Coventry Council to Grab Keresley Green Belt for “Eco” Suburb
This site has been set up to inform about and discuss the plans that Coventry City Council have for developing green belt land in Keresley into a so-called “Eco” suburb of 3000 supposedly “carbon neutral” homes. This greenbelt land is a valuable resource (in the cherished sense), and is the home for much wildlife as well as arable and livestock farming.
Song birds such as the Skylark and the Yellowhammer, both on the RSPB red list, can be heard and seen in the area. Prey birds such as Kestrels, Buzzards and Red Kites have also been spotted.
Rough map of the proposed Green Belt Changes - All shaded areas are currently Green Belt
Click this link for the official map from the Coventry Council Website (PDF):
Click this link to go to the City Council Core Strategy Page for all the documentation
We welcome your comments - either against the land grab or in favour. Please feel free to add your thoughts using the comments link at the bottom. Comments will be moderated or deleted if offensive or inappropriate.
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Here are some recent images of the green belt land that the council has earmarked for housing development
View from Watery Lane
View from Watery Lane -2
View from Tamworth Road
View southeast from Bunsons Wood
Buzzard over Bunsons Wood
Bluebells in Bunsons Wood
View North from Thompsons Lane - more houses planned here
Fantastic oak trees all over the area
April 25th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
There’s too much of this going on all over the country. Surely the council are not going to be allowed to ride roughshod over the desires of residents under the guise of an “eco” housing development? There are many “brownfield” sites available which could be/should be used for housing, but probably less profitable to the council (or specific councillors?) to develop?
May 3rd, 2009 at 3:17 pm
This is an outrage. There are far to many houses being developed at a time when the economy is under pressure. Our money should be invested into improving areas of the city that need it rather then ruining areas that have no needs.
May 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 pm
It’s about time Coventry City Council (and the Governement who seem to want to interfer in local politics) realised they are EMPLOYED by Rate Payers to carry out the wishes of the local population. The vote at the recent meeting showed that everyone who attended was against the suggestion of building on green belt land.
We believe from the published census (Government figures) that between 1971 and 2007 the population of Coventry fell by approx. 27,000. We don’t understand the need to set aside Green Belt land for future building when (a) building has already taken place in the area at the Jaguar and the old Massey Ferguson site and (b) as we understand it not all of these properties are sold or occupied.
We believe that the Council will ignore the fact that the proposed Green Belt site is often water logged in places; has mine shafts in the area; a gas main running through it (hence the Eco park as part of it can’t be built on). The suggestion of an Eco park will not save the wild life that currently thrives including plants like Lady’s Smock and birds such as Sky Larks, Herons, Buzzards, Owls, and Woodpeckers. There are also Bats, Newts, Frogs and Badgers.
It also ignores the issue of traffic which became an even more noticable problem when the Ricoh arena was built; the many accidents at the junction of Sandpits Lane and the Tamworth Road and Sandpits Lane and Bennetts Road South.
In fact the Council seems uninterested in anything which shows it is not suitable to build on. They allowed the Walsgrave Hospital to be built on a flood plain and more houses are proposed for the flood plain in that area. Of course the onus will be on whoever acquires the land to provide towards road improvements, schools, health facilities etc.
It’s a disgrace and the Council can’t even fill in extemely bad pot holes all over the City but seem able to alter the road layouts to include bus lanes which appear to be of no help at all in improving the flow of traffic!
Basically we would like to know why we need more houses and for whom. We understand the population changes but if that many more people were here in 1971 where did they all live?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Make the most of the Green Belt at Keresley because we understand there is already a Building Company (believed to be called Pegasus) lined up to build the houses by 2011 despite the fact that the Council kept saying it was a last resort!
We have also seen the Red Kite someone else spoke of.
We would also like to know why traffic sensus counters were put in the Road at Bennetts Road South during a school holiday and whilst no events were on at the Ricoh Arena.
A cyclist was recently killed outside the Bell Pub and on the 13th of June yet another accident happened on the Tamworth Road.
