Student housing plan for 18th Century building

Plans to convert a vacant 18th Century building and an office block in York into student accommodation are to be considered by councillors later this week.

Mason Residences UK wants to adapt the Grade II listed property in Main Street, Heslington, and an adjacent office building, known as The Hive.

It said the plan aimed to meet future demand for a forecasted shortfall in student accommodation, but Heslington Village Trust said the scheme threatened the area's quiet, rural nature.

The plans, which have attracted 19 objections, are set to go before City of York Council planners on Thursday.

The applicant's agent, O'Neill Associates, stated the plan to convert the buildings into four clusters, with 17 bedrooms overall and eight studio apartments, would allow existing buildings to be viably re-used after alternative uses had been deemed impractical.

But objectors to the scheme claim the development could cause parking problems, noise from its residents and conflict with the character of the village.

A previous decision on the application in March was deferred to seek further clarity on campus-based student accommodation at the University of York and the marketing of the site.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service a council report on the plans, following the previous meeting, stated there was currently no unmet demand for housing that the university needed to address.

However, it added that because the site was classed as being on the university campus, there was no requirement to address a potential loss of an employment site.

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