Developers have taken the first step in the planning process to build on the city car park site
The development would be taller than nearby developments including The Place – the first building seen on the left – and HMRC’s Unity Square site, seen in the distance.(Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
A planned block of apartments near Nottingham Railway Station would become one of the city’s tallest buildings as developers take the first step in the planning process.
The Blocwork development company first revealed initial plans in February to create a block of 244 flats on an underused plot of Network Rail land at the junction of Station Street and London Road.
Developers said they would be a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats for professionally managed rental living, “responding to strong demand for well-located city living while supporting a diverse resident community”.
A report has now been lodged with Nottingham City Council’s planning team as developers ask whether a formal Environmental Impact Assessment will be needed for plans to progress.
The developers argue that one is not needed given the scale of the project and the geography of the area, but the city council is set to confirm its decision in around three weeks.
As part of the first step in the planning process, new details have been confirmed about the development, chiefly the fact that its maximum height would be 60 metres.
The new report says: “The strategy introduces a taller focal tower at the London Road end, contrasted with a lower spine block, creating a clear hierarchy and staged transition in height.”
The Victoria Centre Flats building has been Nottingham’s tallest site for decades at 75 metres and alongside that, only the Council House, Burrows Court in Sneinton, Pine View in Radford and the old BT building on Bath Street would be taller than the proposed development.
The development would be much taller than the nearby HMRC building at Unity Square – which stands at around 50 metres in height.
New details have also been submitted in terms of demolition, with an existing brick boundary wall running right along the top end of Station Street set to be torn down.
Explaining the view of developers that an environmental impact assessment is not needed, the new report says: “The site is now an area of car parking and vacant land, crossed by a large heating pipe.
“As such, the site is a poor-quality part of the street scene. Development within the site will result in a change from its present appearance.
“However, given the present negative character of the site and nearby modern developments of a similar scale, such as Waterfront House to the north and The Place and The Barnum to the south, it is considered that the development of the site will not bring about a significant effect in environmental impact assessment terms upon the station conservation area.”
Separate plans for what would have been the city’s tallest building in Glasshouse Street were rejected in September last year, with the developers appealing the decision.
