Keresley greenbelt homes plan submitted

[dutchman]

Up to 800 homes could be built on fields on the outskirts of Coventry under plans put forward by developers.

More than 40 hectares (100 acres) of greenbelt land in Keresley have been earmarked for development.

Pegasus Group has submitted an initial application to the city council to determine whether an environmental survey is needed.

Campaigners, including members of Keresley Parish Council, said the land was not suitable for housing.

The area identified is between Bennetts Road South, Sandpits Lane and Tamworth Road.

Parish council chairman Sandra Camwell said the area suffered from problems with flooding and sewage.

Three years ago, the then city council leader John Mutton said there would be no building on greenbelt land under the Labour administration.

Pegasus said the plans were at a very early stage, but involved mainly residential properties, a new primary school and supporting infrastructure.

[dutchman]

Protest over plans to build in Keresley green belt



Angry residents have vowed to ferociously oppose building on green belt land in the north of the city.

Housing developer the Pegasus Group has started the initial stages of the planning process to build houses and a primary school on the land next to Bennetts Road South in Keresley.

The organisation is ‘‘scoping’’ opinion for proposed residential development with open spaces, landscaping and infrastructure to include a primary school.

It is also seeking details of what information would need to be included in an assessment of the environmental impact of such a development.

Residents believe the area, which covers over 42 hectares of fields between Bennetts Road South and the Tamworth Road, could accommodate about 800 houses - more than doubling the number of houses in the area.

Sandra Camwell, who successfully led protests against plans to build 3,500 homes in the area during 2009, said the developers would have a fight on their hands.

She said: “Coventry cannot accommodate all these extra people with the council cutting spending and job cuts. It seems totally barmy to me, how they are going to accommodate these people I don’t know.

“Who is going to buy the houses? Who is going to lend them the money? Where are they going to get the jobs to pay for them?

“This land used to be part of the Forest of Arden, why destroy a jewel in Coventry’s crown for the sake of housing?

“Cities should have lungs between them, if they build on this land our lungs will be eroded, we will be part of Birmingham the way they are going.

“Keresley is not putting up with it, we will fight them all the way. We mean business, Pegasus will need their wings to fly away.

Keresley Parish Council has already set up an online petition opposing the plans at http://www.change.org.

Coventry City Council released a statement which said: “This application from a developer is not a planning application, it is a ‘scoping’ application.

“It means the applicant is formerly asking the council as the planning authority whether, if they were to submit an outline or full planning application for the area in the future, they would require to submit an environmental impact assessment and what the extent of the assessment would need to be.

“The council will be responding to the developer in due course.”

Pegasus was unavailable for comment.

[dutchman]

Warwickshire novelist joins battle to save Keresley greenbelt

An author whose latest book was inspired by her childhood memories of Coventry’s countryside is now doing her bit to save green fields under threat from developers.

Lucy David has vowed to pass all proceeds from her most recent title, Hedgerow Magic, on to Keresley Parish Council as it continues to fight plans for 800 homes on greenbelt land off Bennetts Road South.

The controversial proposals from the Pegasus Group and Lioncourt Homes also include a community centre and a primary school.

And Lucy, who says she based her latest novel on her memories of the green fields in and around Coventry, will pass on money raised by the book’s sales to the parish council who have already set up a petition against the plans.

Lucy, who now lives in Leamington, said: “When I lived in Coventry I spent a lot of time walking around the edges, the commons, the fields and the woods.

"Obviously we need homes for people but apart from the fact that the council has cynically changed its policy, how many homes do we actually need?

“What about empty spaces within the city and brownfield sites? Have the council investigated these or are they just blindly following a government directive?

“This greenbelt is important and to build on it sets a dangerous precedent.

"We need the land to grow food and there are small farmers here. Coventry’s greenbelt land is wonderful, offering an escape for parents and children alike and a chance to see fields, crops being grown and to connect with a bit of wilderness.

"The two children in my story learn about each other and form a friendship through their experience of the wood. It saddens me that these places might disappear.”

Residents in Keresley successfully led protests against plans to build 3,500 homes in the area during 2009 and Sandra Camwell, chairman of the parish council, is delighted to welcome Lucy on board this time around.

