Councillors advised to approve plans for 25 new homes on site of demolished office block in Rugby

Councillors are being advised to approve plans for 25 new homes on the site of a demolished office block in Rugby.

The 8.4 acre plot on Ashlawn Road used to be home to the offices of CIA Insurance but the buildings were taken down to make way for a retirement village which received outline planning permission in 2016 with detailed proposals receiving the green light in 2020.

However, applicant Inwoods Park Limited, which according to Companies House is controlled by Stephen and Ben Curley, has come forward with plans for 25 homes.

It will include five affordable homes, each of which will be single storey one or two-bedroomed units, with the 20 market dwellings up to 2.5 storeys and containing between two and five bedrooms each.

None of the statutory consultees – police, fire, county council, water or NHS – maintained any objections, although amendments were required after concerns were raised by Warwickshire County Council over the number of vehicle access points, design of the main access, facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and arrangements for bin collections.

The amendments include a second road access.

Two public objections came forward citing concerns over the impact on the landscape of Rainsbrook Valley, highway safety in relation to the nearby Ashlawn Meadows development, which is set to total more than 800 homes, and insufficient access to buses, schools and healthcare services.

The report from Rugby Borough Council, the local authority tasked with making the decision, says that plans show “a development could be accommodated on the site in a manner that would protect the character of the wider landscape of the area”.

It adds: “As the development will be situated on a similar footprint to the previously approved scheme and will be of a similar scale and massing, it is considered that the development will have no greater impact on the landscape regarding the visual setting.”

On road safety, the report notes the site is “previously developed land and includes an extant/live permission for a retirement village, which will have comparable traffic movements to the proposed development”.

The report’s conclusion reads: “It is considered that the development is acceptable regarding the key material planning considerations. The proposal will also provide the necessary mitigation against the impact of the development on the local community and infrastructure.

“On balance, it is concluded that the development would provide a sustainable development of high-quality design, which will positively provide social, environmental and economic benefits.”

The application meets the council’s definition of major development, meaning it has to be put in front of the planning committee, a panel of elected councillors, to make the final decision.

It will be considered when the committee meets at 5.30pm on Wednesday, January 10, at Town Hall, Evreux Way, Rugby.