Tensions over Ormskirk's growing student population could be eased after councillors gave the green light for Edge Hill University to build more accommodation on its own land.

Members of the borough council's planning committee approved proposals to build accommodation for 144 students at its base on St Helens Road, in a scheme which the university said on Monday (December 14) it hopes will reassure residents worried about growing students in the town centre.

"The university is delighted that the planning committee approved the residential development," said Steve Igoe, the university's pro vice-chancellor of resources.

"It will provide further much-needed bed space on site, supporting the university's strategy to accommodate students within the campus and thereby alleviate pressure on accommodation within the town."

The university's proposals will see three new blocks of student accommodation being built at its Ormskirk base, with room for more than 140 students in the buildings, which will be either two or three stories high.

In part of a report supporting its application, first submitted to the council in September, the university said the new development would ease pressure on private housing in Ormskirk town centre, as well as reducing the number of speculative student developments in the town.

"The scheme seeks to construct additional, high quality, contemporary and sustainable free trial within the campus to meet the university's growing needs, and the gradual replacement of its outdated on-campus stock," the report states.

"In doing so the university will also develop and strengthen the campus community and provide a sustainable environment and memorable experience for its students, as a place to live and study."

But Derby borough councillor Adrian Owens told The Champion that he believed the new buildings would not resolve existing tensions among Ormskirk residents, and that it could actually lead to more students moving to the town centre.

"I still believe the university should be looking to develop sites in Skelmersdale and elsewhere, but if they want to develop on their own grounds, the council's hands are effectively tied. The council are somewhat constrained in what they can do, as after a similar application was rejected, it was passed on appeal by a Government planning inspector," he said.

"If more students move into the new halls, it will mean more moving out into the town centre in their second and third years. In the end it will mean more students in the town centre, not less."

By David Simister