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Jo Shaw, left, and Elizabeth Stanton Jones |
Backlash over proposals for student digs
STUDENTS are no strangers to neighbours’ complaints. But young graduates at Westminster Kingsway have achieved a first – attracting complaints before they have even moved in.
King’s Cross Liberal Democrats, led by Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary campaigner Jo Shaw, have criticised plans to build a 114-bed student dorm next to the protected St George’s Gardens, claiming residents have been kept in the dark about the proposals.
She has raised concerns about the impact students might have on the quiet conservation area around Sidmouth Street.
Under the original plans the site was earmarked for 37 residential flats.
The outcry has come as a shock to the site’s developer, Passion Property Group.
The company’s managing director Paul Seaton said: “We haven’t received any indication that people were upset in any way and we’ve been in talks with the local planning authority for at least 14 months. People panic when they think students are going to be their neighbours but the footprint of this property is the same.”
The following morning, the company released a statement saying the concerns of residents were “a matter of regret” and they were “happy to voluntarily delay” the planning application.
Ms Shaw said: “There is a desperate need for new housing in this area, but the top priority is for affordable and family sized homes. I am concerned that the developer has changed the plans for this site without asking residents for their views.
“A development in such an important site shouldn’t be rushed, or presented on a ‘take-it-or-leave it’ basis.”
King’s Cross campaigner Elizabeth Stanton Jones, a Liberal Democrat, added: “The developer has not given us enough information on the impact of a student dorm close to this special, protected place, or on residential amenity, and is not giving residents time to submit their views.” |
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Your comments:
I AM pleased that the developer behind the application to build an 114-bed student dormitory next to the protected St George's Gardens has now agreed to allow more time for consultation on its plans. Residents living nearby, including on the Sidmouth Mews estate, Heathcote Street and Mecklenburgh Street, were unaware of the proposal, not having received any information from either the developer or the council. Other residents have been away on holiday, so were unable to submit their views. Your article (Backlash over Proposals for Student Digs, CNJ, 13 August) suggests that the desire for a planning application to be properly considered as "complaining". But residents should have a say on what happens in their neighbourhood, and the impact on the character of the area should be properly considered - particularly if the site is in a conservation area, and will affect a wonderfully peaceful listed garden.I would encourage all residents who care about St George's Gardens and this quiet corner of the Bloomsbury conservation area to make their views known to the council.
J. Baktis,
Chair, Friends of St George's Gardens
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