Our vice-chairperson, Tim Brown, has been investigating the state of play on our conservation areas and listed buildings which ought to be the jewel in the crown of our built environment heritage.
There have been a series of recent events that paint a worrying picture including:
- Proposal by the Council to seek listed building permission to demolish the swimming baths (which is a grade two listed building)
- Saga of the unauthorised demolition of the former NatWest Bank in Earlsdon Street which is part of a conservation area
- Ongoing concerns about the state of Spon Street including unoccupied listed buildings, poor maintenance and litter problems as well as anti-social behaviour
- Uncertainty over the future of parts of the Spon End conservation area with the redevelopment of the area by Citizen
- Neglect of Bird Grove in Foleshill which is a grade 2* listed building (locally known as George Eliot House).
But what is the bigger picture?
We have 18 conservation areas. Allesley Village was the first to be declared in 1968 and the most recent examples were Brownshill Green and Earlsdon in 2022. Each conservation area ought to have a management plan that is regularly updated. But only a third of our conservation areas (six out of 18) appear to have a plan. Furthermore, some of these are now over ten years old eg Coventry Canal and Far Gosford Street.
We have, according to the Historic England database, 308 statutorily listed buildings – 15% of these are grade 1 or grade 2* (which are the two most important categories). The rest are grade 2. This gives strong protection so that listed building and planning applications to modify or even demolish a building must take serious account of its status.
We also have a local listings category ie there are not statutorily listed. The Council’s data indicates that there are over 280 in this category, but bizarrely it is currently not possible for the general public to access this list! Although these do not have the safeguards of statutory listing, it nevertheless is an important material consideration when the Council considers a planning application.
However, there are 12 of the statutory listed buildings at risk based on the registers maintained by Historic England, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, and Coventry Society. They include:
- Grade 1: Church of St John the Baptist, Fleet Street: Historic England – Heritage at Risk Register
- Grade 2*: Whitefriars Gate, 36-37 Much Park Street – Historic England – Heritage at Risk Register
- Grade 2*: Bird Grove, George Eliot Road – SAVE building at risk register.
Is there any positive news?
The government has just closed a consultation on a new draft national planning policy framework (NPPF). The chapter on the built environment heritage requires local authorities to take a proactive approach to conservation rather than relying on reactive stance. This might lead to all of our conservation areas having eventually an up-to-date management plan.
Coventry Society is holding its annual heritage conference on Saturday 17 October at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. The theme is heritage, health and well-being – it will highlight the importance of our historic built environment in contributing to the health and well-being of people. Coventry Society’s theme for 2026/27 is improving and enhancing the Spon Street Conservation Area