Leyes Lane Community Group

Key Topics

Demolition, Health & Safety, and Environmental Impact

This theme focuses on the proposed demolition of the former school buildings and its potential impacts on nearby residents, wildlife, and the local environment.

Key areas of interest include:

  • Demolition methods and sequencing
  • Management and monitoring of dust, asbestos, and other contaminants
  • Health and safety arrangements for residents and site workers
  • Impacts on local wildlife, ecology, and biodiversity
  • Carbon impacts and sustainability considerations
  • Contractual arrangements between WDC and Homes England insofar as they affect risk, responsibility, and oversight

The Group seeks clarity on how risks will be mitigated, how compliance will be monitored, and how residents will be informed.

Housing Density, Design, and Fit with the Area

This theme examines the proposed scale and character of the development, including the relationship between the number of homes proposed and the local plan.

Key considerations include:

  • Proposed housing numbers and density
  • Building height, massing, and layout
  • Design quality and coherence with Leyes Lane, Park Hill, and the former school field perimeter
  • Loss of amenity, outlook, and privacy for neighbouring properties

The Group’s interest is not aesthetic preference alone, but whether the development is appropriate, policy-compliant, and sensitive to its surroundings.

Extra Care Facility

The proposed Extra Care facility raises distinct questions around location, scale, design, and day-to-day impact.

This theme focuses on:

  • The siting of the facility within the development
  • Building scale and design
  • Impacts on neighbouring residents
  • Access, servicing, and integration with the wider site

The Group recognises the importance of Extra Care provision while seeking assurance that it is delivered in a way that is appropriate to its context.

Traffic and Street Layout

Traffic and movement are major concerns for residents of Leyes Lane and the wider Park Hill area.

This theme considers:

  • Site access and egress arrangements
  • Traffic volume and flow on Leyes Lane
  • Impacts on parking, local shops, and the public house
  • Knock-on effects for nearby schools and residential streets
  • Wider impacts on East Kenilworth

The Group seeks evidence-based assessments and realistic mitigation proposals, rather than optimistic assumptions.

Community, Health, Sports, and Recreation Facilities

This theme addresses the wider question of community infrastructure in Park Hill, East Kenilworth, and Kenilworth as a whole.

Key issues include:

  • Existing shortfalls in community, health, sports, and recreation facilities
  • Provision associated with the development
  • Use and allocation of Section 106 contributions
  • Whether the development contributes positively to long-term community wellbeing

The Group is particularly interested in whether commitments are concrete, deliverable, and aligned with local needs.

Quality of WDC Community Engagement and Value for Money

This theme focuses on how decisions are being made and communicated.

It includes consideration of:

  • Transparency and openness in WDC’s decision-making
  • The quality and timing of community engagement
  • Responsiveness to community concerns
  • Contractual arrangements with Homes England
  • Value for money for taxpayers

The Group’s aim is not to personalise criticism, but to encourage better process, clearer communication, and stronger accountability.