Local Issues
One of the aims of the Association is to understand issues in the local community and work to improve matters.
These can be development, infrastructure, social or practical matters.
Much of the development is driven by the Coventry Local Plan, (map) and the Warwick District Council Local Plan (map)
The Local Plans are contentious as they are based on population growth figures that we believe to be flawed - see some analysis here.
In May 2021 the Office for Statistics Regulation issued a report which is discussed further here.
Two areas of immediate concern are the multiple developments surrounding the area (and in particular the land to the south of Westwood Heath Road earmarked for extensive development), together with traffic density and safety.
Westwood Heath lies on the boundary between Coventry and Warwickshire and one of the frustrations we constantly face is the passing of responsibility over the border between the two authorities.
Coventry's Local Plan includes population growth figures that are highly suspect - making assumptions that 90%+ of students will remain in the city after graduation whereas the reverse is true. This has resulted in an excess of predicted new housing that cannot be physically accommodated within the city boundary, so some overspill has been picked up by Warwick District Council and then used as a justification for taking land out of the Green Belt adjacent to Coventry for development.
This land borders to the south of Westwood Heath Road and the two proposed areas H42 (425 houses) and S1 (700+ houses); these are looked at in more detail on our Planned Developments page.
The cross-border issue can give rise to a number of issues:
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The aggregate impact of developments is inadequately considered
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Traffic models are different between the two authorities and their models do not reflect the reality that is observed
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Infrastructure requirements - schools, medical centres etc are not adequately planned for
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Air quality measures and plans are different between the two authorities - effectively for each side of the same road
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and so on.