A LONG-RUNNING saga concerning a major student flats development overlooking York’s historic Roman Walls may come to a close next week.
Plans for 3,4 and 5-storey student accommodation at the Enterprise Rent-a-car site at 15 Foss Islands Road come before City of York Council’s planning committee next Thursday (March 7) and are recommended for approval.
Gregory Properties have resubmitted similar plans for the 133 flats, which were refused by councillors last July, despite support from planning officers then, though the developer has now addressed the reasons for refusal.
Planning committee refused the development, saying it would take away employment land and members said the rooms would be too small, also lacking enough community social spaces.
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A report prepared by council planning staff notes the Guildhall Planning Panel opposed the application, saying it was overdevelopment of the 0.2ha site. The buildings would be too high and the small size and poor location of the common rooms “adds nothing to the social ambience.”
York Civic Trust said the dark form of the proposed buildings were ‘blocky’ in nature and do not respect the setting of the area, lacking a sense of ‘Yorkness’ and “contrasting harshly with its surroundings.” The flats lacked amenity due to their size and lack of communal space.
Eight further representations to the council believed the scheme would also increase crime and anti-social behaviour. They also wanted student flats provided on-site by universities, adding there were too many student flats nearby.
The report said the internal arrangement of the flats has been amended but the site layout and external appearance is unchanged to what was refused last year.
The applicants now cited how there was a need for student flats. These met building guidelines and were consistent with the sizes of other such flats in York.
The current buildings on the site were in poor condition, difficult to insure and would need much investment for industrial/commercial use, making this unlikely. The distance from York station made the site unsuited for offices.
The report concluded that planning officers are satisfied that the previous reasons for refusal have been addressed. The benefits of the scheme also outweighed the negatives, meeting a need for student accommodation, with the loss of employment land no longer sufficient grounds to refuse the application.
National planning policy seeks a ‘strong, responsive and competitive economy’ which would not be compromised by this scheme, officers explained.
Therefore, approval was recommended subject to the signing of a Section 106 agreement, which demands a developer contribution to the council of £711,772.78 towards the provision of affordable housing off-site.
In addition, a further £14,647 would also have to be contributed to improve the amenity open space within the nearby Hull Road Park and/or St Nicolas Fields Nature Reserve, the planning staff have also recommended.
A spokesperson for Gregory Property Group commented: “We are pleased that Officers are recommending Councillors approve these plans as this brownfield site can deliver high quality student accommodation and we are now proposing a significant contribution towards affordable housing.
“Over recent months we have worked constructively with Officers and taken on board comments from the previous committee and improved the plans to address concerns that were previously raised.
“This site has been vacant for some time and these plans breathe new life into it through a high-quality development.”
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