By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Residents are to stage a street protest calling on councillors to reject plans to bring an extra student 692 beds to Nottingham city centre.
Property developer Godwin Developments has submitted proposals for the purpose-built student block on the site of the former Royal Mail sorting office in Bath Street, close to Sneinton Market.
Nottingham planners say they have no powers to reject planning applications on the grounds that there will be too many students living in a single area – and there is a huge need for purpose-built accommdation across the city.
A street protest will be held on Saturday, August 14, from 1pm, outside the entrance to the St Mary’s Rest Garden, opposite the planned development.
Protesters say their aim is to draw attention to the impact the building will have on the surrounding Sneinton Market Conservation Area.
One of the organisers Mat Anderson, 53, who has lived on the Promenade for 26 years, said: “At the last local election, no-one voted for the many student blocks being built across the city.
“To impose these huge buildings on communities in the face of their legitimate concerns is simply wrong.
“There are currently 485 student places in the Sneinton Market Conservation Area, a space of less than a third of a mile.
“There is no evidence locally that the purpose-built student accommodation is needed. There are fears that it will increase crime in the area and have a negative effect on the community.
“The only people that are pushing for these buildings are the council and the universities. Neither offer any compelling, independent evidence that they are needed. They are highly unpopular with local residents.”
The plans propose to demolish the disused building and create 692 student bed development in its place.
The development will include a mixture of studios of four, five and six bedrooms with 52 car parking spaces and 312 cycle spaces.
Despite a huge number of applications for purpose-built student housing in the city centre, the council says there is still not enough accommodation to deal with the demand.
Currently, even if every outstanding student accommodation application submitted to the council’s planning department was approved, there would still be a shortfall of 2,000 rooms.
The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University have both told the council they intend to increase their numbers of students in the future.
The council says this will leave the city needing to find an extra 5,000 rooms by 2024/25.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in July, Cllr Linda Woodings (Lab), portfolio holder for housing and planning, said: “We do not have the power in the planning authority to stop student buildings nor can we control the universities on their number of placements.
“For every 100 places they offer that is 300 beds because they are here for three years. If we started refusing these applications, then we would be overturned at appeal.
“We would end up having to pay the developers’ costs for losing it as well as our own costs for fighting the case.
“But we are trying to protect family homes in the city and, in order to do that, we need purpose-built student accommodation.
“It is a much better way to house students.”
The application for what is called the Bendigo Building development – named after 19th century boxer William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson – will be heard at a council planning committee in the coming months.
