Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

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Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby dutchman » Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:20 pm

The land is earmarked for new homes and business units - but the scale has been criticised

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Hundreds of people have now signed a petition against plans for homes and business units on former green belt land on the Coventry and Nuneaton border.

Developer L&Q Estates is planning to build three business units across 19 hectares plus 73 homes on land off Wilsons Lane/A444 in Longford.

But the plans have sparked criticism over the impact on roads and loss of green space, as well as concern over flooding.

Green Alliance Group campaigners from neighbouring villages including Ash Green and Exhall joined a further protest at the site on Friday, August 7.

It is not the first time the former green belt land has been in the eye of developers, however the land was removed from the green belt in June 2019 and has been set aside for housing and commercial space in Nuneaton and Bedworth’s borough plan, with L&Q Estates saying the principle of its use has been accepted.

Sandra Camwell, from the Green Alliance Group, said: “People are pig sick of this council and they do not want all of this building.

“This road is totally unsuitable for juggernauts.”

Isobel Jakes, vice-chair of Ash Green Residents’ Association, feared two new vehicle accesses to the business units from Pickards Way/B4113 could lead to a pile-up at the roundabout and M6.

She said: “The roundabout effects us all and we think the plans are too big.

“Lorries are the big concern as if the M6 shuts the traffic will divert through our villages.”

More than 300 people have signed a petition on Coventry City Council’s website against a new access road from Old Farm Lane for residential use.

Local councillor Damon Brown said: “We have been fighting to protect this land for the past 10 years. It is a very crowded area and a small bit of green space that supports this community. Whilst I am in support of creating jobs, you have to respect the environment. It has to be in the right place, and sadly this isn’t.”

Coventry councillor John McNicholas, who lives in the area, said he echoes the views of councillors across the border, adding: “The footprint of the site is totally inappropriate for the Longford area.”

The three business units are proposed with all-day operational hours including weekends and bank holidays, with the highest building spanning up to 24 metres high (78ft).

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Re: Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby rebbonk » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:57 pm

This development is totally out of proportion for the area but is also unnecessary as there are many units within the city already unoccupied, not to mention the traffic/pollution issues that it will cause.

But I'll guess it gets the green light, people can make their own minds up as to why.
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby Melisandre » Wed Aug 12, 2020 1:32 pm

Yep because its all corrupt. Before 2021 they will need this for growing food wait and see :hysterical: what with China 3 dams burst destroing all their crops the explotion in Lebanon destroyed all fertilizer for growing food .
America has stopped farming throwing tons of food away because of the fake Covid 19 also the changing of the sun north wont be able to grow food they will have to move south ha ha and America feeds the world even Russia with grain.

Before long we wont have any green belt left I find our council speaks with fork tongue one minute they are greatly concerned with polition saing we are breathing in poison air not to build schools oaps homes etc near main roads in the Coventry Telegraph a while back the next they are creating more polution by building more homes which mean more traffic as you say Rebbonk especially with hgvs. . Greed greed greed. :fuming:

I signed the government petition to stop building on the green belt I now have emails from Priti Patel asking if I agree with stopping immigration and one from Boris Jonson :lol:
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Re: Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby dutchman » Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:39 pm

If at first you don't succeed...

Giant industrial estate plans for Exhall resubmitted

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Plans for a new a giant industrial estate in Exhall have been resubmitted.

If given the go-ahead, it would see four industrial units built on land off Wilsons Lane/Longford Road.

It would also include HGV and vehicular access and egress point off Longford Road, covered cycle parking for 40 bicycles, parking areas with a total of 84 spaces, external waste storage for each unit, dedicated disabled and car sharing close to the entrance of each building and new landscaping features.

The site currently comprises open farmland of poor, semi-improved grassland, including a small pond.

It is bisected by a 400kv overhead power line running west to east across the centre of the site and an electricity pylon is located within the central part of the site.

It is understood that the power lines crossing the site benefit from easements and stand-offs for the benefit of National Grid.

The development is laid out to the north and south of the power lines and the associated wayleave.

The area within the electricity pylon wayleave is to be used to provide an element of open space, including the retention of the existing pond, together with parking and allied circulation areas.

[The application] states that a previous application was withdrawn in December 2019 as a result of changes proposed by the highway authority to Longford Road and the installation of a new cycle route.

