New ‘aspirational homes’ in Coventry approved despite objections...

[dutchman]

The development is in Wainbody close to the University of Warwick



New “aspirational” family homes have been given the go-ahead in Coventry.

A total of 22 four-bed detached houses will be built by William Davis Homes on land at Cryfield Heights, in Wainbody, near to the University of Warwick.

The bid was given approval by Coventry City Council’s planning committee on Thursday, August 20, seven for and one against, despite some objections.

It was a slight alteration on a previously-approved plan for 16 homes in 2018, but the developer said market demand prompted a change in the scheme.

Cllr Lindley Harvard, chair of the committee, said: “We do know that – even though it may be a market trend – that four-bed houses are selling like hot cakes. We do know there is a demand in Coventry for larger houses.”

Representative for the developer James Chatterton added: “It satisfies the recognised need for Coventry to deliver larger, aspirational houses whilst seeking to develop the stock of medium and larger homes.”

Approval did not come without concern, however.

Two objectors and ward councillor John Blundell raised issue with an access point off Little Cryfield, concerned it was creating a “blind corner” which could lead to crashes, and a lack of pedestrian path.

Although highways was satisfied with the scheme, it prompted questions as to whether the committee could make adjustments to solve issues, including changing the position of the access altogether.

But head of planning Tracy Miller said “the position of the access has already been established”.

“To refuse it on the position of the access I would advise against as the officers are unlikely to win that at appeal because we have already established a precedent for the access in the position,” she added.

Cllr Allan Andrews, who said he felt like “our hands are totally tied” by the policy, further questioned the effectiveness of the council’s Local Plan.

The scheme is greater than the 20 dwellings the land is allocated for in the Local Plan, but Ms Miller told him this “wouldn’t be considered as being reasonable” for refusal as the council's Local Plan allocations are a “minimum”.

However, the ‘minimum’ amount was not followed when approval was given for 16 homes on the land in 2018, leading Cllr Andrews to question “if the Local Plan is worth the paper it’s written on”.

He added: “The Local Plan is easily ignored it seems. It’s either a minimum or it isn’t. It just seems to give officers far too much flexibility to frankly recommend what they like without any reawake given to the Local Plan that I thought guided our development principles until 2031.”