55 homes could replace derelict hotel in Coventry if councillors agree
The former Allesley Hotel on Birmingham Road has seen a spate of fires and neighbours say it’s become a health and safety hazard
The long-running planning saga surrounding the Allesley Hotel could finally be over this week if Coventry City Council’s planning committee vote through amended plans for the problem Birmingham Road site.
Just last month, neighbours demanded action after the latest in a series of fires was believed to have been started by arsonists.
But the latest plans, which would see the hotel demolished and replaced by 55 homes, could still be derailed with six letters of objection being sent to planners along with objections from the council’s own highways department, conservation officer and tree officers.
On the flip-side, there have also been nearly 50 letters of support including one from the Allesley and Coundon Wedge Conservation Society who say they want the site brought back into meaningful use and the removal of an eyesore and health and safety hazard.
The planning committee meet on Thursday (March 5) when they are recommended to delegate the granting of planning permission to the strategic lead for planning subject to conditions and the completion of a S106 legal agreement.
The latter has seen the council request contributions totalling nearly £1.4m which would include amounts for health provision, sport and education.
There had been an additional request for more than £1m to compensate for the loss of trees, some of which have preservation orders on them.
The developer, Avant Homes West Midlands, has refused to pay this but has instead agreed to contribute £210,000 towards biodiversity net gain credits.
Plans first lodged with the council sought permission to replace the hotel with 62 homes but this has now been amended.
The scheme will now incorporate nine one-bed apartments, 20 two-bed houses and 19 three-beds. There will be six four-bedroom houses and a single five-bed home.
One of the key reasons why neighbours have objected is that some of the proposed properties will, they say, impact on privacy and overlook existing homes. There would also be a lack of affordable homes.
But the report to be considered at this week’s meeting states: “The proposed development is considered to be acceptable in principle for 55 open market dwellings on a brownfield site and will not result in any significant impact upon the conservation area, listed heritage assets, neighbour amenity, highway safety, ecology, or infrastructure, subject to relevant conditions and contributions.
“The site is allocated for residential development in the emerging local plan and is acceptable in principle. The proposals will regenerate this vacant site with 55 market houses in the conservation area with a density and housing mix suitable for this location.
“The less than substantial harm that the development would have upon the loss of the TPO trees in the conservation area would be outweighed by the public benefit. The development will have minimal impact upon neighbour amenity of both existing and future occupiers. The proposed landscaping would provide a net gain in biodiversity on the site with contributions made to improving infrastructure for public benefits.”
The building is within the Allesley Village Conservation Area and was home to the Iliffe family who owned the Midland Daily Telegraph newspaper which later became the Coventry Telegraph.
It dates back to Elizabethan times with the mock Tudor frontage added in the early 20th century and become a hotel after WWII.