A giant new 400 bed student accommodation is set to be given the go-ahead despite dozens of objections. CoventryLive reported on the plans for Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) of up to 400 bed spaces on land to the south of Westwood Heath Road last year.
Now a final decision is set to be made on the plans on land near to the University of Warwick campus and it is being recommended that the city council approves it.
This is despite dozens of objectors, with 105 signatures added to an epetition as well as 31 letters of objection.
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Among the concerns raised by the objectors include:
Oversupply of accommodationDevelopment places pressure on established residential areasIncrease in congestion/trafficDetrimental to highway safety.Detrimental to the character of the area.
Councillor Marcus Lapsa also raised concerns ‘due to there being no demonstrable need for additional purpose-built student accommodation; the development of safeguarded land being premature; exacerbate existing highway safety issues within the area.”
As a small part of the land lies within Warwick District and a cross boundary application has therefore been submitted to Warwick District Council. It has yet to make a decision on the plan.
But planning officers at the city council are recommending that it approves it, and say that objections raised by the city council’s will be addressed in an update before the planning meeting.
A CGI looking towards the proposals from the retained area of grassland to the west(Image: Planning application)
In regards to other concerns raised, the paper states: “It is recognised that within the course of the consultation one of the primary objections to the proposed development relates to the demand and perceived over-supply of student accommodation within the city. Within the consultation multiple suggestions indicate that no further applications should be permitted for purpose-built student accommodation within the city.
“Firstly, as identified in the University of Warwick’s SPD, the campus accommodates around 7,500 students. The SPD sets out the University’s aspiration to continue to investigate the increase of its stock of student accommodation and renew existing accommodation, with a view to ensuring that at least the current ratio of on/ immediately adjacent to campus accommodation to students is maintained.”
It also quotes a Cushman and Wakefield report on the evolving UK student accommodation sector, saying: “The number of students attending the University is expected to grow by the year 2033, due to growth plans, which have been further enhanced by the approval of the STEM and the Social Sciences Quarter, which did not have an extant planning permission at the time the Cushman and Wakefield report was prepared. These proposals result in a significant uplift in educational floor space being provides within the campus.”
The area outlined in red is where the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) of up to 400 bed spaces could be built(Image: Planning application)
The council paper speaks further about the report, which states: “Whilst it would perhaps be appealing for the City Council to look to rule out future purpose-built student accommodation applications, this could potentially be damaging to the attractiveness of Coventry as a student destination over the longer term and would stifle innovation’.
“In addition, the report also noted that wider national policy decisions relating to Higher Education have the potential to impact the market, as do trends in student decision making. It is therefore prudent that future policy should allow for a degree of flexibility to adapt to market conditions.
“Given the wider factors as set out it is considered that the principle of development is acceptable in this case and the proposed development accords with the relevant policies as set out. The relevant material planning considerations for the wider development are set out within the succeeding sections of this report.”
The final decision on whether the proposal is approved will be made by members of the planning committee, who are due to meet on Thursday (April 2).
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