Campaigners are dismayed after an inspector suggested only minor changes to the council’s proposed development plan with no concessions to opponents of city centre ‘studentification’.
Kevin Ward recently listened to evidence at Chester Town Hall about the draft Local Plan from the council, developers and residents keen to protect the countryside from urban sprawl.
Mr Ward said he would be suggesting a series of ‘main modifications’ because the document was ‘not sound in a number of respects’ but a briefing to members comments that his initial recommendations “are fairly limited in nature and do not relate to the Plan’s approach with regard to the overall housing requirement, the distribution of the housing requirement or the approach to green belt”.
Reg Barritt of Handbridge Residents’ Council, said concerns around studentification had been brought to the inspector’s attention and he hoped the issue would be tackled in the revisions, which will go out to public consultation from September 8.
Mr Barritt, who reserves judgement until the inspector’s final statement, added: “Having read what has been published though I have little hope now of securing any recommendation in favour of our objective given the inspector has not even acknowledged the term studentification.
“The council briefing suggests no changes to greenbelt policy which leaves us with a potential university development at a floodplain site – Glen Esk Farm – next to the main campus the university bought some years ago for £2.64m, but with no recognition that in general such provision does not merit recognition of such provision.”
“At the moment I consider the whole experience to have been utterly unsatisfactory and indeed the outcome is sickening.”
