Grapevine The Newsletter of Keresley Parish Council : 8 : Autumn 2015

What's happening Cllrs Hall and Passmore have been working on a Keresley wildlife survey ­ they report overleaf. Green belt news is below. We continue working on a history of Keresley, to be published soon. This will go through the Iron Age, the Anglo­Saxons, medieval Keresley, through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. If you would like to help work on this, get in touch with us (see bottom of page).We are also working on a Keresley Festival for June­July 2016,The idea of the festival is to bring together all areas of 'Keresley' with the aim of combining various activities into a one week festival celebrating the area. There are many activities from St Thomas's Church to Keresley Rugby Club. The Parish Council are considering many different activities for the celebration week including the re­introduction of the Keresley Village Fete. There are various sources of funding which could be available to support the cost of the activities which the Parish Council will explore. Be in touch if you would like to take part. There is now a Keresley Parish group on Facebook. If you would like some help getting on to Facebook, let us know. Green Belt News The Pegasus application for 800 houses on the Green Belt was heard by the Planning Committee, and we spoke against it. However the decision was to delegate this to planning officers, once negotiations over S106 deals (where the developers pay for infrastructure costs) had been completed ­ which they have not been. Once they have been agreed, the application will be approved locally. However since it is on Green Belt, it will need to be referred to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Greg Clark. Both the Parish Council and CPRE have already made representations to DCLG asking for the application to be 'called in', which means it would be examined by Planning Inspectors, and hopefully rejected, in the same way the Gateway application at Baginton was. Meanwhile the planning department continues to work on the new Local Plan, which will control development over the next ten years or so. The Parish Council has met with Mark Andrews, who is leading this work, to discuss progress. A housing number of over 40 thousand has been mentioned ­ which would increase the population of by 100 thousand, and is a totally unrealistic figure. The aim is to present the Plan to Cabinet by the end of December, and to accept 'representations' in January. These will go to the Inspector when the Plan is examined. This is therefore the next point to look out for. When the Plan is published we will inform you, and let you know how you can make your views heard. Nuneaton and 's Plan has just been published, and you can comment on that now ­ it will impact on Coventry and the surrounding areas. You can find it on their website and comment there. Contact us ­ website is keresley­pc.gov.uk. and there is a contact form on there. Or, email clerk@keresley­pc.gov.uk, or phone 024476 337824 or 07747 826 100. Keresley in the Ancient Forest of Arden

The rural character is still the key feature of the landscape on the Western side of Keresley. In the fields from Sandpits Lane out to , this is ancient Arden farmland, and there is still evidence of ridge & furrow cultivation, many of the hedges are ancient boundaries and are protected, woods are in ancient records and are notable because of established growth of the English bluebell and other wild flowers. The farmland nearer to housing has slowly being taken over for keeping horses, although much is still cultivated. This acts as a buffer for mixed agriculture farmland that stretches from within the Coventry boundary out through the rural area between Coventry & Birmingham. The area is bisected by footpaths which are well used, many people accessing the country side through the Keresley fields. wildlife Trust states ‘On the western side of the county lies the historic Forest of Arden landscape. This former wood pasture and ancient grassland is the only area of ancient countryside in Warwickshire and now lies in a fragmented state. This is the most wooded part of the county and part of it forms an important buffer between the two growth areas of Birmingham and Coventry. Characteristics of the area are the mosaic of habitats, in particular the small hedged fields, concentrations of small woodlands and ponds, sinuous small river valleys and remnant heathland. It has a strong sense of place and a feeling of naturalness.’ In 1995 Coventry City Council produced Design Guidelines for development in Coventry’s Ancient Arden’ this identifies ‘Coventry’s Ancient Arden Landscape­­­the majority of the area is in the green belt which includes the Meriden Gap’ it identifies ‘seven distinct types of landscape’—Ancient Arden, Arden pastures, Industrial Arden Arden Parklands wooded Estate lands, Arden River valleys and River valley wetlands.’ Keresley is identified as ‘Ancient Arden’ & goes on to say ‘The area to the Northwest of Coventry which includes & Keresley parishes & the Coundon Wedge, has been identified as forming part of an area of Ancient Arden .This landscape is considered to be “ especially significant, as it is now the only remaining relatively unspoilt area of ancient countryside left. The’ Design Guidelines’ was produced in conjunction with Forest Of Arden Initiative – a strategy for the future of the Forest of Arden which now seems to be incorporated into The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. Both of these publications give extensive details of Keresley & Allesley as a distinct part of the ancient Forest, & those of us who live here know there are only marginal changes. The hedges & woods remain, possibly centuries old. There are ancient established ponds within the identified area to be built on between Bennetts Rd & Tamworth Rd. Mark Whittle of Keresley Village has been carrying out daily observations for the last 15 years. He has seen 72 bird species. Those on the Red List include Lapwing, Dunlin, Cuckoo, Skylark, Fieldfare, Song thrush, Redwing, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Corn Bunting and Yellow Hammer. He has seen 21 species of butterflies, and dragon flies and damsel flies, foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels, field mice, Muntjac deer, rabbits and hares. Mark has seen all of these on a regular basis in the immediate area.