Residents living on a private estate in Nottingham are hoping changes can be made to plans for a new student block after a decision on approving them was delayed.
Applicant David Pownall submitted plans to build a four-storey block off Castle Boulevard, in The Park estate, and they had been tipped for approval at a Nottingham City Council planning committee meeting on Wednesday (September 17).
The meeting was attended by dozens of Park residents, who have been calling for the 137-bed scheme to be rejected.
Councillors were informed by officers that a rejection would be “challenging” to defend at an appeal. They opted to defer the scheme based on design concerns.
Speaking to the public gallery, Cllr Graham Chapman (Lab) said the council had been trying to build an “oversupply” of student accommodation to bring more homes back into the market for families.
He said the council had been just about keeping up with demand, and asked residents in the public seating area to think about the aim to get students out of family housing.
However he said: “My other issue is to do with the design. I wouldn’t say it is spectacular. I would like to see some more sophisticated brickwork.”
Cllr Sam Harris (Lab) said the building’s design, while it has an attractive frontage, is “very blocky”.
“I do feel it is aesthetically not impressive and does not really exceed what we would expect from an area like The Park,” he added.
Five councillors voted to defer the scheme and ask the developer to come up with a better design, while four voted against deferral.
Cllr Kevin Clarke (Ind) said he wanted to reject the proposals based on the “saturation” of purpose-built student blocks in the city, but decided to defer the plans during the vote.
Council planning officer Rob Percival said he could not promise the deferral would result in a better design, having said the building “is of an appropriate quality”.
Cllr Kirsty L Jones (Lab) said she believed the applicant had “really thought about how it can comply with our policies”, adding: “I think the height of the building really fits in with the local area and I think the location is good for student accommodation.”
The site is located to the west of the city centre and sandwiched between Castle Boulevard to the south and Fishpond Drive to the north. It is made up of a collection of buildings.
Three commercial buildings on the site were most recently occupied by Zoo Interiors, a showroom selling home furniture, which has now relocated to another shop on Castle Boulevard.
The ground floor of the block building would provide shared amenity space, meeting space, study space, and refuse and bike storage.
Two commercial units fronting Castle Boulevard would be kept, and access to the building would be from the street, with a gate at the rear of the site onto Fishpond Drive to be used as a fire escape only.
An existing four-bed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), which is two storeys in height and sits within the site, would also be kept.
Speaking after the meeting Park residents said they were disappointed, but said the deferral would give them more time to engage with the developer.
Lloydie James Lloyd said Park residents had found that a wall on the site belonged to the estate, which council officers said they had been made aware of.
He said they would “relinquish” ownership if a better agreement could be sought over the scheme.
Mike Preston, who lives in the Maria Court apartment block in Fishpond Drive, has before spoken out about his fears over being left in “complete darkness” by the student block.
“This decision is not what I wanted,” he said. “But getting them to go back is good. I’ve lived here for 45 years. I have a very nice view. Now I’ll just be looking into students’ windows.
“I’m not against the development, but it is too high and too blocky. The Park is a unique area not just in Nottingham, but in the country.”
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