November 2018 In view of the Council’s own withdrawn application we expect Shearer’s plan to be recommended for approval. We therefore ask: “Why is the Council violating its own policy and normal planning practice?” Support for our premier conservation area The campaign to save the Coventry Cross from demolition Earlier this month the Society submitted a petition to the City continues after Coventry City Council withdrew its own Council to save the Coventry Cross. More than 800 people in planning application last month. Now, in a carefully worded the city have said No to the Council’s plans to make way for the statement Shearer Property Group is reported in Coventry’s weekly paper ’The Observer’ as saying: the Cross was currently outdoor smoking area for this new restaurant. The petition is seen here being handed over to Cllr. Roger Bailey, who will in a restricted location overshadowed by a number of buildings...its relocation would provide the opportunity to create formally present it to the City Council (pictured left). In October the Coventry Society received backing for its a public square and enable campaign from national organisation Civic Voice, which is significant improvements…’ concerned about the damage to Conservation Areas up and In its formal application down the country and in particular to the loss of Conservation (FUL/2018/2655) the Officers who can advise councils on the proper conservation of property group is asking for historic assets. Civic Voice pointed out that the Hill Top the removal of the Cross to Conservation Area was designated by the Government as one of enable the redesign of the the foremost Conservation Areas in the country. public space and reconfigure As with the previous planning application, this one gives no an existing terrace to facilitate a larger seating area justification for the demolition of the cross. Fit for City of Culture 2021 for a new restaurant. So what Paul Maddocks, Chair of the Society said: “We would expect the is all the controversy about? Council to listen to the considerable numbers of Coventry Need for a proper Heritage Statement Citizens who have expressed their displeasure with the The site is in the city’s prime conservation area next to Council’s scheme to spoil one of the heritage features of the important listed buildings—the Holy Trinity Church and Coventry Cathedral Ruins. So according to legislation a plan like city’s premier conservation area. We ask them to re-think their unacceptable plans. The Council has found £150,000 to demolish Shearers should be accompanied by what is called a Heritage Statement. This needs to explain how the Conservation Area is and remove the Cross. Surely a better plan is to use the funding to restore and enhance this monumental link with the city’s enhanced by the proposal. No such statement exists! The Council’s own Management Plan for the Conservation Area colourful history. “We would like to see the Cross cleaned up, the missing parts states clearly that public art works that enhance the re-installed, gilded like the original cross, and made into a Conservation Area should be retained and that demolition of stunning tourist attraction fit for a city of culture.” any structure is only permitted where it enhances the area. A near sell-out crowd looked on as Coventry’s medieval jewel, St Mary’s Hall, sparkled into life with music, poetry and Shakespeare on the evening of October 9. Historian Jonathan Foyle, actors from the city’s Criterion Theatre and a trombone quartet playing music from the Renaissance shaped a narrative to celebrate Coventry’s Tudor Inheritance, The Wars Of The Roses, The Royal Tapestry and Shakespeare. It was the third event in the hall staged by Tudor Coventry Community Interest Company, a group of enthusiasts who came together three years ago to highlight the hall and the treasures it houses and raise the profile of Coventry’s
extraordinary, and much over-looked, late medieval history. Their chief focus is a fund-raising campaign to bring better lighting and presentation
to the hall’s early sixteenth century tapestry, now emerging as a hidden national treasure that warrants much more attention and research than it has had in the past. Coventry Society’s Peter Walters, a member of the Tudor Coventry group, said, “With 2021 coming up, this is the time to highlight and better care for Coventry’s heritage, both modern and medieval. We believe that the city has so many wonderful stories to tell, and should make much more of them. Clearly, the public’s response to the events we’ve held in St Mary’s Hall so far tell us that we are not alone in this. We will be back with new events next year”.
More news and views on our website: news.coventrysociety.org.uk