Student housing at cricket club ground

Re: Bath Cricket Club application for a 136 bed student accommodation block and replacement cricket training facility. The residents of Bath may not all be aware of the above proposal for yet another bulky purpose-built student accommodation block to be placed over the car park, and the opportunity to comment on this proposal has now passed. So it has been proposed that Bath Preservation Trust might garner support to bring a Judicial Review against it. People also may not know that the council has approved the application, against the advice of their officers and also of Historic England. This too despite 41 objections from those who live nearby in a district already densely occupied by students in purpose built blocks and who fear losing the generous wide and distant views across from North Parade Road to Beechen Cliff. The proposal only received support from 26 individuals who don’t live in the area for the most part, and who only consider the benefits of renewing the cricket school alone without thinking of the impact of yet more student accommodation in the city. The argument has been put forward that purpose-built student blocks reduce the number of HMOS (houses of multiple occupancy) around the city, but the council has recently taken some steps to try to mitigate the rise of HMOS and there is also good argu- ment for The University of Bath increasing the accommodation on its own campus, where there is currently air space above their car parks which could be built over. I am not in any way against students themselves. It is not their fault that the city does not receive any rate payments from them although they create much work for the rubbish collectors! I write this as a private citizen of Bath and not on behalf of any organisation. Michèle Gross Pulteney Gardens Bath