The City Council has distributed a “Street News” to residents of Allesley setting out the changes it is making to the plans to develop the northern part of the Coundon Wedge, which had formerly been reserved for the expansion of the Jaguar factory.
The Council carried out a public consultation exercise last September and has made some changes to the plans before submitting them for outline planning permission.
The Council is continuing with this development despite the recent acknowledgement that the population forecasts for the city had been greatly exaggerated and the call by Coventry NW MP Taiwo Owatemi to halt new developments to enable the local plan to be revised.
Whilst pressure for most developments of this scale comes from Housing Developers who have to get permission from the council, this development is being driven by the Council itself. The Council owns the land and wants to get lots of money by developing it.
Changes to the plans include:
- The main access to the new estate at Browns Lane and Wall Hill Road have been redesigned as mini roundabouts.
- The current natural hedgerow and boundary trees will be retained on the boundaries of the site wherever possible and a buffer zone will be established where the site backs on to existing homes.
- The amount of open space on the site has been increased from 6.5 hectares to 7.1. The Council says that it has provided a more expansive linear green network throughout the site, including linking with existing footpaths. Existing mature hedgerows and trees will be retained wherever possible and improved through additional planting. They say that they will keep and improve existing ponds and add new ponds.
- Apartments planned near Freshfield Close have been removed as a result of the concerns of local residents.
- No changes have been made to meet residents concerns about traffic volume and pressure on public services. These will be addressed in the outline planning application.
We have learned that the Council has now submitted an outline planning application for the development. You can see the details and make online comments here.
Once permission has been granted the land will be sold to developers, who will submit applications for reserved matters. This includes the appearance, scale, layout and landscaping.
The Coventry Society calls upon the Council to defer this development for at least ten years to allow the true scale of housing need in the city to be assessed.