‘Nonsensical’ plans to build more than 400 flats in the middle of Manchester’s largest student areas have been knocked back by the city’s planning committee.
Councillors and planning officers agreed that the redevelopment of the Usdaw headquarters in Fallowfield would have an ‘overbearing’ impact on residential properties and Platt Fields Park.
The committee also disagreed with developer Watkin Jones’ claims that the 425 flats proposed would reduce the number students living in homes in multiple occupation (HMOs).
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If approved two buildings, 13 storeys and five storeys high, would be built on the site while the Victorian-era Oakley Villa would have been refurbished.
More than 250 objections were lodged against the scheme, which was refused planning permission on Thursday despite pleas from Usdaw’s general secretary Paddy Lillis.
Mr Lillis told the meeting that the union had been based at Wilmslow Road for over a century but the site ‘no longer meets our changing needs’.
“Despite leaving Fallowfield we were keen to leave behind a positive legacy,” he said.
“We are aware of issues in Fallowfield associated with housing and the spread of student HMOs into non-student residential areas.
“However our daily reality working on this site opposite to the University of Manchester’s Owens Park campus is that it is an island in the middle of a key student area with a predominantly student population.
“We believe plans for a well designed well managed purpose-built student accommodation scheme in this location will help attract students out of poor quality HMOs and meet the growing need for high quality student accommodation in this city.”
But Kattie Kincaid, a Fallowfield resident, said the development would ‘overshadow’ Platt Fields Park and further urbanise an already ‘unbalanced’ neighbourhood.
The meeting heard that students make up 64 per cent of Fallowfield’s population, and that 10 to 20 per cent is considered the ‘tipping point’ by Manchester council.
Ms Kincaid said: “At best this makes residents feel undervalued and very isolated, and at worst leads to physical and mental health problems, leaves people vulnerable to crime and results in a really serious lack of social cohesion.
“These problems are experienced by residential and student populations, that is not a recipe for a happy neighbourhood.
“The applicants suggest that students will move away from HMOs and into their block, but experience shows us this is not the case.
“Students don’t tend to live in halls for the duration of their courses but move to a house nearby. This is the student experience most are looking for.”
Ms Kincaid suggested that the Usdaw site had ‘significant potential’ to be a ‘quality residential development’ that would serve as a ‘catalyst’ for Fallowfield.
Fallowfield councillor Zahra Alijah agreed and said Usdaw needed to replace their headquarters with something more ‘in keeping with what the union stood for’.
Mr Lillis’ remarks were also rebuffed by the councillor, who said: “The idea that it’s an island surrounded by students is nonsensical.
“There are long standing residents in Fallowfield that we’ve been working with over the years to mitigate the impact of existing students in Fallowfield.”
Watkin Jones had told planners that they had received the backing of the University of Manchester despite there being no formal agreement for the supply of accommodation.
Such agreements are one of several requirements that new student accommodation schemes need to pass in order to meet council policy.
Before voting to refuse the application, committee member Councillor Suzanne Richards said: “This is the second time we have had an application come to us where there has been a glaring inconsistency in the views of the universities and an approach that has been agreed by the universities with the city council.
“That’s something that makes it quite difficult for us when taking planning decisions, that the universities are not being consistent and actually supporting the city and the communities within which they are established.”
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