MAJOR CHANGES COULD BE MADE TO HOUSING MASTERPLAN

MAJOR changes are being proposed to the masterplan for future housing development across Nuneaton and Bedworth by an independent government inspector.

Inspector David Spencer has made a raft of what are known as ‘Major Modifications’ to Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council’s Borough Plan.

This follows a series of hearing sessions held in February and March, and include modifications resulting from these discussions.

There are also changes that he has suggested too.

But what is not mentioned is reducing the numbers at all.

Some of the biggest changes he is proposed to make are:

The strategic housing sites can now accommodate the full housing need of the Borough and the number of houses assigned to the Borough from the sub-region. This is as a result of developers gaining planning permission for more houses on the strategic site to the north of Nuneaton than had been anticipated when the Plan was last published, which has increasing the capacity from 3,300 houses to 4,419. These new figures mean that the housing numbers that the Borough can now accommodate has increased from 13,374 to 14,060.

■ It is also suggested that the Plan now includes concept plans detailing where spine roads, cycle and walking routes and schools should be located at the north of Nuneaton and Arbury strategic housing sites, which will help distribute traffic more evenly across the sites and ensure accessibility to new educational facilities.

■ The concept plan for the Arbury site will also set out a link to the A444 to the south of the site, helping relieve congestion from Heath End Road and other roads to the west of Nuneaton.

■ Transport improvements at the Woodlands site are also proposed, with new access onto and off of the A444 to reduce congestion on Newtown Road.

■ Another major proposed change to the Plan following the hearing sessions is the removal of part of HSG6 on School Lane, in addition to retaining the land as Green Belt; this followed the landowner’s wish for the land to be removed from the plan, after having previously been promoted to the council.

■ It is also suggested that the land now occupied by Red Kangaroo is also removed from this site, both of which having reduced the capacity on the site from 388 houses down to 220.

But the Borough Plan is now just about future housing land, there is also employment land too. The inspector has recommended the re-inclusion of an extension to Prologis Park, due to new ecological evidence, and means the plan will include an extra 5.3 ha of employment land.

Members of the council’s cabinet will meet tonight to discuss the modifications and is then expected to agree another public consultation which will last for six weeks, and is due start at either the end of this month or the start of August, dependent on Inspector’s review of the Sustainability Appraisal, a report which accompanies the Borough Plan to ensure that sustainability criteria are met.

It has been stressed that the format of the Main Modifications consultation is set out by the Planning Inspectorate and does include public meetings, exhibitions or events.

At the beginning of the consultation period all those people who are on the consultation database, which includes everyone who has already made comments/objections as well as all the statutory and non-statutory consultees, will be sent a letter or email informing them of the process, the timescales and where to access all of the documents.

They will be also informed as to how to make comments on the Main Modifications and then what happens to them.

A spokesperson for the planning department at the Town Hall said: “Anyone can make comments on the Main Modifications they do not have to have made any comments before.”

At the end of the consultation period all of the comments are sent to the Inspector for his consideration before he completes his report.

The council hopes to receive the final report from the inspector in October/November and then it will then have to be debated by the cabinet and then full council, with a view of this taking place before the end of this year.