Exciting, proposed plans for the Former Market Hall site will be available to view at two public consultations in early March.

Residents and visitors will have two opportunities to see the proposed redevelopment designs, speak to officers and consultants working on the project and give their opinions, ahead of the council seeking planning permission to start the next phase of physical development.

Designs will be available to view at the BirdBox (former market hall site), on Saturday 4^th March from 10am until 1pm. They will also be available at Bromsgrove Library on Monday 6th March from 4pm until 7pm.

The plans put forward will deliver a landmark building, providing flexible office space, business start-up and co-working spaces, with restaurants and bars on the ground floor and a proposed Pavilion building for hosting exhibitions, cultural and community events, all surrounded by new public space.

At the consultation events, interested parties will be able to submit their views on the project, make suggestions for improvement, discuss how the project will help Bromsgrove to continue ‘levelling up’ and also raise any issues.

Leader of Bromsgrove District Council, Cllr Karen May, said: “We are extremely excited to have reached this milestone in the project. Although lots of work has taken place in the background up to now, we have finally reached the point where we can share these fantastic proposals with the public.

“We want to take users of the BirdBox, businesses and visitors, on this journey with us. If you are available, please stop by and make the most of this key opportunity to learn more about the plans, discuss them with us and have a say on the proposed designs.

“Should we be successful in getting planning approval after these consultations, it will be the start of lots of exciting, visible changes on the site and the next significant steps towards creating a new town centre destination to improve the viability and vitality of Bromsgrove.”

The proposed plans will be subject to both Cabinet and Planning approval.

Works to regenerate this important town centre site are funded through a £14.5m grant secured by the council from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

The successful Levelling Up Fund bid put forward proposals to create a vibrant new commercial and cultural hub for the town centre. The project will deliver up to 2,500 sqm of flexible commercial/cultural space that encourages new businesses and visitors to the area and builds on the success of the BirdBox. The development will create better connectivity between and within key retail and leisure sites and the whole development will achieve a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating (BREEAM is the world's leading science-based method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings).

Residents, organisations, and businesses are being encouraged to continue using the BirdBox, whilst plans to build on the site’s success continue to take shape and hirers of the event space will also receive help and support from the council for their proposed events, to encourage as many organisations, businesses, or individuals to take up the offer as possible.

If you would like to hire Bromsgrove BirdBox over the next few months, please contact the council’s events team on 01527 534030 or email events@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk

More details, an FAQs page and an online version of the consultation survey will be available via the council’s website once the initial face-to-face consultations have taken place.