Residents object to developments on Osborne Road, Egham and Egham High Street
Egham and Englefield Green residents are complaining that the town and village are being turned into further extensions of Royal Holloway’s campus, as plans to convert a nursing home on Osborne Road, Egham into student accommodation were fully approved.
The plans had previously been refused by Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) after receiving objections from residents.
Residents remain concerned that the apartments will still be rented to students, with one letter stating: ‘We believe it would be extremely unfair for us to have to spend our nights listening to loud music from parties or drunken shouting as they return home which they are notorious for.’
Plans were also rejected by RBC at the end of December to build 105 student flats at 40 and 41 Egham High Street. Chris Fisher, from Egham Resident’s Association, said of the council’s refusal:
‘Having a number of young and well-educated people there can be socially and economically beneficial.
‘But you can have too much of a good thing and many of the existing residents feel they are being swamped.’
Another controversial proposal to convert a four-storey building in St Jude’s Road, Englefield Green, into 29 student flats was submitted at the end of November, but is yet to be discussed by the council.
As the parent of a RHUL student I can understand local residents’ concerns however I would urge folks to consider how your local shops might survive without my hard earned cash frequently going into their tills?
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