Green light for city centre student tower block

The tower blocks are proposed for the junction of London Road and Queen's Road

A tower block for more than 400 students has been approved after a debate over fears Nottingham has reached its "saturation point".

Development consultants Lichfields and architecture practice Consarc had proposed a 22-storey tower and two smaller blocks on the site of demolished industrial units at the junction of Queen’s Road and London Road.

Revised plans for an L-shaped block with 12 storeys were backed by Nottingham City Council's planning committee at a meeting on Wednesday.

A decision on the larger structure and a smaller tower was deferred by councillors in October and will be resubmitted next year.

'What about families?'

The approved building has undergone a number of revisions, including a change of materials and colour.

Nottingham Independents councillor Kevin Clarke was the only councillor to object to the plans, citing fears Queen’s Road and the south of the city was becoming “over-saturated” with students.

“I think the saturation point has been reached in the area,” the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

“Where are the houses for families? It’s fine you saying there is a need for students, but what about the needs for families?”

The city council said it had so far avoided a university housing crisis seen in other places across the country, such as Durham, but still had a shortfall of about 5,500 student beds.

'Meeting demand'

If more accommodation is not provided it said students may be forced to rent out housing in the suburbs, and said the current vacancy rate was just above one per cent for student beds, meaning demand remains very high.

Labour councillors also argued the site could not be used for family homes, adding land in the south of the city and the Meadows was “limited”.

Michael Edwards, chairman of the planning committee, said: “We’ve had flats taken by homeless families across the city, so that has been a step forward in terms of providing for family need, but there is not that much land left in the Meadows.

“The commercial demand is for student accommodation and is for apartments and we are meeting that as best we can.”