Fight to stop proposal for new Local Plan site in Whitnash

At a meeting last week, Warwick District Council voted by a large majority in favour of supporting the revised plan, which now includes 17,000 houses to be built across the area by 2029.

The bulk of the housing is already allocated in the south of the district, affecting mainly Warwick, Whitnash and Bishops Tachbrook.

And both the Whitnash Residents Association and Labour councillors had amendments refused, which had asked for certain developments to be removed from the plan including Hazelmere & Little Acre.

These additional houses would be on land bordering a site where planning permission for a single house had recently been refused by the council citing issues of access, and referring to it as an ‘unsustainable’ location in an area of restraint.

There are also concerns over increased traffic from the nearby Fieldgate Lane development, which includes 100 new houses.

Cllr Tony Heath (Ind, Whitnash) raised the issue last week, and proposed an amendment to remove these additional homes from the revised plan, as they are on a site not identified in the recently adopted Whitnash Neighbourhood Plan.

He said: “An additional 150 cars from the proposed site at Hazelmere & Little Acre would cause serious problems in Golf Lane and add to the dangers for children attending St Margaret’s and Briar Hill schools. We must oppose this when an application is lodged.”

Expressing his sympathy to the Whitnash group, development services portfolio holder Cllr Stephen Cross (Con, Woodloes) said it was unfair that the Local Plan tops their plan but that Warwickshire County Council’s highways department had now deemed access to the Hazelmere site to be sufficient for the development to go ahead.