PLANNERS have approved another major student accommodation block near York’s Walmgate, paving the way for an electrical retailer to re-locate to an out-of-town shopping park.
The three and four-storey block for 106 students will be built on the current site of Herbert Todd & Son in Percy’s Lane, which will move next year to new purpose-built premises at Monks Cross.
The student block, which will feature a study space, gym, common room, games room and courtyard area and even a cinema as well as a mix of one, three, five and six bedroom en-suite apartments and townhouses, is due to be completed by the start of the 2018/19 academic year.
City of York Council’s planning committee approved the scheme, despite concerns raised by Paul Murphy, of the National Centre for Early Music, about its scale and mass, which meant it would overtop and overshadow the centre’s base at St Margaret’s Church, a grade one listed building nearby.
He also raised concerns about the potential noise from construction work during the centre’s 40th anniversary Early Music Festival next July, and during wedding receptions, which were held at the centre to raise commercial revenue following cuts in public funding.
Chris Hale, of the applicant S Harrison Developments, said it was planned for work on the foundations to be completed by the time of the festival, and efforts would be made to try to prevent work on Saturdays disrupting wedding receptions.
He also said the building would be ‘sympathetic to the surroundings’ and ‘compatible with the setting.’ He said afterwards:” “In recent years there has been a lot of development on Percy’s Lane, and this site is one of the last pieces of the jigsaw, so the new building has been specifically designed to enhance the local streetscape and complement its surroundings.”
He said such schemes played a vital role in reducing demand for student homes in York’s housing stock following rapid growth of the University of York and York St John University.
David Todd from Herbert Todd & Son, said its new premises would help it build its presence and continue growing.
lA separate application for another new student accommodation block in Mansfield Street was deferred.
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