A special school near Kenilworth will now be demolished and replaced with 25 houses after council planners backed a scheme to build a much larger SEND facility in Coventry.

At last week's Coventry City Council planning meeting councillors approved three separate schemes which will ultimately see the former Woodlands School on Broad Lane turned into a dedicated SEND school.

As well as the Broad Lane application, councillors backed a scheme to replace Woodfield Secondary School on Hawthorn Lane with 129 houses, and an application to turn its sister primary school on Stoneleigh Road into a further 25 homes.

All three applications were submitted by the city council.

Plans for the Stoneleigh Road school, which received an inadequate Ofsted rating last year, were recommended for approval by council officers.

A number of complaints had been raised by members of the public about the number of houses that were being considered, but council officers said the scheme was in keeping with the rest of the Kenilworth Road Conservation Area.

Planning officer Daniel Taylor said: "The Spinney and Layton Close are about six dwellings per hectare, but this will be about eight dwellings per hectare. 

"That is obviously very close and we feel it is in keeping with the local area, so it matches what the neighbouring closes are getting."

He added: "This was considered to be in keeping with it, whilst also keeping the open space in the middle of the site."

Mr Taylor also pointed out that the site has already been allocated for up to 30 houses in the local plan.

He also said that there would be no loss to the local community as the school would be moved to the former Woodlands site, and therefore the Stoneleigh Road facility would be surplus to requirements.

A council report said: "The release of the land for housing would not only positively contribute to the council's housing requirement, but it would also allow the delivery of a new expanded SEND school on the former Woodlands School site on Broad Lane.

"This would result in several benefits, including improving the provision of special needs educational in the city by being able to increase pupil numbers and by combining the primary school currently on Stoneleigh Road and the secondary school currently on Hawthorn Lane onto one site with the educational, resource and cost benefits that will bring.

"In addition, the Grade II listed buildings of the former Woodlands School site would be repurposed for educational use and refurbished with the site also being able to expand community sport use on the underused former Woodlands School site."

All three schemes were given unanimous approval by councillors.