It says that the current proposal has been revised to address these highway changes, including access from the site by a new junction on Longford Road.

It adds that the buildings have been designed with community safety in mind, with natural surveillance to help reduce anti-social behaviour as well as external and internal lighting.

The plans are now being looked at by planners at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

They will decide whether or not to give the plans the go-ahead.

A target decision date has been set for June 17.

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Coventry council leader branded ‘galling’ by Nuneaton Town Hall boss

Postby dutchman » Sat May 28, 2022 2:09 am

Coventry council leader branded ‘galling’ for objecting to Exhall business park and housing plan by Nuneaton Town Hall boss

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Nuneaton and Beworth Borough Council’s leader has branded his Coventry counterpart as 'galling' for objecting to plans for a business park and houses in Exhall. Borough council leader councillor Kris Wilson said that had it not been for the local authority being forced to take overspill homes from Coventry, then the site in Wilsons Lane would not have been removed from the greenbelt – paving the way to make it acceptable for development.

Cllr Wilson said that the neighbouring city council has refused to look at their housing numbers – unlike the borough council which is reviewing its borough plan - and therefore the council is currently stuck having to take on 4,600 homes from the city council.

In the existing Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Plan, approved by an inspector, the site in Wilsons Lane was removed from the green belt so that the land could be used to help deal with the Coventry overspill.

With the Borough Plan approved, Cllr Wilson said that if they refused the application for more than 70 homes and a new business park in Exhall then it could go to appeal land be extremely costly. Cllr George Duggins, leader of Coventry City Council, objected to the proposals being given the go-ahead – something that riled Cllr Wilson.

“Yet again we have another application, where one of the objectors is George Duggins. Our housing figures were inflated because of the overspill from Coventry," Cllr Wilson said.

"He (councillor Duggins) is the one who refused to look at their own green belt before we had to use our own. I find it absolutely galling that he is telling us not to approve this.

“If we didn't have to put up with overspill, then sites like this may not have been in the Borough Plan. I know one in my area of Golf Drive may not have been.”

Cllr Wilson said because the land is in the Borough Plan and approved for a mix of housing and business, then it would be difficult for the council to justify rejecting the plan. Cllr Duggins was not the only one to object to the plan however, as petitions have been raised by local residents.

Both the Longford and Ash Green community groups were represented at the planning committee meeting at the Town Hall. The current plan for the erection of up to 73 dwellings and up to 55,750 sqm of employment/commercial floor space on land in Wilsons Lane is for outline permission only, which means further applications will have to be submitted to show finer details.

But Michael Fell, of the Longford community action group, said that the lack of detail, especially about the impact of car parking as well as the works on the nearby Longford roundabout should be explained as they are ‘fundamental’ to the application.

David Parr, committee member of the Ash Green residents association, also raised concerns about the development on the site and said: “In 100 years there will still be photographs of what we have lost, and they will say who are these environmental vandals? I hope it is not going to be the borough council."

Cllr Wilson said: “I completely understand what the residents are saying. My sympathies are entirely in line with them, but we are constrained by the findings of the most recent borough plan inspector."

Responding to Cllr Wilson's comments, George Duggins said: "My views are very simple; as a ward councillor I am entitled to object to proposals that impact on my ward and anyone who doesn't understand the role of a ward councillor is pretty politically immature.

"Some of the proposals are totally inappropriate and I, along with other Longford councillors, are entitled to express our opinion.

"And we are using green belt in our Local Plan. Where he gets the idea from that we haven't touched it I don't know. I've been in meetings and some of the people opposed to these proposals have been people from Nuneaton and Bedworth (Borough Council)."

The borough council is in the process of renewing its borough plan, which has been extended, but this review and any potential changes, cannot stop the current application. Following further debate, the outline planning application for Wilsons Lane was approved during the planning meeting at the Town Hall.

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Re: Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby dutchman » Mon Sep 19, 2022 8:56 pm

Hundreds object to controversial Exhall development as councillors delay decision

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Critics of a controversial development proposal on the A444, near Coventry, have said that the decision "should never have come forward". The plans would see a large business park and 73 homes built on the edge of the city.

