Councillors want to see scheme extended to other parts of Coventry
Plans to transform the golf course were discussed by councillors(Image: Geograph)
Plans to boost Coventry’s biodiversity by transforming a disused golf club on the edge of the city into a huge nature reserve should be copied elsewhere according to councillors. Members of the city council’s cabinet gave the scheme at the 64 hectare Brandon Wood golf course the green light when they met this week (Tuesday).
They are keen to hit their target of ’30 by 30′ as laid out in the climate change strategy when it is hoped to conserve and manage 30 per cent of its land and inland waters by 2030. The figure currently stands at 11 per cent.
Cllr Jim O’Boyle, the cabinet member for jobs. regeneration and climate change, explained that when transformed, the new nature reserve, which sits alongside Brandon Marshes, would be the largest in the West Midlands and the closest to a city centre across the whole of England. Both areas would be managed by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.
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“It will be funded using something known as biodiversity net gain (BNG) credits which were introduced by the government in 2024 and they are there to help create and maintain areas for nature conservation,” he said. “The plans we have here would see this site funded for 30 years.”
Cllr Patricia Hetherton, cabinet member for city services, said: “We can give assurance that this site will be accessible by bus and through other means rather than people just using their own vehicle. There is interest there.
“We have Coundon Wedge and the Arboretum on London Road where they are bringing trees back that were there 200 years ago. There is also the green agenda at Charterhouse and in terms of comms, we have never reached them to tell them about the fantastic work we are doing. Let’s show what is going on in our city because there is so much good work going on and it would be lovely to share it.”
Conservative leader Cllr Gary Ridley also praised the transformative plans for the golf course which closed in 2020. And he urged the council to go further in respect of using BNGs as funding.
He said: “I sat on Coventry Sports Trust for two years back in the day and the golf course was always an issue that we talked about on the board because it was evident 20 years ago that there were problems. So I am pleased that a solution has been found that retains the site as a community asset.
“There are certainly a number of sites around the city that could benefit from this, the most obvious of course being Coundon Wedge which has been subject to all kinds of speculation over the years around development. This would absolutely put it to bed, turning that site into a nature reserve.”