In April 2021, Birmingham City Council unanimously approved Claremont’s application for a new inner city football academy for Aston Villa Football Club, despite the site being allocated for alternative uses.
Claremont were instructed to prepare the full planning application seeking consent for the Youth Academy on a brownfield site allocated for housing in Aston. Claremont’s justification for the development demonstrated why the site would not come forward for other uses and the suitability of the design despite its proximity to existing homes.
The sustainability of the brownfield site was identified, justifying the car parking provision for the Academy and yet upgrading the existing match day parking for club employees. The influence of the River Tame and related ecological / landscape parameters effectively influenced the scheme design but did not prohibit the scheme delivery.
