Heritage Statement

Proposed Student Accommodation

Albany Road Coventry CV5 6JR

Prepared by Cassidy Group

INTRODUCTION

This Heritage Statement has been produced to support the planning application for the construction of purpose built student accommodation, consisting of 75 cluster apartments and 130 studios, giving 570 Student Bedrooms on land at Albany Road, Coventry, CV5 6JR. Paragraph 128 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires applicants to provide an assessment of the impact of new development on the significance of heritage assets that is ‘proportionate to the importance of the heritage asset…sufficient to understand the potential impact of the proposal on their significance’. This statement therefore seeks to identify any designated heritage assets that may be affected by these proposals and to consider the potential impact on their significance and setting, having regard to the statutory duties and other relevant national and local planning policies. Methodology & Research An initial site visit was undertaken in September 2018 to survey the proposed application site and its relationship with the designated heritage assets within close proximity of the site. Information on assets within close proximity was gained from relevant designation records from Historic England’s Heritage List for England and information on the City Centre Conservation Areas was obtained from Coventry City Council’s web site. Proposed Development Summary The Proposed Development site area covers 2.4 acres, to the east of Albany Road, within the Earlsdon Ward, Coventry. The front section of the site comprises of brownfield land, having previously been home to the Spencer Sports and Social Club, up to its demolition in 2016. The rear of the site is predominantly scrubland, which has recently been cleared. The site is bounded by Albany Road and several residential properties to the west, the Coventry-Nuneaton Railway Line to the north and east, with further residential properties to the south. This proposal relates to the redevelopment of the land for a multi-storey building comprising a number of interlinked blocks creating purpose built student accommodation.

Site Context The site comprising of The Former Spencer Club, derelict land to the rear and hording holds no historical significance. The Former Spencer Club was demolished in August of 2016 based on the prior notification for demolition DEM/2015/3567. Since then the whole site has remained vacant of buildings and therefore cannot be classed as a ‘heritage asset’ Listed Building Information When looking on the Historic England Database and Map (Appendix A), there are only 2no listed buildings which are in close proximity to the site, neither of which would be affected visually by the proposed development.

The Baptist Church which is a Grade II listed building located on Queens Road is over 500m away from the proposed site.

King Henry VIII School which is also a Grade II listed building is the next closest Historic England building, this is over 600m away from our site.

The distance between the proposed development and the two Listed Buildings is great enough to mean there is no impact on the Listed Buildings in question. The only locally listed building in close proximity to the site is the Albany Public House which was locally listed on 15/06/2017 and its location is opposite the front of the site on Albany Road as seen on the Local Listing Map (Appendix B). The building is described on the local Council website as - The Albany public house was built in 1907, and is a good surviving example of an early 20th century public house, with good detailing. The building is also the subject of an Article 4 Direction preventing any exterior painting. As seen on View 1 and View 2 in Appendix C, the frontage of the site has been reduced in height to minimise the impact on the locally listed Albany Public House. This area will accommodate a Café/Restaurant which will be available for both the Students on site and also the local community. The recent large scale renovation to the Albany Public House consisted of the addition of the side elevation having an illuminous sign ‘The New Albany’ as seen in view 3 in the Appendix C. To remain in keeping with the existing street scene we have added a sign which also illuminates at night to the side elevation of the proposed Cafe/Restaurant which has been highlighted in View 2 of Appendix C.

Conservation Area Cassidy Group are aware of the proposed Conservation Area which was initially brought to the Council by local residents in 2015, the scheme has been designed with sensitivity accordingly. However there has been no adoption of a conservation area either covering, or nearby, the proposed site in Coventry City Councils Local Plan adopted in December 2017. The potential conservation area has been proposed to protect the Edwardian character of properties locally and the leafy nature of the ward. The proposed development would not hinder these goals as:

Currently many Edwardian properties are converted to HMO’s for students to occupy, the conversion takes away from their character. Also, these properties tend to be poorly maintained and so are less likely to have future longevity. The proposed development will allow students to vacate these properties.

The derelict land to the rear of the Former Spencer Club is not significant when looking at Earlsdons ‘leafy character’ as this is firstly private land and not for the enjoyment of the public, but also it is overgrown, lacks mature trees and is non comparable to the likes of Spencer Park locally.

Albany Public House – Locally Listed

Conclusions This Heritage Statement provides an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed development on the setting of the designated heritage assets within the vicinity of the site, particularly the locally listed Albany Public House. This assessment has shown that whilst the proposed development may restrict views of the north-facing elevation of the Albany Public House, it will not have any adverse impact on the significance of this designated heritage asset. In addition the proposed development will not harm any of the Historic England Grade II listed Buildings in close proximity to the site, it will not affect the surroundings in which these designated heritage assets can be experienced, and their overall significance will be preserved. It is therefore considered that the proposed development complies with the objectives of the local and national planning policies, that seek to ensure that the significance of heritage assets is not lost through development within their setting. This assessment has also established that the site proposed for development itself is not a heritage asset.

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

View 1 – Proposed Day Time View 2 – Proposed Night Time

View 3 – Existing Street View showing new illuminous sign