Coventry Society and its members are developing a new initiative to support our 18 conservation areas in the city. We are hoping that each of our conservation areas will eventually have a champion who is a member of the Society.
Each champion will:
- Maintain a watching brief on what is happening in the area
- Regularly check on planning applications, tree preservation orders and listed building applications and advise our planning sub-committee if they think we should comment on or object to a proposal
- Notify the City Council’s Conservation Officer and Ward Councillors if changes appear to be underway without permission or there are more general issues that are arising
- Use opportunities to promote the importance of the conservation area and the issues within it
- Produce a short annual report on the conservation area for Coventry Society.
Why are we taking this initiative? Our conservation areas, such as Spon Street, ought to be one of the jewels in the crown of the city. We have a huge variety of areas of interest. As well as Spon Street, there are, for example, Allesley Village, Coventry Canal, Kenilworth Road and, most recently, Earlsdon.
According to national regulations, they are “areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.” The first conservation areas were designated in 1967 under civic amenities legislation and there are now over 10,000 in England. Coventry City Council played an important role by designation seven areas by the end of 1969.
However, our conservation areas are falling into neglect. Each conservation area is supposed to have an up-to-date management plan. But In the case of Coventry, only a third have management plans and some of these are nearly ten years old. We are also only too well aware of the problems that they face:
- Unsympathetic developments that in a few cases take place without planning permission or listed building consent
- Planning applications on the fringe of our conservation areas that ignore their very existence
- Issues over traffic and car parking
- Litter and refuse collections
- Anti-social behaviour.
What we are trying to do is make a positive contribution to enhancing our conservation areas rather than merely reacting negatively to things that have already happened. We also are not attempting to usurp the role of existing local groups. Our position is that our conservation champions will work with these organisations.
Finally, if you are a Coventry Society member and are thinking about becoming a conservation area champion, you can download more information from here.