Family ‘will be made homeless’ if Gateway plans on Warwickshire green belt gain approval

But Warwick District Council’s planning committee ended a five-hour meeting by deferring a decision on the Coventry Gateway proposal after a vote ended in stalemate. The council had received almost 800 letters in opposition to the plan, which applicant, the Coventry and Warwickshire Development Partnership, says will create up to 14,000 jobs.

And the Courier/Weekly News – in the week running up to the meeting – received more than 70 letters from people opposed to the scheme.

Many of those opposed are against the idea of building on green belt land – and, at last week’s meeting, it was pointed out that Rock Farm in Baginton would have to be destroyed to make way for the development.

Villager David Elwood said: “No one is affected like the Beaty family, who run the farm. That family has farmed here for 60 years. It is their livelihood and their home.

“Neither he [Mr Beaty] nor his mother have the funds to buy anywhere else - and yet they can be thrown out of their home.”

He added: “The officers seem to say that everything has been taken into account and the Beatys are in effect collateral damage for what should be allowed.

“But their concerns must surely represent exceptional circumstances.

“This family will be homeless, with no money to put a roof over their heads and no way of being immediately able to continue Mr Beaty’s livelihood.”

In a report sent to councillors on the planning committee, council planning officer Rob Young said that an assessment had been carried out that showed that the nature of the soil on the farm meant that the land could not be used to its full potential.

He said: “If it is accepted that there is a need for this type of development on the edge of Coventry, any alternative site is likely to result in the loss of a similar or greater amount of the best and most versatile agricultural land.

“While it is unfortunate that the exising tenants will be required to vacate the land, there are no agricultural grounds for refusing planning permission. No planning policies seek to preserve isolated rural dwellings in residential use.

“The tenants could rent alternative accommodation, so the proposals would not make them homeless.”

Other opponents to speak at the meeting included Cllr Richard Hancox, chairman of Stoneleigh and Ashow joint parish council, who said: “This proposal is being rushed through.

“It’s against all that the Coalition Government has committed to in giving local people the power to decide what’s best for them.

“The application is too big to be decided in the time available.”

Cllr Julie Keightley, chairman of Baginton parish council, stressed that residents wish for their village to remain part of rural Warwickshire, rather than become subsumed into Coventry, while another objector, Robert Fryer, raised concerns about the site being contaminated by industrial effluents from Coventry.

Gitta Ashworth, of Friends of the Earth, said: “We need new jobs. But are we really so desperate that we would consider handing over massive quantities of our green belt to these spectronators who are just waiting for a stroke of the council’s pen to turn them into billionaires?

“It would be a triumph of greed and illusion.”

The councillors also heard from John Holmes, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Development Partnership, who said, in support of the scheme: “The application was made in response to the economic circumstances we are in.

“The national picture is a depressing one and it’s mirrored in this sub region. The Government has set out how it sees the answer to that problem - in growth and investment.”

Mr Holmes said that 45 per cent of the total application area “will be green” and that 30,000 trees will be planted, adding: “The money is there. It’s cash in hand. The development is viable and deliverable.”

• The scheme was put forward by the Coventry and Warwickshire Development Partnership, which is separate to the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, which was not made clear in last week’s article.