We fully recognise how important Westwood Business Park is to
Coventry and its future, as did the City Council some 30 years ago
in
promoting and establishing Westwood Business Park.
Coventry is almost totally reliant upon
surrounding Warwickshire District Councils
designating and providing sufficient new
employment land to meet Coventry’s own agreed needs. Yet
it’s “premier” Business Park, a key part of its
“high value” employment “offer” to new and
existing businesses isn’t in any way being promoted and
protected.
We follow the very public Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber
argument that all
existing designated Employment Land should be
“protected”, and any redevelopment should still be
focussed upon employment. We also support the continued development
of the University of Warwick, it’s economic and profile value
we all recognise.
Protection of existing Employment Land. Because of the
acknowledged shortfall of Employment Land to meet the city’s
requirements the proposed new Local Plan seeks to reinforce and
strengthen the existing Local Plan’s commitment that says
that non
employment use will not be approved on employment land - except in
EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. There are no EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
for
redeveloping the E.ON site for housing.
Coventry City Council Planning Policies JE1 to JE5 seek to
ensure Coventry has enough
supply of employment land to meet its present and future needs.
These policies seek to
explicitly “protect” designated Employment Land from
non-employment usage, except in EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES.
The Redford development proposals for the E.ON site will further
diminish Westwood Business Park’s essential contribution
to
meeting Coventry’s employment needs and progressively
undermine the whole Business Park and the many, existing,
long-standing
occupiers of Westwood Business Park.
Coventry City Council’s planning policies overtly say they will protect designated Employment Land from non-employment uses except in Exceptional Circumstances. The Council has already declared that all Coventry’s new housing needs to 2041 can be met within its administrative boundaries and has listed all the sites proposed. The ex E.ON site on Westwood Business Park is not registered or required as a housing site needed to deliver Coventry’s housing targets.
Residents of Westwood Heath object to the
inappropriate and unnecessary application for redevelopment of the
former E.ON
headquarters, deep within Coventry’s premier Business Park,
to be used for (unnecessary) housing where Coventry City Council
has
already declared it can meet all the city’s
growing needs. We also contend that primary, existing, and only
vehicular access for the site be at Westwood Way.
This ePetition runs from 12/06/2026 to 10/08/2026.
25 people have signed this ePetition.