Who dares to vote against the Colmore Row tower?

The thing is, you see, that British Land's replacement for the existing NatWest Tower has been given fast-track backing by the council's controlling Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. The press releases quoting council leader Mike Whitby enthusing about the tower representing a massive vote of confidence in Birmingham as a global business centre are probably already in draft form.
Now, the planning committee is a famously quasi-judicial body. Completely independent. Decisions are never taken in advance. I've no idea what the political parties discuss in the group meetings they hold before the committee sits, possibly they talk about the weather, but we can be certain that this is a body that judges applications on their merit.
Not that most of the committee members saw much merit in the tower proposal when they discussed it last Thursday.
Interesting design, but in the wrong place, was the general consensus.
Most of the Tories on the planning committee kept quiet. But the Lib Dem members and almost all of the Labour members hated the glass-fronted tower, which they said would detract from the views of St Philip's Cathedral and the Town Hall.
If a vote had been taken, which was not the case, then planning permission would certainly have been denied.
Clive Dutton, the strategic director of regeneration, did his best to convince members that, if they knew what was good for Birmingham, they would welcome British Land's proposal with welcome arms. Really, the council ought to be glad that an internationally-renowned company was willing to invest so much money and create so many jobs in Birmingham at a time of economic turndown, he said.
Birmingham had to be "globally relevant", Dutton added. This is the latest buzz-phrase, no one has the faintest idea what it means, but it sounds impressive.
Dutton went on about the need to create the conditions for growth and how the new tower would be so much better than the "charmless" NatWest Tower, adding, almost tearfully: "There is no way that I would propose something to you that would blemish the most precious part of the city."
The committee chairman, Peter Douglas Osborn, a Conservative, attempted to sum up the qualities of the British Land tower by suggesting that "most of us think this is a fine building", but was drowned out by councillors who clearly felt the opposite was the case.
Osborn blundered on: "Right, most of us don't think this is a fine building. But we are not a city set is aspic. We do expect change."
All eyes will be on the committee's Liberal Democrat members when this application returns for a final decision.
With the Tories likely to vote in favour and most Labour members likely to vote against, the Lib Dems will decide the issue.
If they stick to their comments this week, with the likes of Ernie Hendricks and Paula Smith the most outspoken against the tower, planning permission will be denied.
But if I was British Land, I wouldn't give up just yet.