PLANS for student housing in central Bournemouth have been rejected.

The scheme would have seen Cumnor House, in Cumnor Road, converted into 11 student flats, with 22 bedrooms in total.

The applicant, via a planning statement prepared by Pure Town Planning, states that an extant planning permission for 10 flats renders the new proposal "appropriate", and that the area has been targeted for student development "given its sustainable location and proximity

to the town centre".

However borough planning officers have refused planning permission due to "lack of car parking provision" and also of bicycle storage facilities. The scheme only allowed for two parking spaces.

The report notes that "the 2011 census indicated that 1,835 households in Bournemouth were occupied entirely by full time students (excluding halls of residence)" and a study shows that some 30 per cent of these households have no car, while 40 per cent have two or more vehicles.