Student flats approved despite warning it will ‘destroy’ the lives of elderly neighbors

Plans to demolish a former garage and build student flats over three floors in Filton have been approved at the second attempt, despite fears it would “destroy” the lives of elderly neighbours. South Gloucestershire councilors voted 8-1 to give permission to replace Filton Central Garage with a new 75-bed UWE student block after developers changed the design to reduce the height slightly and make the roofs pitched instead of pay.

But 115 residents, the town council and both ward members opposed it with concerns about the impact on older people living in sheltered housing over the road in Hanover Court, along with road safety, pressure on local amenities, overlooking nearby houses and “surveillance” building. Last month, the development management committee deferred a decision after councilors disagreed on whether it should be given or refused approval, bizarrely voting against both outcomes by 5-4.

When proposals for the site between Gloucester Road North and Rectory Lane came back on Thursday, June 6, most members were happy with the changes. But Cllr Paul Hughes (Conservative, Bitton & Oldland Common), who this time voted alone against, told the meeting: “I didn’t really understand the impact this would have on older people with a certain vulnerability.

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“It’s going to be a huge, overwhelming situation there. Do we really want Filton to become an annex of the University of the West of England?

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“It’s an overdevelopment, maybe it’s going to destroy the lives of a lot of people who live there, and we should consider that very hard. We are here to help our residents, not to help the University of the West of England or the developers.”

Resident Michelle Greaves told the committee that the building would be four meters above the first floor windows of Hanover Court and that the design was “over-dominant” and “overlooking” with an “unacceptable view level” She said: “Approving this development fails to recognize the needs of elderly and vulnerable residents, who are a priority for South Gloucestershire.”

Ms Greaves said a restrictive covenant prohibited any use that would cause a nuisance or for a business other than a garage and there had been no public consultation on the revised plans by Sampson Homes, which reduced the height of the building by 70 cm. Ward Cllr Monk (Labour, Filton) said previous planning applications next to the site which were rejected were “significantly smaller” than the proposed student block.

Ward Cllr Alex Doyle (Labour, Filton) said the developers had improved the design but added: “We have to consider the weight of objection in the community, which is significant. Residents are looking to move from Hanover Court because of this development.”

He said the plans would not stop family homes in the town being converted into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) as students would have to find somewhere else to live after their first year of accommodation. Planning agent Paul Jobson said factual inaccuracies from the previous meeting needed to be corrected, including the false claim that UWE had objected when it only offered suggestions to the local council for improvements and had now written in support.

He said the covenants did not apply to the site and were not a planning consideration even if they did. Cllr June Bamford (Conservative, Hanham) said: “The design is a bit better.

“I feel for the old people of Hanover Court. They become very vulnerable, don’t like change and are worried when maybe they don’t need to be so worried. It’s going to be student accommodation, it’s not going to be an addictions center or a hostel for released prisoners, it’s going to be students – I know they can make a lot of noise, but they’ll probably be at university most of the time. .”

Cllr Mike Drew (Lib Dem, Yate North) said: “Such accommodation would reduce the pressure on HMOs elsewhere in Filton and could free up more domestic accommodation. The design is a huge improvement.”

South Gloucestershire Council’s director of development, Marie Bath, told members: “The recommendation is approval again. We believe that the applicants listened to the concerns of the members at the last committee.

“We consider the impact on residential amenities to be acceptable. Of course it’s going to have an impact on the residents – they’re going from fairly low garage buildings to a fairly tall building, we can’t argue with that.

“The noise at a garage could be worse than student accommodation. There is no planning reason to demonstrate that this would have an adverse impact on the health and well-being of residents.”