On 22nd January 2015, 6.30 to ~8.00pm, a public meeting on student accommodation was held in the Town Hall. The meeting was called and chaired by Roberta Blackman-Woods, the MP for Durham City. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss planning applications and schemes in development for purpose built student accommodation in the City centre. The schemes discussed comprised: The County Hospital, Lower Claypath, Kepier Court, Berendsen Laundry and The Gates.
The meeting raised a number of issues and concerns about these schemes:
Design & Scale
The design, massing and scale of the proposed buildings are inappropriate, and damaging to the character of the areas they are located in. For the County Hospital and Lower Claypath schemes, which are in strategic positions in the conservation area, this will be detrimental to the historic character and buildings of the City, affect views to and from the World Heritage site, and result in a negative impact on tourism. The potential for refurbishing and making the historic buildings a central focus of the schemes is not being realised.
Population & Housing
The schemes are located in areas which already have large student populations, e.g. estimated at 87-88% in the viaduct area, ~90% in the Kepier Court area. They will worsen the already significantly unbalanced community in the City centre. Suggestions were made for other uses for these sites, e.g. housing for families, older people and young professionals, retail and commercial properties, cultural amenities and amenities for tourists. Though students do contribute to the economy of the City centre, they are only present for ~6/7 months of the year. In vacations, businesses are negatively affected. A more balanced community would bring year-long economic activity to the City centre. Additionally, students and the owners of full-time student accommodation are exempt from paying council tax.
The concentration of significant numbers of students in the City centre which is also the main evening leisure centre for the surrounding areas raises concerns about antisocial behaviour and safety of individuals.
The argument for purpose built student accommodation is that this will result in students moving from terrace housing in the City centre and thereby releasing his housing for permanent residents. This outcome is not obvious: what do the students think? Will owners of buy-to-let properties just lower prices leading to a bidding war? Will unused properties be saleable, or will they stay empty and deteriorate? How much money will need to be spent on returning these properties to family homes? The reclaiming of such properties will require action and management by the Council and the involvement of organisations such as housing associations.
Infrastructure
The impact of these schemes on the infrastructure of the City centre has not been considered. The schemes provide little or no off street parking. Students living out of college cannot be prevented from bringing cars to Durham. Even if only a minority of students bring cars, this will have a significant negative impact on car parking and level of traffic in the narrow and constrained streets in the City centre. The pressure at the beginning and end of terms will be huge as students arrive or depart en masse. Emergency access to these schemes is poor. The Berendsen Laundry is located on a busy intersection on the main A167 road and near to two schools. This raises safety concerns for the schoolchildren, as well as for the students. Students will also have a large impact on the bus services on routes from the City centre to University sites.
Policy & Need
An effective policy on purpose built student accommodation and houses in multiple occupancy is required. This policy needs to be implemented and its implementation monitored and enforced. The County Council produced a policy for student accommodation – Policy 32, Houses in Multiple Occupation and Student Accommodation – in the Durham County Local Plan. At the Examination in Public of the County Plan, local residents argued that this policy was completely ineffective and unsound. The Inspector required the Council to hold a meeting with objectors to try and improve the policy. Until the Inspector’s decision on the Plan, and his views on Policy 32, have been published and considered it is premature for the Council to make any planning decisions about proposals for purpose built student accommodation.
There is no need for this quantity of purpose built student accommodation. The University has a moderate growth strategy with an increase of only ~500 in student numbers up to 2020. They have plans to increase the percentage of student beds in University colleges to a minimum of 50%.
The schemes need to be considered as a whole, not as individual, isolated proposals, because of the cumulative effect they will have on the balance of the City’s community and the nature, character, and infrastructure of the City centre.
Actions
The following actions were agreed:
- Roberta Blackham-Woods will write to the Council and to the Inspector.
- Individual residents should write to the Council about their views on individual applications.
- The residents groups in the City centre should hold a joint meeting to consider joint action.
- Volunteers for the Durham City Neighbourhood Planning Forum are needed.
