PLANS for a 188-bed student apartment complex in the centre of Southampton are set to be given the go-ahead next week.

Situated opposite the city’s oldest pub, The Red Lion, the High Street site will feature a five to six-storey apartment block, as well as another four-storey management and accommodation building, backing on to Castle Way.

A gym, communal recreation area, plant room, and cycle store have also been proposed but only four parking spaces.

READ: Southampton’s ice rink will not open today – because it’s too warm

Three “commercial units”, labelled as retail, will be built into the ground floor of the main building, facing High Street. A lounge/café is also proposed.

If the scheme is given the green-light, three buildings – two of which are unused – would need to be bulldozed, including Rocket Ronnies Pool Hall on Castle Way.

Owner Ronnie Keates recently opened another hall on High Street, fearing that his business may have to make way for the development. He previously told reporters “the future is bright for Ronnies and for pool”.

The application, which has been earmarked for approval by Southampton City Council planning officers, before committee members on Tuesday.

Neighbours have blasted the plans, claiming that student accommodation is “out of character” with the Old Town area, and late night noise and anti-social behaviour will become a common occurrence.

Catherine Curtice of Westgate Street, said: “I am in favour of this site being suitably developed. But, my objection is to the proposed usage of the accommodation. “Old Town needs family accommodation and not students whose lifestyle will be in opposition to and unappreciative of the local area and its importance to tourism. “The city is already swamped with student accommodation.” “I feel as an Old Town resident that student accommodation is inappropriate and the council should resist the easy ‘in vogue’ option of developers preference for ever more student accommodation.”

However, applicant Lainston Lupa LLP disagrees that the complex is “out of character”.

To “reinforce the local distinctiveness of the Old Town” they propose to widen Castle Way to “reinstate a historic street pattern”. .

It is also proposed to build a pedestrian route through the site leading from High Street to Castle Way, re-establishing the historic ‘Market Lane’ path, which is a requirement of Southampton City Council’s Old Town Development Strategy.

The route would be closed to non-residents at night for “security purposes”, but open during daylight.

Ward councillor for Bargate, John Noon, says that consideration should be made to turning the Castle Way block into a residential development.

He said: “I fully support the application with regard to the High Street but do have some concerns with regard to Castle Way. “Recently we have seen a reduction in the number of student accommodation to more residential in the Bargate development. Therefore, I feel that on Castle Way consideration should be given to a non-student residential development of good design in keeping with the residential block next door.”

Previously, Cllr Noon had dismissed the buildings on the High Street and Castle Way site as an eyesore which should be demolished.

He added: “Some consideration should be given to how this site is managed when considering the high number of students.” Nevertheless, regarding the proposed approval recommendation, planning case officer Mathew Pidgeon noted that the site would achieve a “positive relationship with the surrounding area”. He said: “Currently the site has a poor-quality appearance. The proposal, by contrast would introduce genuine active frontages to the street. “Having regard to the city centre and highly accessible location of the site, it is considered to be appropriate to accommodate a significant body of student accommodation. The provision of a ground floor commercial use assists in providing an active frontage whilst retaining an employment use on the site. “The proposal would meet an identified need for this type of housing in the city and submitted information demonstrates that a high-quality development would be achieved that has a positive relationship with the surrounding area.”

READ: Motorists to see 'major' change to road layout on A338 Spur Road on Monday