South Warwickshire local plan consultation

PUBLIC CONSULTATION IS NOW OPEN

The Public Consultation on the South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP) “Preferred Options” is now running.

You have until Friday 7 March 2025 to give your feedback.

“Residents, businesses and other stakeholders are now invited to have their say on the Preferred Options version of the South Warwickshire Local Plan (2050) for the combined areas of Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick District Councils for the next 25 years.”

Consultation announcement 10 January 2025

Take Action!

1. Access the Online Consultation Portal for the SWLP, which includes:
   • Background to the consultation
   • How to give feedback
   • The Technical Evidence used to generate the Plan and the “Preferred Options”
   • Multiple sections and questions. See below for the full list.
2. Attend the Green Party’s public event in Lapworth (see below) to discuss the Local Plan and this consultation.
3. Attend a Consultation Event; these are being held in towns across the district during February 2025.
4. Provide your own feedback on each of the areas shown in the Online Consultation Portal by 7 March 2025.
   • We’ve provided more information on the plan below.
   • You may be interested in our views during the “Issues & Options Consultation” back in 2023.
5. Talk to us!
   • The Green Party are very interested in all of your views, priorities and feedback.
   • Please contact us via this website to explain your thoughts on these wide-ranging proposals.
   • Thank you for taking part in this crucial consultation!

Some Questions and Answers

• What is the new Local Plan trying to achieve and why is it important?
  • District Councils have a legal obligation to review existing or make a new Local Plan every 5 years.  The main purpose if to make available land available for employment and housing. This Labour government has kept the previous Conservative commitment to build 300,000 new house per year (nationally). Warwick District Council (WDC) and Stratford District Council (SDC), the two councils covering “South Warwickshire”, must therefore build their share, which is not negotiable. 
  • It is likely that most of the new houses will need to be built on land currently allocated to agriculture (“Greenfield / Green Belt” land).  Therefore, the main impact of the new Local Plan, on residents, will be on the change of use of land and the infrastructure requirement needed to enable developers to build more houses, as either new settlements or on the edge of existing towns and villages.

• How many new homes are planned for South Warwickshire?
  • The Plan includes a target to build 54,500 new homes across South Warwickshire by 2050.  This will enable the local population to increase by more than 100,000 over this 25 year period.
  • The new target for WDC has increased from 653 per year to 1080 per year, an increase of 65% compared to the target set through the “Standard Methodology” of the previous government.
  • The Proposed Options consultation highlights the following options across the Kenilworth Abbey and Arden constituency: South of Coventry (SG01), South of Kenilworth (SG04), Lapworth (C1) and Hatton (B1). Further areas are highlighted across the District.

• Is there enough land across South Warwickshire that is a combination of Brownfield, Greenfield and “Grey Belt” to meet the combined housing needs of both WDC and SDC?  If not, how far short are we, before needing to impinge upon the Green Belt?
  • There is sufficient land across South Warwickshire that is either brownfield or greenfield land to meet the combined housing needs of both WDC and SDC without the need to develop on the Green Belt. However, there are reasons why we might wish to consider development on Green Belt land, if that would deliver a more suitable and sustainable location for development than land outside of the Green Belt.
  • The Government consulted on an updated National Planning Framework (NPPF) which introduced the term “Grey Belt” and set out a proposed definition:
    • Land in Green Belt that has been previously developed (“PDL”) and/or
    • Land in Green Belt that make a limited contribution to the five Green Belt purposes

• If there is no choice over accepting the housing numbers, what choices do the Councils have?
  • The Councils have many choices to make before settling on a Preferred Option.  These include:
    • What sort of houses are built e.g. houses or apartments, the carbon footprint / environmental impact of different forms of construction.
    • Where they are built e.g. using / not using Green Belt land, the Development sites identified, in the maps, the impact on agriculture
    • How the new homes tie in with infrastructure e.g. new GP surgeries, Schools, rail services, new roads.

• How will the NHS cope with an extra 100,000 residents?
  • The NHS is a statutory consultee in the Plan-making process, so it will have plenty of advance notice!  And this is a Plan to 2050. 
  • Individual developments will include provision for infrastructure costs at Planning Application stage (called Section 106 provisions), making a contribution to the local NHS, schools, highways etc

• What impact will all this development have on the environment?
  • WDC has made a commitment to address the Climate Crisis and last year adopted a Development Planning Document (DPD) which reduces the carbon impact of new buildings.  However much more can be built into the new Local Plan for the Council to address the impact of development on nature. 