The development would mostly be built in Exhall, which comes under the Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Plan jurisdiction. It has been branded the "wrong proposal in the wrong place".

While most of the site is in Exhall, a portion of the earmarked site falls within the Longford ward. It means that the project requires Coventry council's go-ahead.

The whole project involves the demolition of existing buildings and the erection of up to 73 dwellings and up to 55,750 sqm of employment/commercial floor space. It would be built on farmland on the corner of the A444 and the B4113 Pickards Way, which joins via a roundabout to Longford Island and J3 of the M6 motorway.

Council leader George Duggins and Longford councillor Linda Bigham submitted a joint letter of objection to the plans raising concerns about the scale of the development and its 24/7 operation. They also highlighted concerns about traffic in an area which already has low air quality and high traffic congestion, as well as the loss to existing residents of an open green space and rich wildlife.

Flood risks are a primary issue for locals who already suffer during heavy rainfall. In the meeting Cllr Bigham described homes which have had "water up to the windowsill".

A petition, supported by Cllr Bigham, objecting to the plans has 319 signatures while another supported by Cllr Duggins has 203 signatures. Both petitions object to the plans as inappropriate within a residential setting and imposing a detrimental impact on health and wellbeing.

Another petition submitted by councillor Bingham has 42 signatures and states: "We do not believe that the submitted air quality and transport assessments are fit-for-purpose". A total of 38 letters of objection have also been received, citing traffic, air, light, and noise pollution, as well as traffic congestion, as concerns.

Cllr David Walsh of St Michael's Ward said: "The bottom line is Nuneaton and Bedworth has passed a poor quality scheme, which is of concern to us because Coventry has got limited influence. Clearly we're worried about residents in Coventry and it's going to have a big impact on Longford, but actually, it's going to have a negative impact on Nuneaton and Bedworth as well.

"And that's a big worry."

Michael Fell, secretary of Longford Community Action for Neighbourhood, said: "We believe strongly that the general principle of the proposal as outlined in the site description is unsustainable, and would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of residents. How on Earth Nuneaton and Bedworth borough council were able to transfer this area of land from green belt to development land with a vote of six for and 20 against beggars belief?

"It is the wrong proposal in the wrong place."

A representative from the development agency said: "None of [the site plan which falls within Coventry's jurisdiction] is in the green belt, nor does it have any policy constraints imposed upon it. Overall this proposal will deliver a substantial package of 106 measures, including substantial contributions towards education, biodiversity, public transport, healthcare provision, and delivery of new open space.

"Overall the proposal will provide very significant economic benefits, through the creation of over one thousand new job opportunities in Coventry, whilst protecting the amenities of residents, and I commend it to you."

Councillors voted eight to one to defer the decision to allow them to visit the site before re-considering the proposal on October 6.

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Re: Hundreds sign petition to halt development on former green belt in Longford

Postby dutchman » Tue Oct 03, 2023 5:31 am

Coventry housing development approved after appeal

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Plans to build 73 homes in Coventry have been given the green light after developers appealed a council ruling.

Proposals for the houses and a business park off Wilsons Lane were rejected by the city council amid "considerable" objections by local residents.

A government inspector overturned that and ordered the local authority to pay developer L&Q Estates' appeal costs.

More detailed plans are due to be submitted to the council for approval next year.

Most of the site falls under Nuneaton and Bedworth and it was granted permission from the borough council there in March 2022.

But Coventry City Council's planning committee rejected the application covering its portion of the project last October - against the recommendation of council officers.

Hundreds of residents had signed a petition against the scheme, claiming it would be "out of scale" and "inappropriate" for the area.

A government inspector ruled that evidence from a transport assessment and a lack of objections from highways bodies meant the authority could not reject it on road safety concerns

The council's environment protection officer also had no objections, which had "significant weight" in the balance, the inspector said.

For these reasons the scheme would not harm people's living conditions or road safety, it concluded.

Adrian Clack, Managing Director at L&Q Estates, said the scheme would provide "much-needed new housing and employment".

A Coventry City Council spokesperson added: "When an application is refused then the applicant has the right of appeal.

"The planning inspector has allowed the appeal in this instance and awarded costs to the applicant.

"We do not know an amount as their claim has not yet been submitted."

:bbc_news:
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