The planning application by the City Council to develop part of the Coundon Wedge has been re-advertised with more information and an Environmental Impact Assessment.
Although an attractive scheme has been submitted with the application, this will carry no weight as this is an outline application with only the principle of development and the access arrangements being applied for.
The full comments of the Coventry Society are outlined below.
The Coventry Society OBJECTS to this development for the following reasons:
- The development will add to an excessive amount of development in the North West of the city, including the so called Keresley and Eastern Green Sustainable Urban Extensions. The cumulative impact of these developments will put too large a burden on the infrastructure and facilities of this part of the city.
- The City Council has accepted that the Coventry Local Plan 2017 is based on inaccurate population forecasts. It is therefore inappropriate to approve further development of this scale until the full effects of the error and the revised local plan are prepared and examined.
- The development would contradict the Council’s policy of “Brownfield First” and the commitment given by the City Council’s Leader that there would be no development in the Coundon Wedge. Although the applicant has been careful not to describe the site as being in the Coundon Wedge, it is self-evident that it is and is recognised as such by all local residents. This reversal of policy brings the City Council into disrepute and reduces trust in the planning system. The failure to mitigate the impact of the development on the Coundon Wedge is to be regretted.
- The applicant has not demonstrated the need for the development at the present time. Whilst this site might be required in the distant future it isn’t at this moment because of the amount of new development in the vicinity. More houses are being built in the two SUEs than required by the development plan. The review of the Coventry Plan will take it to 2041 and it is recommended that this application be deferred until the city needs the site for development, perhaps in the later stages of the plan period.
- The development is not sustainable. In the case of this development there are no primary schools, doctor’s practices, food shops, or places of worship within fifteen minutes walk from the site (figure 3.3). The Society believes that new urban extensions should comply with the concept of the “15 minute neighbourhood”, as described by urbanist Carlos Moreno. All necessary facilities should be provided within a fifteen minute walk from home.
Furthermore there is no safe off-road cycle route to Allesley. In the absence of these facilities within walking or safe cycling distance, it is inevitable that residents will be forced to use their cars to get to them. This will cause problems for Allesley villagers who already suffer from lack of car parking near to the doctors and shops. The development promotes car use and does not promote active travel.
- The development of a care home in this location is contrary to policy H8 of the Local Plan, which states that “Proposals for care homes, nursing homes and other specialist and supported forms of housing for the elderly and those requiring care will be encouraged in areas that are accessible by a choice of means of transport and that are situated in close proximity to key local services.” This site is not in an accessible area or situated in close proximity to local services.
- The Access to the Care Home appears to use the existing narrow access to the RSPCA buildlng. This will be sub standard for the large car home provided and widening the access will damage the attractive tree belt provided as part of the landscaping of the Wedge Road.
- Although the applicant has presented an attractive illustrative example of the way the site could be developed, with a large amount of public open space and low rise development, the application is in outline only with only the access points being detailed. As the City Council is likely to be seeking the biggest receipts for the site, it is likely to be sold to a volume housebuilder and it is extremely unlikely that the positive elements of the illustrative example will be included in the final scheme. Planning committee should consider the application on the basis of the worst case scenario, rather than the detailed scheme submitted as an example.
The illustrative scheme includes a generous amount of public open space but the City Council has declared that it will not adopt this land and maintenance will be the developers responsibility. However, once purchased the developer will argue that it is not reasonable for the future property owners to pay for the maintenance of public open space intended for a wider public and on this basis will argue for the development of a larger proportion of the site, particularly the open space at the eastern end of the site.
Members should be aware that once they have approved the principle of developing this site, it is very likely that the site purchaser will return with a scheme with a much higher volume of housing. The Local Plan identifies the site for 475 dwellings and this is the minimum that a developer will come back with.
- The development of this attractive rural site, with its Arden landscape, for more suburban housing is a missed opportunity for a scheme that could help address the climate emergency facing the city and the country. It could have been used for tree planting and to offset biodiversity lost in other developments. This would be more suitable for this rural environment.
- The Coventry Society would have more comfort with this scheme if the City Council was able to guarantee that the attractive open area to the east of the site, abutting the Wedge Road, would not be built on. It appears to us that the outline application cannot give this protection and as the City Council is not willing to adopt this land and it is not reasonable for the future homeowners to pay for its maintenance another solution is required, e.g. passing the land to an organisation such as Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. Is the City Council willing to explore mechanisms for guaranteeing that the site remains green?
- The care home site takes away a hedge and a considerable width of a tree belt designed to landscape the Wedge Road. This destruction of hedges and trees is not acceptable in a climate crisis and the plan should be amended and the existing hedge and trees should be protected.
- The development will lead to the loss of amphibians, including great crested newts, and bats and even the acceptable illustrative scheme leads to a biodiversity loss that will have to be mitigated elsewhere. This is not acceptable for a rural site like this and is a missed opportunity as mentioned previously.
- The Coventry Society objects to this application in principle for the reasons stated above. However, we recognise that as an allocated housing site (Policy H2) in the Local Plan there may be a presumption in favour of its approval. The Society’s preferred outcome would be for the City Council to withdraw the application with a view to it being re-submitted next decade if there is still a need for additional housing land at that time. The society would find the development more acceptable if a mechanism could be found to guarantee the retention of the green fields to the east of the site.
