Safety fears over new students’ quarters

Councillors meet on September 5 to discuss proposals to erect six buildings round St Andrew’s Dock up to six storeys high, with a total of 1,231 bedrooms, with a gym, retail unit and cafe and the dock restored as a water feature.

Under the proposals, key structures like the former Lord Line trawler company offices and the listed hydraulic tower and pump house would be retained.

The 6.75 hectare site was acquired in 2010 by Manor Property Group, which developed Queen’s Court in the city centre.

Architects have designed T-shaped buildings to sit round the dock, with most of the rooms either looking onto the dock or the Humber estuary.

In a submission to Hull Council, architects say it “would make a positive contribution to the River Humber in reintroducing a large, significant and economically sustainable occupation and usage on a site along its edge”.

The development is planned as a “no car facility”, with a half-hourly free bus service to Hull University between 7am and 7pm, Hull Royal Infirmary, and Clarence Mill, where more student accommodation is planned, and improved pedestrian and cycle links.

Planners say “despite the many positive elements” of the plans, which would transform a highly-visible derelict site on a key approach to the city, there is a “real concern” for the safety of students when the bus isn’t available.

Students would either have “to either walk or cycle using an underpass which leads to an industrial area with low levels of surveillance, or negotiate a busy roundabout junction with no dedicated facilities for pedestrian or cyclists”.

They recommend refusal, stating that the plans would “increase the potential for crime and fear of crime for residents” coming to the site on foot or on a bike during the day and late at night.