Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To note the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February, 2020.

b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2020 were noted. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

To consider the above two petitions, bearing a total of 4917 signatures, which have been submitted by Councillor G Ridley, a Woodlands Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services which provided a formal response to two petitions submitted on 2 September 2020 sponsored by Councillor G Ridley. The petitions combined had total of 4917 signatures.

The first petition was headed “Coventry Green Space Petition” and detailed the following:

“We the undersigned petition the Council to review their Local Plan to protect out green spaces.

Around and across out City treasured green spaces are threatened with development and urban sprawl.

We want to see the Council implement a genuine “brownfield first” policy to regenerate these sites first, which are often more central and sustainable with better public transport.

Only by reviewing the Local Plan can we reduce the intense pressure to develop greenfield sites”. 

The second petition was headed “Return land in Coventry to greenbelt” and detailed the following:

“Coventry Council should begin its review of the Local Plan now and return land to greenbelt.

If there is hyper population growth in Coventry, as the council claim, they are all ghosts or vampires.

Latest government data shows they don’t vote, don’t go to A&E, don’t have babies or send children to school, don’t have cars, don’t receive state pension or ESA benefit, don’t use gas or electricity, and don’t produce household waste. Do they exist?

Three world experts have looked at our case, on our website, and said “it is all compelling evidence”.

There is no need to build thousands of homes at Keresley, Eastern Green, Finham, Westwood Heath, Coundon Wedge, Exhall, or Cromwell Lane, for people who are not here. We can have the homes we actually need, on brownfield, and keep the beautiful Forest of Arden Landscape.

We need a People’s Plan that delivers homes for ordinary people, that teaching assistants, nurses, care workers, firemen, shop workers can afford, not the luxury 4 bed £400,000 palaces being planned”.

Councillor G Ridley, a Woodlands Ward Councillor and the petition spokesperson attended the meeting and spoke in respect of the petitions. They raised the following points:

·  A brownfield first approach should be implemented in Coventry

·  Empty homes should be brought back into use

·  Building 4/5 bed houses does not address the housing crisis

·  Projected population figures supplied by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) are questionable

The report stated that Policy DS1 of the Local Plan sets out the triggers that, if engaged, would lead to a review of the Local Plan.

A report on progress against the triggers is due to be considered by Cabinet on 1 December 2020 and Council on 8 December 2020, respectively. The report concludes that the triggers have not been met and that there was no requirement to commence a Plan Review in March 2021. 

It was noted that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) required Local Plans to be reviewed every five years, and as such, the Local Plan would be subject to a review in December 2022.

One of the petitions which called for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

There are no outstanding issues.

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.