City council planning a city of students?
IS it the city council’s policy now to develop Nottingham entirely into a student city? It would seem so.
I have long had concerns about the numbers of students in Nottingham and the associated developments of prime sites for new accommodation.
These concerns continue and indeed increase every week.
I have said to Councillor Graham Chapman, when he was deputy council leader, Councillor Battlemuch and others in the past that developing more and more student accommodation only encourages the two universities and also colleges to recruit more students and there is continuing evidence of this.
I am not against students. Indeed, I welcome them in the city and often engage with them at the university and on city transport. The numbers are the problem.
A new application is with the city council for the old sorting offices on Parliament Street and the developers themselves state that there are now 64,000 students in Nottingham and a 28 percent increase is projected over the coming years. I believe that taking into account other colleges and places of higher learning the number of 64,000 is probably higher.
Pretty well every day in the Nottingham Post I seem to read of more student sccommodation plans and applications My concerns are:
1. Many students are exempt from paying council tax and yet they place a burden on the city’s finances and this burden on we council taxpayers will increase significantly.
2. It is often stated that students bring more footfall into the city but I would suggest that their main interests are fast food outlets and music and leisure outlets. They mostly shop online for essential items and the retail trade in the city will become increasingly devastated. More people will go to outlying retail parks and centres for much domestic shopping to the severe detriment of the city centre. “Goodbye Retail Nottingham” looms.
3. Prime brownfield sites are being gobbled up and the City Centre will be transformed into pretty well a huge University complex, again to the detriment of the city. Look at current consideration to restore long-lost valued sites, eg Drury Hill whose loss was always much lamented. Similar mistakes will be made.
4. These sites could be developed for other business and commercial operations attractive to outside businesses to the huge benefit of the City. As well as accommodation for other needy people of the city eg. young professionals and couples and families.
I am apolitical myself but I really do feel as others now seem to that this current council is totally devoid of any meaningful strategy for our proud city and is doing irreparable harm to it. Perhaps developing it into a student city is their undeclared aim. If others feel the same way as myself it really is time for people to reflect and speak out before it is too late.
John Chambers Wollaton