PLANS to build accommodation for nearly 300 students alongside the canal in Leamington have been shelved.
Business owners in the Althorpe Street area teamed up to create Althorpe Street Developments but the planning application to Warwick District Council – which received nearly 100 objections online – has since been withdrawn.
Many nearby residents say south Leamington is becoming overrun with students and the proposed development – which if given the green light would have been built around 100 metres from The Union student accommodation, which has 187 bedrooms and was built around two years ago – would only add to the problem.
Coun Kristie Naimo welcomed the news.
She said: “I’m pleased to see this planning application has been withdrawn. I’ve not yet heard why but hopefully they are aware this development is not welcome in south Leamington.
“The reality is this is a student accommodation development with some office spaces underneath – which does nothing to protect and support the valuable services and current employment use of the site.
“If the applicant were truly committed to ‘regeneration’ of the area, they would have taken on board the comments made at the public consultation and over the past few years that this project has been discussed. This is not about regenerating south Leamington but making the most money from a site.”
Althorpe Street Developments previously said the area was underused and had suffered from lack of investment.
They also said the area had become a magnet for crime and drug users and hoped the work would ‘kick start’ regeneration’ of the area.
They hoped to create a ‘canalside culture’ for residents and support surrounding universities.
When the plans were originally unveiled a spokesman for the developers said: “We want to build a vibrant community to bring positivity and creative minds to Leamington.”
