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Horsforth residents attack college expansion plan
Horsforth residents have voiced their fears over plans to transform Trinity and All Saints into a university, telling bosses: "We don't want another Headingley."
At a packed public meeting last night 130 residents heard plans to turn the Horsforth college into a university which means bumping student numbers up from 3,000 to 4,000.
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Councillor David Morton (Lib Dem, Headingley), who plans to move to Horsforth, said that the expansion could attract well over 1,000 extra students.
"This has been presented as a straight increase from three to four thousand students. It's going to be from college to university and that's very attractive to students.
"Is 200 bed spaces enough extra? Then is 120 car park spaces? What about the impact on Town Street? If you want to see how it can go wrong, go to Headingley."
Coun Morton's comments were greeted with claps and cheers from worried residents.
Dr Freda Bridge, Principal and Chief Executive, said: "We are a faith-based institution. We have no aspiration to be like Leeds Met or Leeds University. We have no intention of turning Horsforth into Headingley.
"We are going to manage the growth and ensure it's manageable."
University chiefs told how they planned to pull down dated halls of residences and build new ones, on-site and away from local residents.
They say they need to improve the look of the campus to entice more students and achieve university status.
But residents fear further parking chaos as students already use streets surrounding the college instead of spaces on campus where they are charged.
Andrew Longfellow, of Lee Lane West, said: "Charging people to park when it's free 50 yards away does not help. The college's decisions are affecting the people who live around them."
Residents claim the campus car parks are left empty while students snap up free residents' parking on nearby streets instead.
The college says it is looking at residents' permit schemes to combat this and says that the situation was the same before car park charges were introduced on campus.
There are currently 510 parking spaces.
If proposals go ahead there would be a further 120 spaces - but residents said this was not enough to cater for another thousand students.
Dr Bridge said: "Those 1,000 students will not all be undergraduates, some will come in the evening, some weekends and some will be taught in their places of work and employment."
The college pledged to keep all the sports areas as green space, only building within the campus around the existing buildings.
The council has already passed plans for two residences on Trinity Close - one of which has been built.
Residents also complained about litter, noise as well as traffic congestion and anti-social behaviour.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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