New canal-side homes plan

COUNCILLORS are set to decide whether more than 100 new homes can be built in a rural canal-side setting in Longford.

Westleigh Homes has applied to demolish a number of locally listed but dilapidated barns and build 91 houses and 16 flats at Grange Farm in Grange Road. The developers say three-quarters of the new homes being built would be affordable housing. It is proposing to build 39 two-bedroom houses, 46 three-bedroom houses and six four-bedroom houses with a total of 160 parking spaces.

A Grade II listed farmhouse on the site is not affected by the scheme.

In terms of access the application proposes a road access from Grange Road with another pedestrian/cycle access to the south next to the M6 bridge.

Council officers have recommended councillors approve the scheme at the next planning committee on Thursday December 16, pending the completion of a Section 106 agreement by Westleigh Homes to provide at least 25% affordable housing and £160,000 towards off-site highway works.

A number of applications for the site have been refused or withdrawn but in 2009 permission was granted for farm buildings to be demolished and five homes to be built.

That followed an inspector for Coventry City Council’s Core Strategy in 2009 concluding that the site should be allocated for up to 100 houses. However, the core strategy was never adopted.

Seven letters of objection have been received by the council expressing concerns about a number of issues, including highway safety, increased traffic congestion in Hawksbury village and the loss of trees and hedgerows.

A petition signed by 33 people was also has been submitted by Coun Lindsley Harvard (Lab, Longford) objecting to the application due to the environmental impact upon the canal conservation area.