Plans for new bedrooms for Luff freshers

Forty-nine new student bedrooms could be added to an off campus halls.

Harrington Investments Ltd is seeking planning permission from Charnwood Borough Council to bulldoze an office common room, garages and a bike store in Forest Road, next to Emmanuel Church, to build extensions on to the buildings to create more student accommodation.

According to documents that were submitted with the application, Forest Court was built in the 60s, and was refurbished after Lufbra Uni and Derwent Living made an historic management deal in 1999.

Lufbra town centre

The site was transferred on a Peppercorn Lease to Harrington Investments Ltd in June 2014.

The application’s Planning Statement says: “The villas and houses that line Forest Road between the site and the town centre were once wholly residential, however as the town centre has expanded over the years, people have moved to quieter areas and businesses now occupy many of these buildings.

“Therefore in the immediate vicinity of Forest Court, the proportion of permanent residential housing is low, with commercial uses predominating.

“The opportunity for conflicting lifestyles is therefore reduced.

“The site is well managed and has 24-hour wardens to reduce the risk of anti-social behaviour and is predominantly inhabited by post graduate students.

“Allowing some well designed development on the site would benefit Loughborough in a number of ways.

Every year there is a problem with student accommodation being oversubscribed

“Firstly, as described in this report, it will help to enhance the Emmanuel Church Conservation area by improving the architectural quality of the buildings on site, improve visibility into the site and also improve the street scene.

“It would provide more student bed spaces in a purpose-built, well managed accommodation facility, which has the potential to draw students out of the private rented sector and reduce the impact on C3 dwellings in various areas of Loughborough.

“The proposed design makes a positive contribution to the character of the area by removing the unsightly existing garages and bike store on the site, and replacing them with an attractive, reasonably sized building which maintains and frames the existing views of the east window of the church.”