By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A council leader and a conservation group have called on the Government to intervene after plans for an eight-storey student tower block in Beeston town centre were given the go ahead.
Broxtowe Borough Council’s planning committee rejected Cassidy Group’s proposals to build a 419-bed student block in Station Street back in July last year.
However, the developer appealed the decision, and it was overruled by the Planning Inspectorate which ruled in favour of the plans.
Work on the building, which will stand up to 30 metres in height, can now commence.
Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, Cllr Milan Radulovic (Lab), has now written a letter to to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, formally requesting a review of the appeal decision and that planning permission be refused.
In the letter he says: “We would like our disappointment for this overturned decision to be put on record due to the development being too large and out of keeping for a town centre the size of Beeston.
“The massing of the building and the sheer scale of the development overpowers and dominates the skyline and would significantly and detrimentally affect the character of the town centre, irrevocably so, in our opinion.
“The sheer scale and design of the development does not work in this location and for that reason the application was refused by the Planning Committee. In addition to our concerns we formally request that the decision of the inspector is reviewed by your department and permission is refused.”
The Beeston Civic Society told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it would also be calling on Broxtowe’s Conservative MP, Darren Henry, as well as Mr Gove, to intervene.
A petition, set up by the group and addressed to Mr Gove, has been signed by almost 1,000 people so far.
The site currently exists as a council car park.
A previous planning application had detailed the building of 132 residential apartments on the site, however these were changed to include hundreds more beds for students.
Responding to the concerns, Liam Brennan, of Cassidy Group, said in a statement: “We want to reassure the Beeston community that we are committed to creating a building which will benefit the local area a great deal, using sustainable materials and being sensitive to the town centre in terms of what is already there.
“As we have said before, our scheme will offer something fantastic for local students who are currently living in houses in multiple occupation (HMO) in Beeston and this can create problems for people trying to buy in the town.
“Our scheme will help free up homes for families to live in and encourage the use of public transport.
“Beeston has fantastic infrastructure, and the new development is designed to enhance that.
“We’re excited to see this site, which has sat derelict for so long, finally be the home of something exciting for Beeston.”
