Exeter student flats investment "biggest since Princesshay"

More than 2,000 beds announced on Streatham Campus

Exeter University’s £260million investment in new accommodation will be the biggest in the city since Princesshay, councillors have been told.

The accommodation will be built for more than 2,000 students at West Park on the Streatham campus.

It was raised during a discussion on completely separate plans by a private developer to build a nine-storey block of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) on the site of the former King Billy pub in Longbrook Street, next to the John Lewis department store.

One councillor described the proposed new King Billy block as a ‘carbuncle’, but the city council’s planning committee voted by nine to two to let it go ahead.

Director of city development Ian Collinson told members that there was evidence of unmet demand for homes for students attending the fast-growing university.

He said: “The university – and the students that come to the university – make a huge contribution to Exeter’s economy, in terms of the vitality and viability of the city centre.

“Lots of businesses depend on the income they get from students spending money in the area.”

Cllr Yvonne Atkinson (Lab, Alphington) said it was the university that made Exeter an ‘economic powerhouse’, and its students needed homes.

On the King Billy proposal she added: “This is an ideal place for students to be, right in the center of nightife and next to all the retail outlets which they will no doubt frequent and create good trading for that particular locality.”

Objectors said they were worried about the effect of increasing the number of students living in the St James area of the city, but Cllr Atkinson said: “I live 100 metres from five PBSAs, and students are not a problem.”

Earlier, however, Liberal Democrat councillor Tammy Palmer, who represents Duryard and St James, told the committee there were already more than 12,000 PBSA beds in the ward.

She added: “The goal is to create inclusive, well-designed places with accessible services fostering vibrant communities and sustainable development. I would argue that this development achieves none of that.

“St James is quite unique. It is accepted that we will always bear the brunt of the majority of students. We live in such close proximity to the university and students are very welcome. They form very much part of that vibrant community, but only if that community is sustainable and balanced and I think we all accept that St James is anything but.”

Cllr Michael Mitchell (Lib Dem, Duryard and St James) added; “People say you’re anti-student, but it’s about maintaining communities and community resilience.

“Students add to a community. If they weren’t there, my local  shop would close. They  bring a lively attitude to our communities. The problem is when you get the imbalance of students within a given community and the impact that has on other services for long-term residents.

“This application would lead to an overconcentration of this type of development within its immediate area.”

And on the design of the blocks he added: “To paraphrase the King I think this development is a carbuncle on the side of a much-loved building.

“This is overdevelopment of the site. The massing is overpowering.”