Developer tries again with student scheme

Developer Godwin is to try again to get a planning student accommodation block past the planners in Derby.

The firm wants to build the 77-apartment scheme on Agard Street, but plans for an eight-storey building were turned down by Derby City Council planning committee last summer, which said it would have an adverse impact on listed buildings in the area.

Despite the development being supported by Marketing Derby in a letter from the organisation’s managing director John Forkin, the City Council’s planning department said: “On balance, the public benefits of the proposed residential development are outweighed by the significant adverse impacts, by virtue of its design, overall layout, scale, and overwhelming massing impact in this location.”

Now, Godwin has made changes to its proposed scheme, with the bulk of the development concentrated over six-storeys and a new exterior that architect RG+P say will be more in-keeping with its surroundings.

The new proposals also outline a change from 77 apartments available for anyone to buy or rent to 148 studio apartments for students only.