PLANS for more student homes along the canal in Leamington Old Town have been revealed.
The £15 million development – on the Mercia Metals scrap yard site in Wise Street – will see self-contained student accommodation consisting of 198 en-suite bed spaces split into apartments, studio apartments and penthouses.
The development will be fully managed with reception, recreational space, 24/7 warden security, car and cycle parking, managed refuse storage and collection with transport links to the University of Warwick.
A spokesman for Robothams Architects, who are carrying out the project, said: “This fully managed self-contained development will help satisfy the student demand releasing family homes that have been converted to HMO’s, back into the local community. “We appreciate the reservations that local residents have towards student developments, however the irregular shape of
the site combined with the electric substation location limits the potential for alternative uses.
“The development will help rejuvenate this neglected area of old town and is an opportunity to rid this area of a noisy scrap yard.”
Concerns have already been raised over the number of students living in the area.
A proposal for a 187 room development just a few hundred yards away alongside the Grand Union Canal on the old BT site, was granted planning permission in January, and there are also plans to build a further 26 students rooms on the site of the neighboruing Priors Club.
In 2012 Station House was built opposite the railway station providing purpose-built accommodation for some 400 students.
Although recognised students provide a major boost to the local economy, they have also been the focus of a number of problems over the years including rowdy behaviour and piles of end of term rubbish.