She said: “Lucy is very passionate about the issue and we are very grateful for her help. This land is very precious and is a jewel in the crown for Coventry and once it’s gone, it’s gone for good.”

A public exhibition on the plans is due to take place on Wednesday from 2pm to 8pm, at the Hare and Hounds Pub in Watery Lane. Public consultation runs until October 27.

Lucy’s book is available from Kenilworth Books, in Talisman Square or by calling 01926 855784.

[dutchman]

Horsing around at the planned Keresley housing development



Developer Pegasus seems to be sticking its neck out with this diagram of the Keresley area where it proposes building 800 homes.

The “concept” diagram looks suspiciously like the outline of a horse, with the head added outside the red line boundary.

Local residents, who are up in arms about the project, have noted there is no key to the pink shaded area.

After the recent public consultation one resident who queried the added head reported that she’d been told by an official the it was the start of a future ribbon development all the way to Birmingham Airport.

“I’ve not heard of that,” says Pegasus director Sue Manns, who while conceding it does have the shape of a horse, added was it coincidental and the fields probably came out that colour from an aerial picture.

Parish Council chairwoman Sandra Camwell is not convinced the fields off Tamworth Road have ever been pink.

“It looks like the horse may be bolting towards Brum; but if we have anything to do with it, the plans will end up in the knacker’s yard.”

[dutchman]

Residents outraged as 450 homes to be developed in Coventry



Residents have been left fuming at a proposed development of nearly 500 homes on former Green Belt land.

The houses are proposed to be built on land east of Bennetts Lane in Keresley, but are just several hundred of 3,100 that are proposed as part of the local plan.

There has been no planning application submitted yet, however the information on proposal will still be on show to the public until August 15.

Some of the homes are also set to be affordable homes, with the council requiring up to 25 per cent of the dwellings on-site to be affordable housing.

The proposed development is for 450 homes, and is just part of the Keresley Sustainable Urban Extension.

This site is only set to provide residential dwellings, however other parts of the wider plan will provide a community centre, primary school and more public open space.

As part of the plan, there will be two new access points for vehicles from Bennetts Lane and Penny Park Lane, and new pedestrian footpaths throughout the site to connect local schools.

As part of a wider plan, there are also proposals for a new link road to the M6.

Cllr Glenn Williams said: “Residents are rightly outraged that the rural parish of Keresley is to be concreted over.

"It was foreseeable once the Local Plan was approved and these areas lost their greenbelt protection, that developers would be pouncing on our rural parishes likes bees round honey without any thought to the infrastructure needs of existing residents.

"I am against the development of these sites and made my feelings clear to the developers at their “consultation” meeting last week.

"The number of houses the Council claims we need do not stack up and are nonsensical.

"I voted against the Local Plan and will continue working with residents and the Parish Council to fight as hard as we can to maintain the rural nature of Keresley.”

[dutchman]

Why this Coventry village could be "turned into a town"



Fears a village in Coventry could be 'turned into a town' due to proposals to build 3,100 new homes have sparked a petition from residents.

Keresley is allocated for 3,100 homes, at least one local centre for retail use, and a primary school under the Coventry Local Plan.

If brought to reality, the plans would see the village quadruple in size.

A new distributor road, public open space, and a green corridor along Hall Brook is also mooted.

This year, David Wilson Homes has begun scoping opinion to build 450 homes on land off Bennetts Road and Watery Lane.

Bellway is also seeking to develop 550 homes on land between Tamworth Road and Five Field.

Earlier in February Lioncourt Homes Limited had outline planning permission for 800 dwellings, a local centre and primary school on Bennetts Road approved.

But ward councillor Glenn Williams (Ind) says residents fear for the village's future, and he hopes a new 400-strong petition - which was outlined to a full council meeting this month - is taken into serious consideration.

If not, he said the village was at risk of ceasing to exist as it turns into a town.

He said: "It is absolutely horrendous.

"This is in the parish of Keresley. It is not going to be a parish council, it will be a town council.

"This is what the council wants but residents do not want it.

"Since the Local Plan was approved last December developers have been circling around all these areas in the green belt and now they are going in for the kill.

