‘Students are taking over the place – there’ll be nothing left’
BEESTON RESIDENTS FEAR FOR CHARACTER OF THEIR TOWN AS PLANS ARE REVEALED TO DEMOLISH A ‘LOVELY’ SHOP AND BUILD A FOUR-STOREY BLOCK OF APARTMENTS IN ITS PLACE
FEARS that student housing is “taking over” Beeston were raised as a proposal to create a block of flats close to the town centre was submitted.
The latest project is earmarked for the corner of High Road and Marlborough Road and includes the demolition of a former carpet shop.
The demolition would make way for a four-storey block with 54 apartments, but the plan has been met with concern among many residents.
Retired cleaner Carol Churchill, 73, who lives in Beeston, said: “There are enough student places here – they are taking over the place, every building.
“It’s just a shame – there will be nothing left soon.
“I think we could do with a decent shop – Wilko is too small and B&M is too small.”
Michael Hallett, 78, a retired Players worker, of Wollaton, said he wasn’t against the development as the long as the students “behave themselves”.
“You don’t want house parties and everything and music going on until 2 or 3 in the morning. They get a lot of that Lenton way,” he said.
The latest plans come after proposals were revealed for a new “student village”, with separate developers hoping to convert the former Nottingham College campus in High Road, Chilwell, into student accommodation.
Speaking about the latest plans for the former King’s Carpets shop, Rhidian Jones, 44, who lives in Beeston, said it would be a shame for a “pretty building” to be redeveloped into “another faceless block of student flats”.
“I can’t really imagine there’s a shortage of those kind of developments really,” he said.
“I’m just wondering if it’s absolutely necessary. There’s quite a bit of student accommodation about.”
Asked about what he’d like to see instead, he said: “I would like to think it would be something that would benefit the community.
“In general what that is at the moment I don’t know. Covid has had a big impact on the high street, on retail.
“So it just joins the ranks of another empty shop premises.”
Anthony Verdon, 68, who lives in Beeston and works in IT, said: “My thoughts are that they really ought to consider the character of an area.
“You look at the devastation in the centre of Nottingham because of buildings that pay no regard to the character of the area.
“The high street is the main part [of Beeston], that is getting run down.
“They [developers] are not really uniting the area into one homogeneous centre. In a way, they are destroying the area.
“This is a lovely building – why not do something with it and rejuvenate the area?
“Student accommodation is not really rejuvenating the area.”
The site has been vacant for about two-and-a-half years, said Julian Owen, owner of Julian Owen Associates Architects.
“It’s within easy walking distance, under five minutes [to the University of Nottingham],” he said.
“That would be the west entrance. I am aware of local feeling about HMOS which, in a way, I sympathise with, but there is a demand clearly for student housing in the area.
“That’s not because landlords or people like our client are creating student accommodation. Students are already there.
“If people are unhappy with the number of students in the area it’s a question, I would suggest, for the university.
“It’s really a question of accommodating all the students in the best possible way in the community.
“As I understand it from our client his intention is that the students that will come to his property would otherwise quite easily be in HMOS in residential streets.”
He added: “What we’re proposing here is to consolidate them into one block.
“They are close to the university itself, there are residents on Marlborough Road but actually it’s on to the High Road – a lot of that’s commercial use.
“So it seems like a very good way of dealing with the current problems that have been expressed by the residents in Beeston.”
He is working on the project on behalf of his client Sandip Leihal.