Members of the Old Town Community Forum said it was “disingenuous” to say it was not commercially viable to provide the café after the redevelopment of the former high street bank had been completed.
Stelling Properties Ltd decided to use the ground floor space at Bargate House as a communal area for student residents and their guests.
The developer tabled an application late last year to vary a condition of its planning permission to make this change lawful.
Planning officers this month approved the request despite opposition, including from Old Town Community Forum.
In its objection, the forum said the conversion of nearby buildings to student accommodation was unbalancing the area and failing to meet community needs.
It said: “Provision of a café was seen by local residents as an important recognition that the local community has needs too.
“It was noted at the time as being important to have an active street frontage in this building.
“It is disingenuous at this very late stage to say it is commercially non-viable to create this café.”
The forum said there should be another use of the space to benefit the wider community if a café was not provided.
Concerns were also raised over not including a green roof on the development, which was a condition of approval, with lights and seating placed on the roof instead.
The group’s objection added: “Surely there must be some accountability for developers to pay attention to the conditions of approval and not to just do what they want after the event.”
Stelling Properties cited significant safety and operational concerns at the 122-bedspace accommodation as the main reason for not providing the public café.
The council’s stragegic planning team said the unit in Bargate House, which is run by Stelling Properties subsidary Unilife, would be constrained for realistic commercial use due to its historic façade, elevated window design and limited signage opportunities.
A report by planning officers, who approved the developer’s application, said the loss of the café was “regrettable”, but the communal area did not result in material harm to the vitality of the wider area.
On the failure to deliver the green roof, the report said the developer had agreed to pay compensation which would contribute to improvements in Hoglands Park.
The council was discussing the roof lighting and seating with the applicant.