AN IMAGE showing a landscaped entrance into a redeveloped St Clement’s car park has misled residents, it is claimed.

Submitted with planning proposals for the site, the artist’s impression shows a wide entrance into the car park, where 140 student units could be built.

The proposed new access would also serve the neighbouring Florey Building. But residents and local traders who took it to be a key element of the controversial new scheme have discovered that the new entrance is “only an aspiration”.

And they have now called for another consultation because of the confusion caused.

The Queen’s College, which owns the Florey Building, also took the new entrance to be part of the masterplan to redevelop the city council-owned car park.

But the developer and the city council now say the entrance is not actually part of the planning application, with the access route just included with the official planning documents “purely for illustrative purposes”.

Clinton Pugh, one of the local business figures opposing the St Clement’s development because of the potential impact on trade in the area, said: “They have been showing this drawing to the general public, and at a recent exhibition.

“Now we are being told that they are only suggesting it. It is online with the planning application.

“I thought a planning application was supposed to show what they applying for – not some nice idea that they would like to see happen some day. This has been very misleading.

“I think the whole consultation should happen again.”

Hopes of the wide entrance have been dashed by Queen’s College estates bursar, Dr Richard Nickerson. He told the council: “The college has not agreed to this, and after some consideration it is unlikely that it will.”

The developer is proposing to create two four-storey blocks linked by a glass bridge on the site of the current St Clement’s car park.

A car park would be retained for 80 cars. The present total is 120.

Roger Smith, of Savills, the planning consultant acting for developer Watkin Jones, said: “We included some indicative plans showing how a shared access would look in the longer term, rather than having two access routes next to each other.

“It could include more landscaping. But no agreement has been reached between the college and city council.”

An email from Niko Grigoropoulos, city council development performance manager, told Mr Pugh: “These are illustrative/aspirational details outlining the fact that the St Clement’s car park proposal is the catalyst that has allowed these explorative discussions to commence and hopefully to come forward to fruition and a potential benefit in the future that otherwise would not be possible.

“Like with other illustrative details shown as part of planning application submissions, they are not binding.

“We do not consider that there is a valid case to justify the extension of the formal consultation period.”

Meanwhile, the developer has decided to drop its appeal against the city council’s decision to reject an earlier scheme, despite planning officers recommending it for approval.

Instead, it will focus on the revised scheme produced by Manchester-based architects Hodder and Partners.

St Clement’s traders have carried out a survey on the potential impact of the new development on business during the construction phase.

A survey of shoppers suggests traders would suffer a 79 per cent loss of income because of the temporary loss of parking during building work.