Plans for a 28-storey student accommodation tower in Manchester have been thrown out by the council due to fears over the building's quality and its "detrimental" impact on the city centre.
Student accommodation firm Fusion was refused permission to build its 530-bed block at the city council's planning meeting on Thursday after the committee agreed with officers and residents the "over obtrusive" scheme would be incongruous with the surrounding area.
Fusion argued that the scheme would bring a long-standing derelict brownfield site on Deansgate South back into use, while also satisfying Manchester council's own ambitions for more purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in the city.
The local authority is hoping to entice students out of the private rented housing and replace them with tax paying residents, having lost out on £17m in tax revenue in 2019/20, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
But claims by officers that the scale and 'poor' quality of the tower would have a 'detrimental' impact were supported by the planning committee on Thursday.
As well as the 530 bedrooms, the scheme would have provided several roof terraces, a 24/7 concierge, a gym and a cinema.
In a speech to the committee, Deansgate councillor Marcus Johns said the tower would cause 'significant harm' to the amenity of existing residents, including Deansgate Quay.
He also agreed with planning officers that the development would be out of step with the policies behind the wider regeneration of the Great Jackson Street area.
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A long-time resident of Deansgate Quay told the meeting that the tower would be overbearing, and urged the committee to reject the application.
He added: "Much time and expense has been spent on commissioning planning policies, what's the point if they're not adhered to?"
Fusion was also accused of falling short of council policy by failing to demonstrate an 'unmet need for student accommodation'.
The tower was also deemed to be too far away from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and University of Manchester (UoM) as well as public transport links.
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However this was disputed by Andrew Teage, speaking on behalf of Fusion, who told the committee: "The site is an easy 15 minute walk or five minute cycle from MMU's Birley [halls of residence] and campus. It is also a 20-minute walk from UoM buildings on Oxford and Sackville Street.
"The council's PBSA report acknowledges that a 20 minute walk is appropriate, and a submitted transport statement says it would be within a five minute walk of public transport including Metrolink, train and buses."
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Mr Teage also said that Fusion had received support from MMU's residents management group to provide affordable student accommodation.
But planning officer Dave Roscoe said that MMU had confirmed to him that they did not support the scheme.
The meeting also heard that the council had previously approved buildings of no more than 13 storeys high on the site.
Mr Roscoe said: "In the last 18 months we've been approached by a number of parties about the potential for PBSA on this site, and the very clear advice we have given is that we would not support PBSA on this site because it wouldn't comply with policy.
"We don't believe there are any regeneration benefits. It fills a very small site with a very tall building, there is no open space, and in many ways represents poor planning."