Decision on Shrewsbury town centre student halls due
A decision over the future of a delayed university halls project is expected to be taken next week, but discussions will take place behind closed doors.
Shropshire Council's cabinet will meet on Wednesday and while the majority of the meeting will take place in public, a discussion on what happens to plans for student halls in Shrewsbury is listed under "exempt items".
The proposal, for halls at the former Tannery in Barker Street in Shrewsbury, which could house 217 students, has been on hold since it was put under review earlier this year.
The project was unveiled in August 2015 and was initially intended to be completed in time for the start of the 2016/17 term.
However, in February both the council and University Centre Shrewsbury said they were putting the plans on hold while they assessed the number of students expected to join the institution.
At the time, Shropshire Council and University Centre Shrewsbury issued a joint statement, which said: "We have obtained the planning permission to enable us to proceed with building the new accommodation at the Tannery site either this year or in coming years.
"We have also designed it so that the blocks can be built in stages or the plans can be realised in their entirety at one time."
The proposal to build the halls, from Morris Guildhall Student Partnership, was approved by Shropshire Council's central planning committee last October and the site, which includes the former sixth form college, is jointly owned by Shropshire Council and Morris Property.
The application had faced criticism from local councillor Andrew Bannerman, who wanted more done to ensure the building would fit in with its surroundings.
He said: "It is well known that I made a strong plea at the time this came before the planning committee that we send it for a design review because I did not feel it was good enough for the town centre.
"In my view the application was rushed on the grounds that they needed the accommodation for this year."
Shropshire Council has previously been responsible for converting Mardol House in the centre of Shrewsbury into student halls.
The building was refurbished at a cost of £3 million and provides accommodation for up to 86 students attending University Centre Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury's university is in its second year of welcoming undergraduates, and has seen the number of students double compared to last year.
More than 80 new undergraduates signed on for the latest academic year, starting at the university last month, taking the total number of students at the university to more than 200.