"In Keresley we can expect to see all of the parish concreted over."

Sandra Camwell, chairman of Keresley Parish Council, added: "The whole of the area will be swamped with 3,100 houses and we haven't got the infrastructure.

"It is not that I am objecting to housing but I am objecting to this land being built on as it is on top of old mining works.

"The mine shafts are full of water and the ground gives way."

The petition will be heard by a planning committee at a later date.

[Melisandre]

Yet no infrastructure schools hospital doctors fire brigade police to cope with all these houses being built its a joke . Strange is nt it how not so many years ago we were not allowed to build on the green belt yet now they move the goal posts to de regulating our green belt for when it suites them.
Just watching Westminster Hall Build Beautiful which claimed they have lots of building ministers explains a lot well I hope they realise that it's buildings that make the weather worse.

[dutchman]

Fears over plans for 550 homes in Coventry raised by NHS and wildlife trusts



CONCERNS about a controversial plan for 550 homes near ‘ancient woodland’ in Keresley have been raised by the NHS and key government bodies – and could affect populations of an endangered species of newt.

On top of 400 residents signing a petition against the development, the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust has demanded £280,000 from the developer to compensate for added strain on already stretched services.

In a consultation report, it states: “The population increase associated with this proposed development will significantly impact on the service delivery and the performance of the trust.

“As a consequence of the development and its associated demand for emergency healthcare there will be an adverse effect on the trust’s ability to provide on-time care delivery without delay.

“The development directly affects the ability to provide the health service required to those who live in the development and those in the community at large.

“Without contributions to maintain the delivery of healthcare services, the proposed development will put too much strain on the said services, putting people at significant risk.”

The trust says the development will mean an additional 2,400 acute interventions and it will be forced to hire additional agency staff.

It will also mean an extra 191 emergency admissions according to trust estimates.

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust also outlined its objections earlier this month in a consultation report.

It said: “WWT objects to this planning application due to insufficient mitigation proposed for the ancient woodland which will lead to the deterioration of this irreplaceable habitat.”

The trust added it had concerns about the loss of biodiversity and endangered great crested newt populations.

The Woodland Trust also objects to the development because of the ‘deterioration and disturbance’ of woodlands and wildlife.

It recommends the developer create an appropriate buffer between ancient woodlands and the development.

[dutchman]

Huge plan for 444 homes in Keresley spark 'attack on green belt' controversy



Developers have submitted plans for 444 homes in Keresley in a bid branded an “attack on the green belt” by objectors.

David Wilson Homes says it wants to provide “high-quality” houses on land at Bennetts Road, of which 25 per cent would be affordable.

The site was taken out of the green belt under the council’s Local Plan, and forms the Keresley Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) area which is set aside for 3,100 homes.

But the wider plans have attracted fierce criticism from opposition councillors and the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who called it “unnecessary building”.

Mr Street said: “Not only am I adamant the West Midlands sticks to a brownfield-first housing approach, but with the climate emergency the region is facing we must also do everything we can to protect the environment and our existing green sites.

“Moreover I just do not believe the numbers that lie behind the justification for this particular attack on the green belt.

“Coventry City Council’s local plan is, in my opinion, based on flawed population estimate numbers from the Office for National Statistics.”

Mr Street, and others, also believe the current coronavirus pandemic will have an impact on the number of homes needed and has called for a review.

Calls have previously been rejected in favour of a planned review in 2021.

Conservative group leader Cllr Gary Ridley added: “The suggestions of a growth of student population and inward visits has to have changed, so we need to look at that now.

“Developers also have questions to answer as to why they have brought this about at this very moment. Would it have hurt if they put it off for three months?

“There should be no decision on planning applications taken at this time as the public cannot participate.”

Independent councillor for the area Glenn Williams has echoed concerns.

“Residents have got a lot of other things on their mind at the moment and they are furious that such a contentious development is trying to be pushed through,” he said.

David Wilson Homes say the application was submitted on March 20, before lockdown restrictions began.

It was validated by the council on April 2 and a consultation will run until May 23.

[Melisandre]

Being crafty as usual.