Land News

£250 million Paragon Park plans go before council

Coventry Observer, 7th April, 2005

Developers behind one of Coventry’s biggest ever building projects face D-Day today when the official application goes before the council's planning committee.

Paragon Park, an ambitious £250 million development in Foleshill, was first unveiled two years ago.

The company behind the project, Paragon UK, has already secured outline planning permission for the 53 acre brownfield site, which stretches from Coventry Canal to St Paul’s Road and borders Foleshil Road and Stoney Stanton Road.

The developers have now submitted detailed plans which were set to be considered at today’s meeting at the Council House.

The sheer scale of the development has led planning chiefs to recommend councillors refer the final decision on the plans to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The majority of the site is a barren former brickworks and scrap yard.

If the ambitious development gets the go ahead, it will be transformed into a modern complex comprising of 1,500 homes, office and industrial space for 3,000 workers, and a community park.

A marina will form the centrepiece of Paragon Park, which will also include a high street of shops, cafes and bars, and an underground car park.

According to the planning report, a lot of work needs to be done to turn the highly complex scheme into a reality.

Some of the land would need to be purchased through compulsory purchase orders and a new road network put in place.

The conclusion of the report acknowledges the opportunity to regenerate the area but describes the problems with “uncertainties” regarding some aspects of the plan which require further dialogue with the developer and negotiations with the community.

Speaking on the eve of the crunch committee meeting, Coun David Arrowsmith, the council’s urban regeneration and regional planning spokesman, welcomed the proposal.

“This site has been under developed for many years," Coun Arrowsmith said.

"A mixed usage development is important not just in Foleshill, but for Foleshill.”