CONTROVERSIAL plans to build student accommodation blocks in what has been dubbed Colchester’s Cultural Quarter have been dealt another blow with the latest high profile objection.

Colchester Cabinet-backed developer Alumno plans to build more than 300 student flats on the former site of the bus station, off Queen Street.

The plans also show public realm spaces, an 87-bed Trevelodge and performance areas.

Supporters also point to plans to open up a section of the town’s historic Roman wall.

But the plans face strong opposition, with more than 370 objections being submitted to Colchester Council.

Among the objectors is the owner of the high-end Greyfriars hotel, at the top of East Hill, opposite Lewis Gardens.

In a frank criticism, the hotel’s planning agents state: “As a thriving business with a significant land holding in the area, OMCI [the owner of Greyfriars] have invested substantial funds - in excess of £12 million to date in the acquisition, restoration and development of its property in recent years.

“In doing so, OMCI has always felt reassured the luxury tourism offer provided by Greyfriars would be complemented by the council’s stated high ambitions to provide redevelopment in, and rejuvenation of, the St Botolph’s area.

“It was, therefore, always foreseen that any development of this site would integrate with existing historic and cultural assets, such as Greyfriars and East Hill House, as well as new attractions such as the Curzon and Firstsite, in order to effectively realise a widely-stated vision to create a historic cultural quarter for Colchester.”

The submission adds: “OMCI is shocked that the current submission appears to have abandoned so many established aspirations for this quarter, and is concerned by the lost opportunity this represents.

“As a consequence of poor design and technical inaccuracies, this proposal has failed to comply with the high standards espoused within adopted national and local planning policy.”

While the hotel owner says its criticism is not on the grounds a new Travelodge would be built, the objection does state: “At its southern point, the hotel would be significantly higher than adjacent listed buildings to the south.

“The depth of the hotel building is greater than envisaged in the [2005] masterplan and receives no spatial counterbalance as it would have done from the square suggested in the the masterplan.”

The owners also label the student accommodation plans as “bland, visually compromised and uninspiring facade”.