Thursday, January 23, is decision day for residents fearful the character of their neighbourhood will be destroyed if a massive student complex is given the go-ahead.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s planning department recommends approval of the scheme for 350 students next to Chester’s Telford’s Warehouse by Miller Developments at this afternoon’s strategic planning committee in HQ at 4pm.

Planning officer Steve Lewis says in a report: “The proposed development of student accommodation at the site would support the city’s educational establishments, as encouraged in the One City Plan, on a vacant and previously-developed site at a sustainable location.”

But residents are strongly against the plans for three multi-storey accommodation blocks with 42 parking spaces. They say students already comprise 55% of the community population.

A leaflet by protesters states: “It’s the wrong location for this type of development, potentially changing the whole character of Tower Wharf affecting residents, the whole community and Telford’s Warehouse.

“It will have a detrimental effect on the presentation of the canal and its environs as a tourist attraction.”