The adopted Development Plan for the Site comprises the Warwick District Local Plan (adopted September 2017), Bishop’s Tachbrook Neighbourhood Plan (made October 2021) and the Warwickshire Minerals Local Plan (adopted July 2022). All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the adopted Development Plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The site is currently outside of the Bishop’s Tachbrook settlement boundary. Bishop’s Tachbrook is identified as a ‘growth settlement’ in the Local Plan and is one of the few sustainable settlements in the District which is not constrained by the Green Belt.
Warwick District Council can currently only demonstrate a 4.01 year supply of housing. The presumption in favour of sustainable development has therefore been triggered and policies which are most important for determining the application are out-of-date. This means that development proposals which are not currently identified in the adopted Development Plan could come forward if the proposals are in a sustainable location and the proposed benefits of the scheme outweighing any harm.
Warwick District Council is in the process of producing a new Local Plan with Stratford-on-Avon District Council, the ‘South Warwickshire Local Plan’. This plan is in its early stage and will currently be given no weight in the determination of planning applications.
The eastern part of the Site was previously the subject of a planning application for 125 dwellings which was refused (application reference W/13/1688 and appeal reference APP/T3725/A/14/2216200). The submission was made by Barwood Limited (hereafter referred to as the ‘Barwood scheme’).
Since the Barwood scheme decision was made, the wider context has also changed for the site. Residential development has now been constructed to the north and south east of the Site and Bishop’s Tachbrook is now identified as a ‘growth village’ in the adopted Local Plan (discussed further above).
The key matters that the Inspector focused on were the potential landscape and heritage impacts. Therefore Bellway Strategic Land, along with our Landscape and Heritage Consultants, have considered the potential impact of the proposed development as part of the design process. The proposed approach to mitigating any landscape and heritage impacts are discussed in the ‘Technical’ section of this website.