• Will there be benefits for existing communities from the proposed developments?
  • Yes, but in our experience Developers are nearly always trying to wriggle out of delivering infrastructure and the cards are often loaded in their favour by the government.
  • We desperately need to fix transport issues, build new facilities like leisure centres, schools and GP surgeries. So, the stronger we can make those requirements in the Local Plan the better. There may also be benefits of new developments like new jobs.
  • Only public pressure can realise these potential benefits in our communities.

• How can we find out more?
  • The current consultation proposal (300 pages) is backed up by dozens of items of “technical evidence”.  All of this material is available to view on-line: Agenda for Joint Cabinet Committee on Thursday, 12th December, 2024, 6.00 p.m. | Stratford-on-Avon District Council
  • If you feel a need to have more, direct engagement e.g. face-to-face, then let us know and we will endeavour to set this up, involving officers if that adds value.

• How long have we got to respond to the consultation?
  • The consultation is due to start on 10 January 2025 and will run for 8 weeks.  Whilst this is a formal consultation, it is not a statutory consultation, which means that the Councils have decided to do this specifically with the intention of engage with communities and listening to your views BEFORE any final decision is made.

What will the Consultation ask me about?

You don’t have to answer every question!

Here are the topics covered:

• Meeting South Warwickshire’s Sustainable Development Requirements
  • Strategic Growth Locations
  • Potential New Settlements
  • Small Scale Development, Settlement Boundaries and Infill Development
  • Accommodating Growth Needs Arising from Outside South Warwickshire
  • Infrastructure Requirements and Delivery
  • Safeguarding land for transport proposals
  • Green Belt
  • Density
  • Using Brownfield Land for Development
• Delivering Homes that meet the needs of all our Communities
  • Providing the Right Tenure and Type of Homes
  • Providing the Right Size of Homes
  • Providing Custom and Self Building Housing Plots
  • Meeting the Accommodation Needs of Gypsies, Travellers, Travelling Showpeople and Boat Dwellers
• Delivering South Warwickshire’s Economic Needs
  • Locations for Employment Growth
  • Core Opportunity Area
  • Major Investment Sites (MIS)
  • Provision of Office Accommodation and Refurbishment of Existing Office Stock
  • Airfields
  • A Low carbon Economy
  • Supporting Rural Employment and Diversification
  • Supporting a Range of Business Units and Affordable Employment Space
  • Protecting Community Facilities
  • Supporting our changing town centres
  • Arts and Culture
• A Climate Resilient and Net Zero Carbon South Warwickshire
  • Large Scale Renewable Energy Generation and Storage
  • Protecting Large Scale Existing Renewable Energy Infrastructure
  • Decentralised Energy Systems
  • Net Zero Carbon Buildings
  • Reducing Energy Consumption in Existing Buildings
  • Embodied carbon
  • Climate Resilient Design
  • Water Efficiency
  • Water Supply and Wastewater Infrastructure
  • Reducing Flood Risk
• A Well-Designed and Beautiful South Warwickshire
  • Strategic Design Principles
  • Design Codes
  • Protecting and Enhancing Heritage Assets/ the Historic Environment
  • Waterways
• A Healthy, Safe, and Inclusive South Warwickshire
  • Pollution
  • Health Impact Assessment for Major Development
• A Well-Connected South Warwickshire
  • Sustainable Transport Accessibility
  • Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy
  • Road, Travel, Employment, and Freight
  • Vale of Evesham Control Zone
  • Smart Cities
• A Biodiverse and Environmentally Resilient South Warwickshire
  • Protection of Sites, Habitats and Species
  • Local Nature Recovery Strategy
  • Biodiversity Net Gain
  • Environmental Net Gain
  • Green and Blue Infrastructure
  • Carbon Sinks and Sequestration
  • Trees, Hedges and Woodland
  • Local Green Space
  • Registered Parks and Gardens
  • Open Spaces
  • Urban Parks and Play Areas
  • Allotments, Orchards and Community Gardens
  • Outdoor Sports and Leisure
  • Areas of Restraint
  • Protecting the Cotswold National Landscape
  • Special Landscape Areas
  • Protecting and Enhancing Landscape Character
  • Agricultural Land
• Glossary
  • Feedback on the definitions to be used in the Local Plan