COVENTRY North West MP Taiwo Owatemi has called for more to be done to create a planning system ‘fit for this century’ after the city council approved plans to build up to 345 homes on land at Browns Lane.
The controversial plans, which also include a two-hectare care home, infrastructure, open space, 25 per cent affordable housing and landscape enhancements, were greenlit last month.
At last month’s meeting, those in favour of the development argued there was a housing crisis in the city.
The 2017 Local Plan is currently up for review and a consultation ended on September 29.
A council officer said the authority acknowledged the 2021 census had demonstrated the 2014 population projections, which were the basis of the last plan, were not accurate.
Ms Owatemi said: “More and more people are now waking up to the fact our planning system isn’t fit for purpose.
“Coventry has been singled out for poor treatment by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whose inflated housing targets have long overstated the number of new homes our city needs.
“I’m glad the Census confirmed the lower rate of growth that had been so evident on the ground for so many years.
“I hope the Government will now allow these more accurate figures to be fed into future planning decisions for our city.
“With central government sticking to its policy of the ‘uplift’ – which will force Coventry to build 35 per cent more homes than necessary simply to meet arbitrary targets imposed by Westminster – this is not an issue that is likely to go away any time soon.”
Ms Owatemi added she supported objectors to the development, who argued the land was considered locally to be part of the popular Coundon Wedge beauty spot.
The land was allocated for housing development in the 2017 Coventry Local Plan, which identifies it as a brownfield allocation, while Coun David Welsh said Coundon Wedge was part of the Green Belt.
A Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We want to build the homes this country needs, which includes those needed in Coventry. This is why our target to deliver 300,000 homes per year remains.
“Our long-term housing plan will also allow us to go further and deliver more affordable homes in the right places without concreting over the countryside.”
