New 350 Student Beds to Be Added in Exeter

In January 2020, a fire destroyed the former Johnsons Cleaners on Cowley Bridge Road in Exeter, which led to its subsequent demolition. Now, it may be replaced with a purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).

A recent proposal submitted to the Exeter City Council outlines a plan for developing 350 beds split into 151 studios and 199 cluster bedrooms spread out across five blocks and ranging from three to six storeys in height. 

As per a statement that was submitted with the application notes, the site is not only located adjacent to the railway line but it’s also found in close proximity to the University of Exeter, with the university’s student accommodation and other university buildings also located nearby.

According to the proposal, the aim is to redevelop the vacant brownfield site that remained following the fire. Additionally, this development would offer highly sustainable student accommodation that also happens to be in an ideal location close to both the university and the city centre, as per the application statement. Another suggestion made by the proposal is the creation of a 3-metre-wide footway along the site frontage, which will improve the pedestrian experience and the incorporation of co-bikes for community use and to encourage cycling.

All 12 public comments that were received until this moment on the Cowley Bridge Road proposal are in objection; this is in spite of the council’s recent approval of an application to convert a vacant office block into student flats.

Expressing their concerns over the scale and impact that developing student and co-living blocks at the former Heavitree Road police station would have, the council’s planning committee rejected major plans to do so back in February.

That being said, the plans for the Cowley Bridge Road development are likely to be in consideration later this year.