ACCOMMODATION FOR ROYAL CENTRE FOR DEFENCE MEDICINE STAFF GETS THE GO AHEAD AT LONGBRIDGE

St. Modwen and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) have secured planning permission for new accommodation for medical staff working with injured military personnel at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) Birmingham.

The building will provide 180 en-suite bedrooms, catering and support facilities for staff based at the city’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, who will benefit from living within easy walking distance of bus and train connections to and from their workplace.

The UK’s leading regeneration specialist had already been given the go ahead to improve access to the RCDM building from Longbridge Town Centre. The current footpath and cycleway, which runs alongside the River Rea through Austin Park in the Town Centre, will continue under the existing A38 bridge to link directly to the new facility. The River Rea will be diverted for around a year, with a new, temporary channel running just north of the existing waterway.

Construction on the high-quality residential facility, located at the heart of St. Modwen’s £1 billion new community at Longbridge, is due to begin later this year.

Mike Murray, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said:  “In addition to providing new facilities and infrastructure, we are creating a greener, cleaner environment for everyone at Longbridge. We look forward to the RCDM staff becoming part of this increasingly diverse community.”

A DIO spokesperson said: “We are very happy to have secured planning consent and to be working with St. Modwen on the delivery of new, comfortable accommodation for our hardworking medical and support staff.”