CAMPAIGNERS have accused the city’s university and council chiefs of failing to control ‘spiralling’ student numbers in Chester following a heated public debate on the matter.
Chester Communities Together action group held a city wide meeting attended by residents divided by controversial proposals to build a student village on greenbelt between Mollington and Blacon in Chester.
Organisers say the meeting focused on the need for dedicated hostel provision for the city’s growing student population, and told how it prompted a ‘storm’ of protest directed at both Chester University management and Chester West and Chester Council (CWaC). Organisers said the meeting was addressed by members of the
CWAC planning department and by Mike Bell of Bell Developments who have put forward a proposal for the student village at Mollington for up to 3,000 students.
A statement on behalf of Chester Communities Together said: “Many had expected to see the controversial Bell Developments proposal for a student village at Parkgate Road take centre stage.
“On the night the Bell Developments proposal was subject of both opposition and support, but it was the council and university that were the subject of strong words of criticism for what residents from across the city generally agree was a failure to control a spiralling increase in student houses in multiple occupancy in Chester’s residential streets.”
The University of Chester recently announced plans for a 203-bed student accommodation facility on the parkgate Road campus. The university is expected to submit a planning application for the proposal to Cheshire West and Chester Council in the next couple of months and, if approved, construction work would start during the summer of 2011 with the aim of completion at the start of the 2012/2013 academic year.
If the plans go ahead some university owned housing stock could be released back into the local market in the community around the main campus which will help to redress the balance in the local community, the university has said. But campaigners claim a clearer strategy needs to be unveiled with regards to future plans for possible rising student numbers in the city.
Strong feelings of disappointment and anger at the fact that the University of Chester had declined to attend the meeting were noted.
The statement from Chester Communities Together added: “The independently chaired meeting saw speaker after speaker from many areas of Chester voice strong criticism of CWAC for what they claim is a long standing failure to audit and responsibly manage this growth in student numbers by way of planning and delivering dedicated student accommodation away from residential streets.
Residents of the Garden Lane area close to the Parkgate Road university campus protested that houses in streets in their area were now up to 100 per cent and on average nearly 80 per cent student occupied.”
They complained that despite many attempts over the years to get the university and council to focus on relieving this pressure nothing has been done.
A spokesman for the university of Chester said: “The university’s vice-chancellor does meet community representatives on a regular basis. However, he was unable to attend this meeting due to a prior engagement.”