June 20th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Once again, the city council seem to be going to get their way with this. I still don’t think that there are that many people who are aware of the plans for the whole of the Keresley green belt area - possibly why the council are seemingly acting with impunity in pushing through these horrifying plans. There are only 100 or so signees to the online petition organised by Keresley Parish Council. Surely more people care?
Perhaps as Coventry people we get what we deserve?
Remember, once the green belt is gone, it’s gone FOREVER
Regarding the traffic, we’ve noticed that since the Ricoh Arena shopping site started up, along with the take up of SAT NAV, the traffic in the area on most of the main roads has at least trebled in the last four years or so.
If you ever see those traffic counters and speed recorders collecting information at the wrong time - holidays etc - when they should be operating at the busiest times, I’d advise to take a knife to the black pipes that go across the road - they are just tubes and the system works on air pressure in the tube when a vehicle crosses - then the system would have to be set up again in order that the data can be collected.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:34 pm
We didn’t know there was an on-line petition. We did send a letter to the Council and sign the petition at the Meeting. The traffic sensus has been removed but thanks for the tip.
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 am
You can find the online petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/cov1/petition.html
It’s probably too late to add your voice - they were expecting signatures by May 6th, but I guess anything extra can help.
Cov Kid
July 19th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I hear there’s an organised meeting against the Eco Village at the Pavilion at the Hare and Hounds on Wednesday July 29th at 7:30 PM. See you there, I guess.
Bob
September 25th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Great pictures, Iam currently trying to make as many people as possible aware of the plans. From what I have seen they plan to rip throught he Hallbrook valley without any concern for the wildlife. I have found high quality mesolithic flints in the area adjacent to Watery lane. I think the best policy is for everybody to run these councillors out of town at the next election and replace them with people like us who are passionate and actually care about our city. I am proud to say I was born and bred in Keresley and I will love this place forever regardless of the councils developments, but I will never forgive them if they go ahead with the plans. I hve some pics of the flint I have found if you want it for this site.Please do not hesitate to contact me by mail and I will tell you what is currently being done by a very small caring group of residents.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I was brought up in Thompsons Rd and am ashamed to say |I have only just become aware of what is going on by visiting my mother (who was born there) who still lives there, and I saw the notices people have put up saying save the Green Belt.Although my mother still lives in Keresley she does not take notice of things put through her door anymore as they are usually just rubbish so any correspondence if any that may have been sent would probably been ignored although this may have been a good thing as it would worry her to death at the thought of her beloved view being ruined by building.I cannot believe the scale of this project and what worries me is that there seems to be a lack of interest in what is happening around the people who live in the village. If there are anymore meetings being arranged I would be grateful if you could notify me although I realise, having gone through the building of the Coundon Wedge Road that if Coventry City Council has made their minds up about something nothing that the actual rate payers say seems to make any difference.
December 1st, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I’ve only recently been informed of a web site to subscribe to get details of organised events - marches etc - http://www.save-coventry-greenbelt.co.uk
You can’t directly contact the organiser, but they do keep you informed as to what is going on.
Bob
January 27th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
It’s about time nimby’s realised that people need houses.
I grew up around Keresley, I know the area very well and spent a lot of my formative years in the woods and fields off the Tamworth Road, Bennets Road and Five Field Road. I have very fond memories of the place, especially in winter, when the place was jumpin’ with redwings and fieldfares. Snipe in the ponds and ditches, hares running between the fields, fox cubs under the rhododendrons up at “Doctors House”. Muntjac opposite the Horse and Jockey. If anybody has a nostalgic interest in the Keresley countryside, I would be in the first rank. Buit that’s all it is, nostalgia.
Assuming all brown field sites in the area have been allocated to housing, then it’s inevitable that housing authoirities will need to consider nibbling away at the fringes of - let’s face it - a fairly mediocre bit of countryside. It’s not The Peak District, it’s not the Brecon Beacons, Dartmoor, Exmoor, The Lakes or any one of a host of areas of outstanding natural beauty.
