South Warwickshire Local Plan

South Warwickshire Local Plan Update

On 15th July, Warwick District Council considered the Publication Draft of the Local Plan and voted on whether it should proceed to what is known as the Reg 19 Consultation. The Lib Dem group concluded that the draft Local Plan is ‘not sound' and therefore voted against it proceeding to the next consultation. Unfortunately the vote was:

21 For: Green 9, Labour 6, Conservative 1, Independent 5
15 Against: Lib Dem 10, Conservative 4, Green 1

Why did we conclude the Plan is not sound?

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that in order to be ‘sound’ a Local Plan should pass the following tests:

Be positively prepared
Be justified
Be effective
Be consistent with national policy

‘Be justified’ talks about ‘taking into account the reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence’ and ‘Be consistent with national policy’ says ‘Enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework (or NPPF)’.

The WDC Lib Dem group concluded that the Draft Local Plan fails these tests. It is not justified as some of its evidence relating to individual sites is seriously flawed and some of the policies in the NPPF are not being followed.

The Green Belt review does not recognise the strength of contribution that the parcels on the edge of Leamington and Warwick make in restricting the sprawl of large urban areas. This has resulted in some sites being incorrectly classified as Grey Belt. The classification of these sites should be corrected and the selection process re-run.

Some sites are currently a mix of grade 2 and 3 agricultural land, which is classified as Best and Most Versatile land (or BMV). The NPPF states that poorer quality land should be used in preference to BMV. This should be taken into account and the selection process re-run.

The sites are a haven for wildlife, including protected and red-list endangered species. The NPPF states that development proposals should be refused if significant harm to biodiversity cannot be ‘avoided, adequately mitigated or, as a last resort, compensated for’.

The traffic modelling (Strategic Transport Assessment or STA) has not evaluated the impact that the additional traffic that a site will generate on the local road network. It therefore completely ignores the fact that some issues will not be possible to mitigate due to the age of that infrastructure and risks other issues not being addressed. Where these issues cannot be mitigated, the site should be withdrawn.

A number of Park and Ride schemes have been included, with no consideration for the policies required to make a scheme viable (increasing car park charges, reducing free on-street parking and increasing residential permit schemes). Lessons have not been learned from Stratford’s Park and Ride scheme and the same mistakes will be repeated.

What happens next?

Happening now - Publication Consultation (Reg 19)

The consultation will run for 7 weeks from 21st July to 8th September. The responses to the consultation will be passed on to the Planning Inspector leading the Examination process.

The SWLP website has extensive information about the Local Plan and how to respond to the consultation.

As part of the consultation, you will be asked if you wish to speak at the Examination Hearing and give a reason why. Doing so will not compel you to speak at the hearing, but only those who respond to the consultation and ask to speak will be allowed to.

After this consultation, minor updates will be made and the Submission Version will come back to WDC in December for a final vote prior to submitting it to Government by 31st December.

During 2027 - Submission Version and Examination (Reg 22)

The Government will appoint a Planning Inspector to lead the Examination process. As part of this process, there will be a public hearing about the plan. Only those who have responded to the Reg 19 consultation and indicated that they wish to speak at the hearing can do so (though they do not have to, of course).

If any major changes are made to the plan at this stage, there will be another public consultation. (For context, it was at this stage of the preparation of the last Local Plan that the site between Lillington and Cubbington and the Milverton site were both removed, so major changes can happen.)

By March 2028 - Inspector’s report and adoption (Reg 24)

The final stage will be for Warwick District Council to vote on adopting the plan. This is expected to be in early 2028, shortly before the Council is due to be abolished.

How can I respond to the Consultation?

There are 3 ways you can respond to the consultation.

a) Via the online portal

This is quite a complicated form, for which you have to create an account. A ‘How to submit a representation online’ guide has been provided, covering everything from creating an account to completing the consultation. The green and burgundy blocks in the ‘How to Participate’ section contain links to specific policy areas within the form and the purple block contains links to each strategic site.

b) Using the Representation Form

This is a simplified form that you can use to respond to just the parts of the Local Plan that you want to. It can also be found on the Consultation webpage as either a PDF, so it can be printed and written on, or as a Word document, so it can be edited electronically.

c) Write to the SWLP team

You can can simply write to the SWLP team via either email or a letter.

email them at swlp@warwickdc.gov.uk, or
write to them at

SWLP Team, Warwick District Council, Leamington Town Hall,
The Parade, Leamington, CV32 4AT

Speaking at the Examination Hearing

If you have responded to the consultation and indicated that you would like to speak at the Examination Hearing, you will be entitled to do so. This will be crucial to effecting any changes to the Local Plan.

If you are interested in speaking at the Hearing, we would love to collaborate with you.