Massive student flats development off Ecclesall Road to get go-ahead

It is intended vacant land on Summerfield Street will be used to house almost 450 students, while the development will also contain 237 private rental apartments, along with shops and cafes and restaurants.

The application for the former Gordon Lamb car dealership site relates to the same piece of land where planning permission was granted in 2012 for the intended £52m Manor Mill student village, which was to house 900 students.

Members of Sheffield Council’s planning committee, which is meeting next Tuesday, have been advised by council officers to accept the new plans for the site.

The new site will house buildings up to 10 storeys high.

As part of the development, a riverside walkway and cycle route alongside the nearby Porter Brook would be created.

A report to the planning committee said: “The submitted scheme generally follows the scale established by the 2012 approval, reaching its tallest point of ten storeys at the corner of Summerfield Street and Pomona Street.

“This location is appropriate for the tallest element owing to the prominence of the corner and as Summerfield Street is a primary route.”

It added: “Although the height of the development does jar with the context in places, this again must be considered alongside the previous approval on the site, which was granted within the same policy context.

“It would therefore not be reasonable to view the proposed scale as unacceptable.

“A new pedestrian walkway linking Napier Street to Summerfield Street along the banks of the Porter Brook is proposed.

"This is welcomed as it improves pedestrian permeability along the strategic green network.”

A spokesman for the scheme has previously said the facilities at the site will be ‘akin to a contemporary hotel’.