limbo after more requests to change the scheme's design.
GNM Developments' managing director Gerald Manton first revealed his plans for a canalside site at 52 Gas Street last year by lodging 15-storey proposals for a scheme called Gather & Soul, containing 161 co-living apartments and other amenities.
Following advice from planning officers, he went back to the drawing board and unveiled revised plans this spring under a new name, The Narrowhouse, inspired by both the canal and the slender footprint of the site between the water and Gas Street.
The latest version would comprise 249 apartments for rent only alongside a cinema, podcast and media rooms, gym, a rooftop terrace, café and a walkway connecting to the canal.
The project would see the retention of the historic tollhouse but the existing building at 52 Gas Street, currently home to the Verve Lounge bar, would be demolished and replaced with a complex shaped like an inverted T.
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The overall project would reach 29 storeys and the tower atop of the base building would be covered in 43,800 sq ft of solar panels, generating enough power for the building's residents and feeding surplus into a local microgrid.
Mr Manton says this would make it an 'energy-positive' development but he has now received requests from planning officers at Birmingham City Council to reduce the length of the tower element by 15 metres.
This would bring the number of proposed studio apartments down by 40, something he says would make the scheme financially unviable.
In addition, it would result in the loss of a staircase and lift core which would make the building non-compliant with fire regulations.
"The request to reduce the length is not viable. It's a non-starter and is not going to happen," he told BusinessLive.
"Just look around the area and on Broad Street. There are much longer and taller buildings there.
"They're asking for a future where sustainability is baked into developments yet Birmingham is unable to deliver on what they say they want. This has been in planning for 15 months and we still don't have an answer, it's absolute incompetence.
"As an SME in the city, it is a painful process to go through and excruciatingly costly, particularly when they ask you to do redesigns and then don't support them.
"Up to this point, I have incurred costs of £1.6 million. That is not normal. It has been financially and mentally draining on me because I've been dragged left, right and centre."
Mr Manton says he feels the council's planning department is relying on old planning policies rather than the new Central Birmingham Framework 2045 with which his development complies.
The framework, outlines a future vision for the city, with a focus on green spaces, public transport and energy-efficient homes.
He also acknowledges that the appearance of the building has divided opinion but states aesthetics and design should not be a planning consideration, adding he has received support from councillors and other consultees.
Mr Manton says he now cannot move The Narrowhouse forward, despite being told by a barrister that it was "a slam dunk" should the application be refused and moved to an appeal process.
"You would think they would be falling over backwards and rolling out the red carpet to support a scheme like this but it hasn't been the case," he said.
"From a legal perspective, you can draw a line through the old planning policies as this has been built around the future framework.
"We consulted a barrister who independently assessed the information and it came out that this should be supported by the council. The barrister has told me this would be a slam dunk on appeal because it is so policy compliant."
Mr Manton said the council accepted the site needed to be regenerated and, if his proposals for The Narrowhouse did not win consent, he would have to look at renovating the existing building, perhaps into new offices.
"I would have to go cap in hand at West Midlands Combined Authority and would almost certainly need public subsidies to make it viable," he added.
BusinessLive asked Birmingham CIty Council for a response to Mr Manton’s comments. A spokesperson said the authority would not comment on a live planning application.
