‘I don’t want to be surrounded by students’
MIXED REACTION TO PLANS FOR TOWERING ACCOMMODATION NEXT TO SNEINTON MARKET
A NEW 12-storey student accommodation building in Nottingham city centre could soon be give the go-ahead, but local businesses and residents are frustrated and concerned about the impact it could have on the area.
The application site comprises two separate buildings, a larger building on Lower Parliament Street and a smaller building reached from Boston Street next to Sneinton Market.
The smaller building will be up to seven storeys high with car park access.
The application by DLP Planning Ltd on behalf of LPS Nottingham Limited seeks permission to create student accommodation, including a car park and ground floor commercial unit.
The application will go before Nottingham City Council’s planning committee tomorrow and has been recommended for approval by planning officers.
If approved, 354 student bedrooms would be created and 48 car parking spaces would be provided in the basement as a public car park.
Amber Jesson, 23, membership coordinator of the Carousel, a nearby multi-purpose art space, thinks the accommodation will negatively impact the nearby Sneinton market.
She said: “I think it’ll block Sneinton market and will impact smaller businesses. Hopefully people will still come to the market but I think it is another blow for the area. I don’t think it is a good idea – there is loads of accommodation already.”
The proposal has been objected to by one local councillor, according to the planning agenda, as they say residents in St Ann’s don’t want more student accommodation and that they need social housing instead.
Nottingham Civic Society also objects to the height and intensity of the proposed purpose-built student accommodation, saying the scale of the buildings would overwhelm the remnants of Victorian and early 20th-century townscape.
Comments from the Civic Society in the report state: “There does not seem to have been any analysis of the impact of this tall development upon some of the long and medium-range views around the Sneinton Market Conservation Area close by.
“Such tall buildings can dilute the presence of traditional landmarks by crowding out views of the Victoria Leisure Centre’s distinctive tower from the north-west or reducing visibility of the unusual silhouette of the Grade Iilisted Park View Flats’ stair towers.
“The density of occupation implied by the scale of these buildings is still too intensive on this site – creating inadequate public space around the buildings for landscaping and sustainability measures, whilst building in pressures on servicing such dense developments, making them unsustainable development contrary to local plan policy.”
Warren Lindsey, 28, supervisor of Bunkers Hill, said he doesn’t want to be surrounded by students.
He said: “There are too many student buildings. I get that there are two universities but I don’t want to end up surrounded by a students. I’m not a fan.”
But Alagie Senghore, 24, a student, said the plans were a good idea.
He said: “It is a good location here for students. The crime is not too much so it is safer here than other areas.”
The development site is within walking distance of Nottingham Trent University campus and other city centre amenities.
Jonathan Poupart, 38, director of store Hobbyspotz, thinks the new accommodation might bring in extra business.
He said: “Students are not our main demographic for our business. But it could possibly still bring in more trade.”
A final decision will be made at tomorrow’s committee meeting.