STEVE Brine MP, along with Andrew Osborne chairman of Osborne and Raj Kotecha MD of Amro Partners undertook the formal opening of Cathedral Point on Friday.

It is new £30m student housing incorporating 257 en-suite rooms with shared kitchens and self-contained studios adjacent to Winchester station, off Andover Road.

Cathedral Point is collaboration between Osborne and Amro Vantage, two companies who built the 239-unit Riverside Way scheme by the River Itchen in Winnall.

The scheme was designed by Architecture PLB with state of the art facilities including 100MB high speed Wi-Fi and a communal and leisure area incorporating student co-working spaces. The accommodation is almost fully let for the 2018/2019 academic year.

The developer says it will provide much-needed student accommodation within the city, thereby freeing up existing houses in multiple occupation and providing more homes for local people.

Mr Brine assisted in enabling a multi-agency approach across many agencies to bring the scheme to fruition, including the city council, Hampshire County Council, Network Rail which has resulted in a new pedestrian link to access the station from Andover Road.

The scheme has also provided a kick start to the proposals for redevelopment of the area around Station Approach.