Plans to build homes on protected woodland near Coventry criticised
The woodland was created to mark Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee
Plans to build a number of new homes on woodland near Coventry have been criticised by local groups.
Coventry City Council had submitted proposals which would allow the building of 18 self-built homes on the meadows of Jubilee Wood in Keresley.
The woodland has been created to mark Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee in 2012; a decision that had angered the local parish council.
The parish council has helped to maintain the woodland, but now two new planning applications have been made to build up to 18 homes on the land, which had been tendered to.
Now, the Coventry Society has voiced its opposition to building on the protected woodland, saying that they should instead be built on an allocated site.
The society argued that up to 25% of the woodland would be taken up by the proposals, including locations where commemorative trees to the Royal Family had been planted.
Speaking on the proposals, Chairperson of the Society, Trevor Cornfoot, said: "Following the adoption of the Urban Extension Design Guide SPD in 2019, residents of Keresley and the Keresley Parish Council were assured by Coventry City Council that the housing allocation contained within the document was final, and that no more land would be taken from within the Keresley Parish for housing.
“Yet, only six years later, it is Coventry City Council now wanting to grab even more land for housing. This is not just any greenfield site, but part of the Jubilee Woodland, specifically detailed within the Local Plan as one of the protected woodlands within Coventry.
“It would appear that the 3100 houses already detailed within the SPD were not enough, and that Coventry City Council now wants 25% the Jubilee Woodland to be sacrificed for a further 18 dwellings!! We call on the City Council to withdraw these two planning applications, and if not, that the Planning Committee unanimously refuse them.”
We have reached out to Coventry City Council for comment.