Welcome to Exeter St James Community Trust
Some excellent news –
Pennsylvania Road Student Block Appeal Dismissed
Last year, in defence of our Neighbourhood Plan’s objective of securing a balanced community, many objected to plans to build a student HMO in the back garden of this property and were rewarded when ECC’s Planning Committee refused the application. The owner immediately appealed against this decision and now the Planning Inspector’s findings have been published.
In coming to a decision to dismiss the appeal the Inspector cites various pieces of planning legislation, including NP Policy H1: Heritage –
‘Development affecting heritage assets within St James must pay special regard to the need to conserve and enhance their settings and any special architectural or historic features of significance.‘
The main thrust of his rejection though relates to the impact of the proposal on community balance and cites the following:
Exeter Local Plan Policy H5(b) which supports the development of student housing provided that:
‘The proposal will not create an over concentration of the use in any one area of the city which would change the character of the neighbourhood or create an imbalance in the local community.’
and
Exeter St James Neighbourhood Plan Policy C3 which states that:
‘The development of small scale purpose built student accommodation will be permitted provided that the proposal would not prejudice the objective of creating a balanced community
Significantly, in reaching his conclusion to dismiss the Inspector states:
“I have no doubt that the immediate area around the appeal site, already contains an imbalance in the community weighted towards students …….. the proposal would lead to an over concentration of student accommodation resulting in a harmful imbalance in the local community. As such, it is contrary to LP Policy H5 and NP Policy C3.”
This negative impact on community balance and the non-compliance with NP C3 and LPH5(b) provides sound material for use in any further applications for student accommodation.