And before people strart screaming cliches like “once it’s gone, it’s gone for ever” and “we’re a crowded little island”, you should get out more. Take a trip to Kent and try and find Betteshangar Colliery, there’s nothing there now. Its a haven for wildlife. Vast open countryside and seascapes all the way to Holland!
This country, mainly thanks to huge landowners like the Church of England and corporate farmers, has more green spaces than many people realise. Pop down to Baginton and buy yourself an hour in the air, then you’ll see enough greenbelts for every genuine countrylover. Huge tracts of unspoilt countryside. Anyone would think from reading this thread that you are all arguing over the last blade of grass in the UK. Get some proportion and perspective into your arguments.
But then I suspect many complainants are less countrylovers than people with an irrational axe to grind about their individual vested interests.
People need houses, that’s the priority. People, not ponies for Jessica and Tarquin. People.
You’d be better off spending your campaigning energies on lobbying your local elected representatives (and second rate non-entity prospective candidates) about the state of the roads down there. It’s like a third world country. Get your elected councillors to put their collective hands in their pockets (if they haven’t already spent the public purse - your money, by the way) on foreign jollies, expensive “consultants” or lavish “communications” telling you what a good job their doing with your money!
Simples!
Discuss.
January 30th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Hmm - where to start.
Coventry’s population has been in decline since the peak of around 340,000 in the early 70’s to 300,000 in 2001 - only a little more than what it was in 1961. In the last 10 years, this has increased by 10,000, a lot due to incoming migrant workers who are usually temporary.
Volume car production has gone and unfortunately the city is no longer the great manufacturing base that it used to be. Sadly, there are no large amounts of new jobs on the way for Coventry.
The Homefire plant has now gone, not to be replaced by a wildlife park, but instead by a load of great big sheds - in terms of jobs per square kilometre, not an efficient use of land.
The government is telling the city that it needs more houses, but the numbers do not add up. There are and will be no vast numbers of new jobs for the owners of these new homes to go to. There is no real need for more houses in Coventry and we certainly do not need to build on green belt.
the city council has a record of building wonderful “look what we’ve done” projects but ignores the real needs of the residents. We need a well-maintained road infrastructure and clean streets - neither are evident at the moment. The whole city and all the services provided by the council seem to be falling apart through lack of maintenance. If built, what will this “Eco Suburb” look like in 10 years?
I suspect that the only people that will benefit from these new homes, if built, will be the developers and certain councillors with their own vested interests.
February 19th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Come on sharki, where’s the evidence that Coventry needs houses?
With a falling birth rate, and a crunch on jobs reducing the need for migrant labour, perhaps the government should be revising their approach to housing needs requirements in the long term.
In the short term, our youngsters, if they are lucky enough to have jobs, cannot afford the deposit on a new house. They are too busy paying off a variety of loans needed to support them through university.
Rented housing seems to be in good supply, perhaps more investment in improving the quality of existing housing would be a more welcomed solution.
People need green open space to ensure their welbeing. You had it when you were a youngster why suggest depriving other people of the same opportunity?
Why settle for a future of pockets set aside for nature and leisure, threaded together with wildlife corridors, when we currently have nature, leisure, landscape with outstanding character for the area, and sustainable agriculture, all available on our doorsteps.
It is not sustainable, to have to drive to National Nature Reserves, National Parks or far flung corners of the British Isles to enjoy the countryside, youngsters need areas to explore nearby.
There are a lot of issues concerning the way that our money is managed, but lets not use that old chestnut to water down this debate, it may not be the Cairngorms, Peak District or the South Downs, but a stroll by public footpath from Brookford Avenue to Corley Rocks has a lot going for it.
Rolling hills, quaint country lanes, arable and pasture land, horses, woodland, streams, fresh air, views over the city in the distance, and loads of wildlife.
All of this should not be sacrificed without good reason.
So where is the evidence?