Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
BACK AGAIN
Third bid for 45 student flats
A fresh bid has been launched to build a block containing dozens of student flats – three years after similar plans were snubbed.
Proposals have been lodged to transform the former Air Training Corps hut in Cossington Road, Canterbury, into a twoand-a-half-storey building comprising 45 one-bed apartments. The plot was at the centre of controversy in 2017 after developer Urban Start mounted two failed attempts to build student accommodation on the site. But Cossington Road Developments is hoping the new scheme is more acceptable. Documents submitted to Canterbury City Council on behalf of the company read: “It is considered that the revised design will no longer result in an adverse impact on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.
“The proposals will boost the provision of purpose-built student accommodation in an area of identified need.”
They also describe the existing structure, which is no longer in use, as “a departure from its surroundings”, adding that it “exhibits no historic interest”. Cossington Road Developments is pledging to create just four parking spaces – two of which will be reserved for disabled residents – as it hopes to make the project “car-free”. Plans to demolish the hut and replace it with a three-storey student flats block were refused by the city council in 2017.
The application received dozens of objections from residents, who argued that more than a third of properties in the area were already homes of multiple occupation (HMOS) lived in by students.
This week, David Kemsley, from the Oaten Hill and South Canterbury Association, told the Gazette that the “offending elements” of the previous applications have been removed by the developer.
But he added: “The association has long been concerned about the substantial over provision of purpose-built student accommodation in our area. “Large intrusive buildings have been put up with scant regard for the city’s rich heritage. Covid-19 is a game-changer. “The indications are that in future the demand for student residences in the City will decline.
“If this is so it is highly questionable with this scheme along with the many other developments in the pipeline will ever be used for its intended purpose.”