Plans for 200 homes on Sandy Lane Industrial Estate

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Plans are being drawn up to transform an historic industrial park in Coventry into a 200-home living, work and leisure development



Developers The Wigley Group aims to regenerate the Sandy Lane Industrial Estate and create around 200 new homes on the site which borders the Coventry Canal.

Daimler Wharf would include a mix of houses, apartments, employment spaces as well as cafes and outdoor leisure spaces and would also open up the canal-side for residents.

The site is home to the Daimler building – one of the first car factories in the world – which is being transformed into the Daimler Powerhouse arts complex for artists, engineers, architects and other creative industries by Imagineer Productions.

Managing director of the Wigley Group James Davies said the Daimler Wharf site perfectly complemented the adjacent Electric Wharf live-work development and other recent improvements in the area.

He said: “This is a key site with great potential, sitting as it does alongside Coventry Canal.

“A great deal of regeneration has been undertaken in recent years with the creation of Electric Wharf next door and City Wharf on the opposite bank of the canal, and we see this as the next step in helping to transform the area.

“It is within easy walking distance of the Canal Basin and the city centre, and would complete an environment which has been massively improved in recent years.

“Plans are still at a very early stage but we want to maintain employment on the site but then create a mix of housing and also provide some leisure including café bars and open public spaces, both of which are lacking in the area.

“We have had some initial discussions with Coventry City Council, which were very positive.”

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It was originally a cotton mill surrounded by cotton fields, even had its own railway line.

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There would also be commercial space and leisure facilities



Plans have been submitted to create a new neighbourhood, which would include almost 500 homes, on the site of Coventry’s world-famous Daimler car factory.

The major regeneration scheme - known as Daimler Wharf - would see the creation of a huge development that would combine new homes, commercial space, leisure and arts facilities and public open spaces.

Warwickshire-based property and development company The Wigley Group has submitted an outline planning application to Coventry City Council for the mixed-use development on Sandy Lane in the Radford area of the city.

The seven-acre brownfield site sits on the side of the Coventry Canal and is currently a business park and industrial estate.

It has been designated for housing by Coventry City Council as part of the city’s Local Plan.

Central to the proposals is the integration of the site by reconnecting the area to the Coventry Canal and creating a large public common.

The outline planning application includes up to 480 new homes made up of a mixture of one, two and three bedrooms, and flexible work-live units.

At the heart of the development will be a linear park and two public squares that will act as focal points for the new community.

Direct pedestrian and cycle links through the new community to the Coventry Canal will also enhance the pedestrian corridor into the city centre.

There will be electric car charging points, and an electric bike and scooter station, as well as other flexible commercial space.

The first phase of the Daimler Wharf scheme has already been completed, with the refurbishment of the Daimler Powerhouse building — the only part of the car factory to survive Second World War bombing — into a creative hub.

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It's all about squeezing the maximum number of dwellings into the smallest footprint, nothing else.

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Huge 250 home plan for historic Coventry car factory site



Plans to redevelop the site of a famous car factory in Coventry have been sent to the Coventry City Council. Up to 250 homes could be built on land at Sandy Lane business park, once home to the Daimler works.

It comes almost a year after a scheme for nearly double this housing on the site was withdrawn. Developers Rainier took over the project in January after plans by The Wigley Group were shelved.

At the time, the group's chief exec Richard Mees described the site as one of Coventry's "most exciting regeneration opportunities." But he said that after changes to market conditions, "every aspect of the approach" would be reviewed.

The previous bid lodged in 2021 was for 480 homes, a linear park, up to two public squares and walking and cycle routes to the canal. The new plans also include public spaces and will open up public access to the Coventry canal towpath at the site.

But the scheme's buildings will be smaller, up to five storeys high rather than 12, and it does not include flexible commercial or community space. It will have a children's play area and green spaces for residents, however.

The development will also be focused around the Daimler Powerhouse, reports add. This is a former car factory building which was converted into a creative hub in 2021.

A new "public plaza" by the Powerhouse will support local events and performances, and also provide better access to the building, papers state. Plans claim the final plans come after community and council engagement, as well as with a large team of consultants.

While the site is allocated for just 90 homes, developers claim this level of housing would be "inefficient" given its closeness to the city centre. The old Daimler factory on the land was one of the first car factories in the UK.

It opened in the 19th century in a former textile mill but most of the site was destroyed in the Blitz. The site at Sandy Lane is now used for industrial activities, plans say.

The site's current buildings, apart from the Powerhouse, will be demolished if the bid gets the go-ahead. Plans expire at the end of the year and Coventry council has not yet made a decision.

More details can be found on the council's planning portal via reference: PL/2024/0001869/OUTM