Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Huge complex of student flats set for final approval
Neighbours protest over ‘monolithic structure’
Planners are poised to approve a complex of 224 student flats in central Canterbury – despite massive opposition.
Residents argue the fourstorey building on the former Dairy Crest site in Military Road will create noise and clash with the existing urban landscape.
However, a report going before the city council’s planning committee next week recommends approving the application.
Officers have given the scheme their backing provided the developer puts money into “transportation infrastructure improvements” and tenants do not bring cars to the development except when moving in or out.
Objector Catherine Davis is among those who live on the square behind the site, which consists of Alma, Clyde and Notley streets, and would rather see the building of council houses.
She said: “There are more than 2,000 local people on the housing waiting list and they deserve homes.
“I have been trying to convince the planning department that the proposed development is totally wrong for the square, but it is not listening to local people.”
Janet Varley lives in Clyde Street, which will face the new complex.
She said: “It appears, as is becoming the norm these days, that no real consideration has been given to the local surroundings or people who live here in the long term, either architectur- ally or practically. The existing houses closest to the site will lose all of their privacy and a good deal of light, and the levels of potential disturbance from student life, as can be seen in other parts of the city, especially late at night, would be appalling.”
Penny Steele, of Alma Street, added: “The streets are peaceful at night. People look out for their neighbours and try to keep their neighbourhood clean and tidy.
“The proposed building of 224 student flats on one side of the square housed in a four-storey monolithic structure is completely at odds with the character and height of existing buildings, goes against the council’s own development plans and fails at every stage of the guidelines for planning permission.”
Developer CSQ Ltd is applying to replace the disused light industrial dairy building with 224 studio flats for students in two-, three- and four-storey blocks.
Its agent, DHA Planning, insists that such developments help relieve the pressure put upon residential streets to accommodate students attending Canterbury’s three universities and is an effective use of brownfield land in the centre of the city.
It adds that a private management firm would oversee the flats on a day-to-day basis, which would include dealing with antisocial behaviour.
The planning committee meeting takes place in The Guildhall at 6.30pm on Tuesday, March 29. It is open to the public.