Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:01 am
Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:55 pm
Revealed: Swathes of green belt to be lost under new 25,000 homes plan
Huge swathes of green belt land in the city are set to be lost in Coventry.
Coventry’s draft ‘local plan’ has been published by the council today and reveals proposals for 25,000 homes by 2031.
It includes more than 3,100 homes on green belt land around Keresley, along with an additional 2,250 houses on the Windmill Village Hotel’s golf course and surrounding area next to the A45 in Eastern Green.
The plans mean an estimated 10 per cent of the city’s 3,000 hectares of protected green belt land would lose that status and become prime construction land, while a total of 17,000 homes are allocated to existing brown field sites.
Proposals also include 900 homes in Walsgrave, next to the M6; 1,400 across Foleshill and Holbrooks; 475 in Bablake; 285 in Longford; and about 250 around Tile Hill Railway Station.
The north west of the city is set to bear the brunt of planned development with roughly 30 hectares of green belt land in the area earmarked to be converted into employment land - on top of the major housing projects.
More specific proposals will be drawn up for the areas if the local plan is signed off, but initial suggestions are that a major new supermarket and a new primary school could be built in the Eastern Green area.
There are also discussions about opening up Pickford Brook, which runs through the area, and making it a feature which runs all the way to the city centre.
Keresley could expect to get more shops as well as new primary and secondary schools. Plans also include protecting existing ancient woodlands and hedgerows.
Predicted housing numbers in Keresley would more than quadruple the size of the area which had a population of just 713 according to the latest census.
But council officials insist major infrastructure improvements would be made to deal with additional traffic, and plans include linking Keresley to the M6.
Housing plans across Coventry and Warwickshire aim to accommodate 88,160 homes across the region.
Asked if the numbers seemed extreme, Coun Kevin Maton, the council’s cabinet member for business, said they were based primarily on data from the Office of National Statistics.
He added: “You can challenge the numbers, but history would seem to indicate that the city’s population of 330,000 is growing.
“People can say we shouldn’t let anyone else in, but the people we would be kicking out are their children, their friends and their relatives.
“It’s effectively saying ‘I don’t want what I have got to be available to others’.”
He added that if population growth did not increase as expected between now and 2031 the figures could be revised.
The council also wants to re-label thousands of acres of existing green belt land as ‘green space’ - something it says would grant the land the same level of protection from development as green belt status.
The council says it is a technical change because the effected land sits away from the boundary and doesn’t serve the purpose of green belt - to prevent urban sprawl.
Coun Maton insisted the erosion of green belt on the boundary wouldn’t have a significant impact.
He said: “There is no development that goes any further West towards Birmingham than is currently the case.
“We are building on the green belt, but the driver for that is this huge current housing need.”
The plans will be subject to public consultation between January 18 and February 29 for comments and feedback.
A series of public meetings and drop-in sessions have also been planned across the city.
The final plan will be submitted to government inspectors at the end of March and will then be subject to a full public inquiry which is likely to be held in the summer.
If adopted, the plan will come into force from late 2016.
Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:44 pm
Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:58 pm
Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:51 pm
'It’s a joke' - greenbelt campaigner reacts to plans to build on Coventry green belt
A greenbelt campaigner has said lowering immigration to the UK should take priority over building more houses in the city.
Sandra Camwell, vice chairman of Keresley Parish Council, was speaking after Coventry City Council revealed the area where she lives was earmarked to take 3,000 new homes as part of plans to build 25,000 in the city by 2031.
She said residents were furious about the plans and she didn’t believe the new homes were needed, despite the forecast housing need being based on figures from the Office of National Statistics.
She said: “It’s up to the government to stop the population explosion, they are the ones letting people in.
“Coventry is a league of nations. You don’t hear the English language being spoken. You stand on The Burges and it’s unbelievable the number of languages you will hear.
“It’s a conglomerate of people coming into the country and people wanting places to live.”
She added: “I don’t accept the houses are needed. I think the figures have been massaged. Are they counting the students in? I don’t think they are.
“There are thousands of homes sitting empty already. They were selling some up north for a pound.”
Mrs Camwell said she also worried about the effect of the additional housing on the city’s appearance and infrastructure and raised concerns over flooding.
She said: “Keresley is a wet, soggy, boggy area. We have already had a sink hole, what’s to say it won’t happen again? Watery Lane is always flooded.”
She added: “It’s a joke. What about the hospital and the doctors? What’s going to happen with more and more people? You will be dead before you see a doctor.
“I don’t think they’ve thought this through. What about the schools? Most councillors send their kids to private school, so it won’t affect them. It’s double standards in this city.”
Mrs Camwell said many residents had taken to writing to central government and suggested people would make their feelings clear about the council at the ballot box.
She added: “People are on about going down to the Council House and getting councillors out by the scruff of their necks.
“They say they are a useless entity. The council have shot their bolt because they don’t listen to the people.
“I think a lot of them are going to be looking for something else to do come May.”
Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:19 pm
Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:19 pm
flapdoodle wrote:What is this 'Coventry Spirit' you're lamenting?
Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:22 pm
flapdoodle wrote:Can I invoke Godwin's Law?
Tue Jan 05, 2016 11:52 pm
Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:19 am
What is this 'Coventry Spirit' you're lamenting?