A controversial bid to build more student accommodation in a Coventry business park will be decided on by councillors today, 20 July.

Developers want permission to knock down office building Progress House on Westwood Way for a 544-bed block, six storeys high at its tallest point.

Council officers say the scheme should get the green light as there are no "material reasons" it should be turned down.

But people living in neighbouring Westwood Heath are "more determined than ever" to encourage councillors to reject it, a campaigner said.

Developer Gilltown's original plans were withdrawn in March after almost 70 letters of objection were lodged with the council.

Local councillors also submitted three petitions, which each got some 175 signatures, highlighting concerns including noise, anti-social behaviour and the impact on the residential area.

Residents also fear the area will become oversaturated with students, and worry about the effect on local services.

In the last five years planning permission for accommodation blocks with 2,000 beds by other developers in Westwood Business Park, albeit further away from the residential area, have been granted.

Developer Gilltown's original plans were withdrawn in March after almost 70 letters of objection were lodged with the council (image via planning application)

Since they pulled plans in March, Gilltown have re-submitted the scheme with updates to key documents and more images showing how the building would relate to its surroundings.

But many residents are still unhappy and petitions have more than doubled the previous number of signatures, with letters of objection now totalling 86.

Yasmina Gainer, whose garden borders the office block set to be knocked down, said there had been an increase in community support against the plans.

Speaking on behalf of residents, she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "Westwood Heath residents are more determined than ever to encourage the Coventry City Council Planning Committee to reject the proposed development of Progress House, Westwood Business Park."

The development's scale would be "completely disproportionate to any other building adjacent to the residential estate," she claimed. 

"Unless rejected, at 6 storeys high, it would tower above the nearby domestic homes (and all other buildings on that road) and impact significantly in terms of noise, privacy and the environment.

"The scale of the development will fundamentally and adversely change the residential area of Westwood Heath."

She and others objecting to the re-submitted plans also claimed the scheme hadn't changed substantially since it was withdrawn in March.

"Although the Residents' Association has contributed positively to the consultation process, not a single meaningful recommendation has been incorporated into the developer's revised proposal," said Yasmina.

"The community still feel that the residential side of the business park is suitable for redevelopment, but there needs to be greater consideration of the proximity to the residential properties for a building of this size and scale.

"The community harbours further concerns about the number of students being accommodated in this area and the strain on local amenities and infrastructure."

In the last five years planning permission for accommodation blocks with 2,000 beds by other developers in Westwood Business Park (image via planning application)

But Gilltown's James Gillespie, who has met in person with both local residents and Coventry councillors, said feedback from the community had influenced plans for the building.

He said: "As a direct result of our engagement with the community over the last year, we have made several changes to the scheme which Coventry's planning committee will determine this week. These changes include:

• Adding new public space and a public cycle scheme to the front of the site
• Planting 20 mature evergreen trees at the rear of the building before construction even begins, so that an extra line of natural screening is in place early and the trees are as mature as possible by the time the first students move in.
• Because of concerns about noise, we have introduced microphones to the rear of the property that will monitor noise levels and alert security staff if necessary, so that it can be managed immediately without the need for intervention from our neighbours.
• The landscaping to the rear, which replaces an existing car park and commercial bin compound, will become a sustainable rain garden and biodiversity area, rather than a space for student recreation.
• And we have committed to changes to the student handbook to insist on avoidance of the neighbouring residential community at all times."

He added: "The building is 39.4 metres from the nearest house. Almost exactly twice the 20 metres required by policy.

"We know that neighbours think it is too big, but another developer could come along, propose a bigger building almost twice as close, and they would still be within Coventry's policy.

"We have not done that to ensure we are good neighbours to the existing residential community.

"Some residents have suggested the development will result in increased anti-social behaviour.

"I feel that's an unfair perception of young adults who are making a significant investment in themselves to study at one of the country's highest regarded universities.

"Our residents choose to live in a fully managed facility rather than rent a house locally where they could behave however they want without supervision.

"For that reason, and based on our experience over the years, managed developments like this are hugely preferable to the continued proliferation of HMOs, that directly disrupt residential streets and take houses out of the family market.

"In fact, the creation of more modern PBSA bed spaces in Coventry will have the opposite effect, and help to free up former HMO properties and release them back to the market for family use."