THE BACKGROUND

Coventry City Council are proposing that planning permission be given for 33,500 new homes to be built in the period up to 2026. This is the number proposed in their March 2009 "Core Strategy - Proposed Submission" document. However the city does not have an adequate amount of land on which to build this quantity of houses without resorting to the use of greenbelt land. The majority of greenbelt land within Coventry is situated in Allesley and Keresley, part of the Bablake ward to the North West of the city.

WHY SO MANY?

In May 2006 a Local Development Plan, "Core Strategy - Issues and Options" was produced by Coventry City Council. For the period 2001 - 2026 this indicated a local growth need of 19,000 properties. It went on to suggest two further options of +25%, 23,750 properties and +51%, 28,700 properties. These being aspirations of additional growth coming from outside Coventry.

In 2007, in a document "Building on Coventry's Success" it was stated that there was an expectation to develop in the region of at least 24,000 dwellings in the period 2001 to 2026.

In April 2008 a "Strategic Housing Market Assessment" document was produced for the council by "Outside Consultants", a company specialising in this field. It was their conclusion that, between 2006 and 2029 and based upon unconstrained growth, "Coventry is expected to grow in real terms by 16,000 households". This would equate to around 700 new houses per year.

The number 33,500 appearing in the Core Strategy are those from the Housing suppliment of the West Midland "Regional Spatial Strategy phase 2 revision" . At the outset, in the preparation of the document, only 18,100 was proposed, this still being greater than the 14,000 demand projection produced by the Department of Communities and Local Government in 2006.

From the March 2009 Core Strategy proposal document a large area of land in Keresley is to be released from the greenbelt for a housing development of 3,500 houses. This development, already in the pre-planning stage, would link Keresley Heath, Keresley Green, Keresley Village and part of Holbrooks thus creating a large single connurbation

In addition a further 7,000 houses are being exported by Coventry to both Nuneaton and Bedworth and Warwick district councils. Each is expected to build an aditional 3,500 houses on land in their areas adjacent to their boundary with Coventry. This is over and above the requirements of the Regional Spatial Strategy for those districts. This would entail the current greenbelt land between Keresley Village and Ash Green / Goodyers End being released for housing, thus becoming part of a ribbon development contributing to urban sprawl.

WE MUST FIGHT THESE PROPOSALS

If these proposals are allowed to proceed then in one stroke the reason for which the greenbelt concept was introduced, the prevention of ribbon development and urban sprawl, will have been negated.