Nearly 10 per cent of grassland in Coventry will be destroyed if a new business park that will create up to 2,500 jobs is built, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has warned.

The eighty-acre business park is being planned next to Jaguar’s Whitley design base. It will be a base largely for hi-tech firms working in the car industry.

Bosses at Warwickshire Wildlife Trust today said that they were disappointed that the government is considering allowing the scheme to go ahead.

Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and Regions John Prescott said he was planning to give the park the green light once certain details had been cleared up.

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust say the damage to Whitley Common would be too great, and the scheme should be stopped.

It is estimated that nearly ten per cent of the city’s grassland will be lost in the development. The land is known to provide nesting sites for at least five pairs of skylarks.

The trust is concerned that this is one of the few remaining habitats suitable for ground nesting birds in the city.

Conditions to help reduce the impact of the scheme on the surrounding wildlife will be attached to the planning permission when granted.

Andrew Thompson, WWT conservation manager, said more talks will be held with Jaguar to try and make sure these conditions are implemented to have the maximum benefit for the environment.

He said:

“Very sadly the destruction of natural greenspace and wildlife habitat is being allowed to continue.

“The Sowe Valley forms one of the most important green corridors in Coventry.

“This development, located where the River Sowe and Sherbourne meet, will reduce the wildlife value of the corridor and bring intrusive urban development into one of the few remaining attractive natural areas in the city.

“We now need to work even harder to protect what remains, or the River Sowe will end up as a characterless urban drain, like so many of the rivers and streams in our urban areas.”