Chester blocks 2,300-bed student scheme
PLANS for a £100m student village with 2,300 rooms on green belt land close to Chester were thrown out last night.
A meeting of Cheshire West and Chester’s full council blocked the plan by Bell Developments with 51 councillors voting against and just one in favour. There were three abstentions.
Planning officers had recommended refusal of the 67-acre development, which would have included a Sir Steve Redgrave sports institute, saying it failed to demonstrate the special circumstances required to develop green belt land.
Planners ruled the scheme, on the edge of Blacon, would obstruct views of historic buildings on the city’s skyline, describing it as “a major incursion into the open countryside which would adversely affect the rural character of the area”.
An identical application by Bell, owned by Chester-based brothers Dave and Mike Bell, was knocked back in January. The latest proposal generated thousands of objections including a petition of 2,670 names, but there was support, particularly from those who claim some parts of the city have been blighted by student accommodation.
Objectors included Chester MP Stephen Mosley, Mollington and Saughall parish councils, Chester Civic Trust, Chester Archaeological Society and the Council for the Protection of Rural England.
AEW Architects carried out the master planning for the scheme.
