Student flats set to be approved in Worcester

Planning officers at Worcester City council have said a move to demolish a former church hall to make way for more than 50 student flats should be given the green light.

The plan would see a new four-storey student accommodation block with 54 flats built next to St Clement’s Church in Henwick Road in Worcester.

St Clement’s Church Hall, which was built in 1909 but has been empty for several years, would be demolished to make way for the new block as part of the plan by developer New Venture Housing.

Officers at Worcester City Council have said the application should be given the go-ahead when the planning committee meets in the Guildhall next Thursday (March 23).

The plan by New Venture Housing, the same people who are building student flats on the site of the former Images nightclub next to the Hive in The Butts, would not provide any parking spaces but cycle storage for 54 bikes would be built.

Anyone living in the student digs would not be able to park a car on site or within one kilometre of the building as part of tenancy agreement, according to the application.

More than 30 objections were made against the plan during consultation alongside three petitions with hundreds of signatures wanting to put a stop to the student accommodation plans.

The developer said the new accommodation block would help cut the reliance on the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in St John’s and the rest of Worcester.

In a report which will be discussed by councillors, the city council’s planning officers agreed the new student flats could “potentially” cut the number of family homes being converted into HMOs and said that using ‘disused and vacant’ land – such as St Clement’s Church Hall which had been on the market from 2015 until it was bought in 2019 – was the most “sustainable” option.

Some of the objections to the plan from neighbours said there was “questionable” demand for more student accommodation but planning officers countered saying there was “no sound reason” to assume that more than 50 flats were not needed.

The planning committee meets in the Guildhall from 1.30pm on March 23.