'The Opera ain't over until the fat lady sings!'
Our Mission Now
It may seem like an uphill struggle from here, but let me assure everyone that we are not ready to roll over and give up this fight just yet, not by a long chalk! Members of all the local Parish Councils will be meeting over the Christmas period to discuss possible ways forward to appeal this diabolical decision to allow Fraser Group to build on the Ansty Green Belt. So watch this space .....
SAY HELLO TO YOUR NEW NEIGHBOURS - FRASER GROUPS FIVE COLOSSAL WAREHOUSES!
Whilst we will continue to do everything in our powers to overturn this diabolical decision, RBC has now approved Fraser Group's plans to develop the land between Ansty and Junction 2 of the M6 and build a MASSIVE WAREHOUSING COMPLEX, carefully disguised in their planning application as a ‘Global Headquarters Campus’
The Cambridge Dictionary defines 'Campus' as 'the buildings of a college or university and the land that surrounds them'
But this development is not a campus at all; over 70% of the construction will be Logistics - or in plain English, an Industrial Park, consisting of FIVE COLOSSAL WAREHOUSES with a few football pitches, a gym and a swimming pool bolted on, to make it look more like it's for the community. But be under no illusion, with 7,500 Fraser Group employees getting priority use, don't even think about pumping iron or going for a swim here anytime soon.
The biggest of these five Warehouses is over 450m long, 220m deep and 27m high - that's the equivalent height of 6 double decker busses - or put another way, if you were to pick that one building up and drop it onto the Rose & Castle pub, it alone would smother the entire village of Ansty! And it will be filled with goods made in the FAR EAST, not Coventry, so zero benefit to the local economy!
The sad fact is, RBC has proven that they couldn't care less about YOU, the local residents, it's all about money; money for them certainly, but not us. In their own words, paragraph 20.37 on their agenda states that...
"Ultimately, all other points aside, this huge economic benefit of the proposal to Rugby is such that this gives rise to the very special circumstances case. Indeed, the report elsewhere makes the point that even if the circumstances were different (i.e. the need case was not made out or there was an alternative site), the recommendation would remain unchanged. This is ultimately because the economic benefits and growth that the proposal would give rise to are so significant that this benefit alone justifies the grant of permission, as this clearly outweighs all other collective harms associated with the development."
Frasers have managed to pull the wool over RBC's eyes by dangling a financial carrot so juicy that it alone was sufficient to dismiss out of hand all objections raised, all the harm, that even RBC admit it will do, plus the permanent loss of our precious Green Belt and the agricultural land it stands upon.
Be under no illusion; the ONLY beneficiaries will be Fraser Group and Rugby Borough Council, who stand to make £millions in Business Rates.
This proposal is wholly unsuitable for the area on so many levels, including:
- Contravention of Green Belt land usage — the only reason given for granting “Very Special Circumstances” to develop on Ansty's protected Green Belt land was for, 'the huge economic benefit of the proposal to Rugby' - it's all about money,
- Contravention of the Rugby Development Plan
- Impact on traffic in the surrounding region (including the construction phase, Ansty bridge, etc)
- Environmental impact of 27m high warehouses — the destruction of the countryside and damage to wildlife
- Noise, and vibration due to the proposed 24-hour shift working
- Quality of life in Ansty and surrounding areas — the character of the villages will be destroyed irreparably
- Employment considerations: Employment levels in the area are relatively high, and do not require this level of additional jobs. Indeed, Fraser proposes to bus thousands of staff in from Leicestershire and the surrounding area.
- No benefit to the local community The vast majority of Fraser's goods are manufactured abroad, so it will not provide any manufacturing or creative jobs for the area — merely warehousing imported goods
YOUR VILLAGE NEEDS YOU!
But we are not giving up the fight, and if Fraser's think we're just going to roll over, they're wrong! It’s important for everyone to stay focused and to keep on fighting to ultimately defeat Fraser Group's ambitions and Save Ansty’s Green Belt.
WHAT’S OUR VISION?
This website has been compiled by residents of Ansty for the long term benefit of the whole community of Ansty and the surrounding villages. Our sole purpose is to ensure that the Green Belts surrounding our villages are protected for all of us, now and for future generations to come.
WHEN IT’S GONE, IT’S GONE FOREVER!
Green belts are a buffer between towns, and between town and countryside. Frasers say Ansty isn’t a town, it’s just a village so it doesn’t count but the Green Belt designation is a planning tool and the aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.