High-rise planned to house city students
SEVEN-STOREY BUILDING WOULD
PLANS are afoot for a seven-storey student block on land next to Leicester’s Lee Circle car park.
If approved, the block would house 80 units and be built on the corner of Lee Street and Clarence Road, opposite the 1950s car park.
The plans, by developer Sama Investments, have been submitted to Leicester City Council, which agreed to a similar scheme that was submitted by a different developer about five years ago but never went ahead.
The site is currently empty, following the demolition of the two-storey Baby Gear store that used to be at the location.
The developer’s application documents state the Lee Circle area is mostly commercial properties, but with new residential blocks being built recently.
They state: “The proposal is located within the city centre on an angular site at a prominent junction facing Lee Street.
“The land is designated as urban and has been earmarked for regeneration. Land use surrounding the site is primarily commercial, however, some of the most recent developments are showing that residential uses are becoming more common and appropriate for this location.”
The developer added in their application that the proposed block, if approved, would “be a building that has been tailored to suit the operator’s requirements and provide a high quality building to meet the current and future demand for student accommodation in Leicester”.
The block is described as “high quality student accommodation” with “high quality landscaped outdoor amenity space and spacious internal communal areas”.
Each of the 80 single-person flats would have its own kitchen and bathroom, the application states, and there would be parking for bicycles in the building.
The application added that Leicester’s two universities - The University of Leicester and De Montfort University had about 45,180 students living in the city in 2019, which was up from 42,665 the year before.
The Sama Investments document stated: “The increase in the number of full-time students, alongside the trend for second and third year students to stay in purpose-built accommodation, highlights the continued need for high quality student accommodation in Leicester.”
The plan is under consultation, which is due to end on February 1, ahead of a decision being made by Leicester City Council.
Hemel Hempstead, headed up the organised crime group, and was jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property.
Ajmal Akram, 31, also of Thumpers, was Ansar’s lieutenant within the gang, and was jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and possession of criminal property.
The other senior member of the group was Rahoof Khan, 27, also of Thumpers, who orchestrated the gang’s couriers, as well as acting as one himself on several occasions.
He was sentenced in December to 11-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
The group had three regular couriers who were responsible for ferrying the class A drugs up and down the country, returning to Hemel Hempstead with bags containing thousands of pounds at a time. They were:
Wasim Afzal, 44, from St Margaret’s Avenue, Luton, jailed for 11 years and nine months.
Sarfraz Asif, 40, of Dordans Road, Luton, jailed for four and a half years.
Jameel Khan, 27, of Winchester Street, Nottingham, jailed for 10 years.
The following men were customers of the group, buying multiple kilogrammes of cocaine for onward sale:
Ryan Brockley, 36, of Deepdale, Leicester, jailed for five years.
Ahsan Mahmood, 50, of Southlands Avenue, Peterborough, jailed for 11-and-a-half years.
Ben Lewis, 29, of St Swithins Road, Bridport, Dorset, jailed for seven years and two months.
Ali Zarei, 26, of Derngate, Northampton, was jailed for five years and four months.
Hannah Wilkinson, of Ersou, said: “Our unit uses a range of specialist tactics to tackle those at the top end of the drugs supply network and I’m really pleased that, thanks to the tenacity of our officers, we’ve secured our biggest ever combined jail sentence.
“Although criminals at the very top of the chain can seem removed from the devastating impact of drug dealing, the actions of people involved in such groups can still have terrible consequences for those living within our communities; from the vulnerable users who are exploited by the ruthless criminals out to make as much as they can, to those affected by the wide ranging criminality that comes about as a result of drugs supply.
“That is why we are committed to continuing to use our cutting-edge capabilities to ensure we leave no stone unturned in our fight against those involved in the supply business.”