York student accommodation approved after initial refusal by councillors

The student accommodation will be built on Foss Islands Road, around 90m north of Walmgate Bar.

The site accommodates former industrial buildings, which are now vacant, of Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Plans were initially refused in the summer partly due to issues around accessibility but were approved by the City of York Council’s planning committee following changes to the application including planning a second lift and more amenities on the upper floors.

Coun Chris Steward said: “I was one of the ones who voted against this in the July meeting, but I do think these [concerns] have broadly been addressed.”

This included more rooms and additional parking spaces.

“For me they’ve definitely done enough,” he added.

There were also concerns that land nearby could be used as employment land, but Coun Steward said these too had been addressed.

Coun Emily Nelson said: “It seems to be that it was refused on two very specific points and those points have been addressed as far as I’m concerned.”

The building would be three-storey fronting the inner ring road, stepping up to five-storey at the rear towards Elvington Terrace.

The accommodation would comprise 133 rooms including seven fully accessible studio rooms and there would be communal social spaces on the ground floor and each of the upper floors.

The layout incorporates a forecourt providing vehicle access, which the applicant says enables servicing away from the inner ring road and provides three disabled car parking spaces with an electric vehicle charging facility.

There will also be cycle parking for visitors and residents, including space for over-sized cycles.