®Planning appeal decision
Coventry Stadium, Rugby Road, Coventry, CV8 3GP
the demolition of existing buildings and outline planning application (with matters of access, layout, scale, and appearance included) for residential development (Use Class C3) including means of access into the site from the Rugby Road, provision of open space and associated infrastructure and provision of sports pitch, erection of pavilion and formation of associated car park
- Authority
- Rugby Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Hockenhull H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposed development forms inappropriate development in the Green Belt, the effect on openness and Green Belt purposes
- Whether the stadium is surplus to requirements having regard to national and local planning policies
- Whether it is financially viable to reinstate the speedway stadium
- Whether there is an identified need for the alternative sports provision proposed
- Whether the benefits of the alternative sports provision outweigh the loss of the former speedway use
What decided it
The stadium was found not to be surplus to requirements and the benefits of the alternative 3G pitch provision did not clearly outweigh the loss of the former speedway/stock car use, resulting in conflict with the development plan as a whole.
The moderate/significant weight given to housing, affordable housing and other benefits did not outweigh the significant weight attributed to conflict with the development plan arising from loss of the stadium, so the balance tipped against the proposal
Framework references: 154, 103, 97, 96, 123, 99
Plan policies cited: Policy HS4, Policy LF1, Policy H2, Policy GP3
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.