A former Nottingham City Council community centre and play area will be demolished to make way for student homes.
Developers Thorpe and Fletcher Developments Ltd want to knock down the building on Tennyson Street in the Arboretum, which is currently vacant, and build ten homes made up of six bedrooms.
Councillors met at a planning meeting on Wednesday, October 20, to decide the fate of the application.
Fourteen residents living in the area had objected to the proposal in writing as part of the planning process, saying they already deal with noise and anti-social behaviour caused by the student population.
In written objections, one neighbour said: “Will mean more loud music all night every night, more broken bottles and glass to dodge, more rubbish dumped around the roads, and more abuse just because I live here.”
Another added: “There is too much student housing in the area to ensure a ‘balanced community’. The new proposal would take it over the 25 per cent threshold, and this is already having a serious impact on the local community.”
Council planning officers said there are limited choices for the site.
Cllr Graham Chapman (Lab), vice chair of the planning committee, said: “It would have been better had this not been student housing.
“I would have preferred ordinary residential.”
Concerns were also raised by Cllr Michael Edwards (Lab), chair of the planning committee about its rendering.
“Rendering ages so badly,” he told the committee. “Especially like at some of the student developments next to the University of Nottingham.
“It aged really badly and quickly.”
Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis (Lab) said: “It is a good design and I like it.”
The planning application was granted with some conditions including looking at some of the materials used, and entrance details to ensure they are well lit.
