Student accommodation plan approved

The University of Northampton’s proposal for up to 1,200 student residences at its new Waterside Campus has today (24 November) received approval.

The construction of the University’s new Waterside Campus development will see the University’s relocation to the town centre, across the river from Beckett’s Park and Midsummer Meadow.  The new development has previously received overall outline permission and today’s approval confirms the further details of the scale, designs and setting of the students residences within the campus.

The planning approval allows for a mixture of student accommodation styles to include five-storey flats and four-storey townhouses with landscaped courtyards. The residential zone of the campus will be located adjacent to the new learning and teaching buildings, and will incorporate a variety of additional facilities for access by the community including a small hotel, health centre, multi-faith chaplaincy, bank and convenience store.

Vice Chancellor, Nick Petford said: “Students tell us they enjoy the convenience of living University accommodation during their first year. The Halls of Residence at the Waterside Campus have been specifically designed with the students in mind, offering them a range of accommodation styles, incorporating the facilities they tell us are important to them. The first student cohort of students will move in to the Halls in September 2018 as the campus opens.”

Cllr Tim Hadland, Northampton Borough Council Cabinet member for regeneration, enterprise and planning, said: “We’re looking forward to seeing the Waterside Campus development progress.

“It is one of the most important projects in our Northampton Alive programme of regeneration which is witnessing the most comprehensive transformation of the town in a generation.”

The Waterside Campus will open from September 2018 and will be an open campus, providing facilities for the student population and wider community, close to the town centre.

Further details on the approved plans can be found on the Northampton Borough Council website by searching for application N/2015/1040.