Land south east of Henley-in-Arden

The ‘red line’ boundary below shows the land that we will be including within the planning application. More than 60% of this will be retained as public open space.

The site is made up of several fields totalling almost 24 hectares (59 acres) of arable land, which stretches from Warwick Road in the north to Stratford Road to the west. The site is bounded by fields to the south and east, and is itself bisected by the River Alne. Towards the centre of the site, but outside of the ‘red line’ boundary, is the Grade II listed Blackford Mill.

Part of the site (the section west of the river) falls within the area of the Beaudesert & Henley-in-Arden Neighbourhood Plan, adopted in Summer 2024. However, this plan does not seek to allocate sites but rather outlines a vision and general policies for development in the area. Similarly, Wooton Wawen Parish Council produced a neighbourhood plan which was adopted in 2018. This plan covers the eastern section of the site, but again only outlines a vision and general policies and does not allocate sites. The site also sits within the West Midlands Green Belt, which covers most of the immediate area. Recent changes to national policy suggest that some Green Belt should be reconsidered as ‘Grey Belt’; it will be up to the Council and Planning Inspectorate to decide on this in due course.

 

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In recent years there has been a growing national recognition of the scale of the housing crisis in the UK, which has driven a national house-building mission spear-headed by the Government. Stratford-on-Avon District and the Henley-in-Arden area are not immune to this situation, and Stratford-on-Avon District Council has seen its housing target increased significantly in recent years.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council are producing the South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP) in partnership with Warwick District Council. Once adopted, the SWLP will map out where and how new homes, shops, offices and other development will be built within the two council areas for the next 15 years.

The draft SWLP, which is due to be consulted on this summer, recognises Henley-in-Arden as a sustainable settlement and identifies a large strategic site to come forward to the north of Henley-in-Arden for c. 2,000 homes. However, this is a longer term vision, which would not see new homes delivered for a significant period of time. In the meantime, Stratford-on-Avon District Council are currently unable to demonstrate a five year housing land supply, despite a requirement from the Government to do so. Our proposal can help the Council restore their housing land supply by providing much needed new homes for Henley-in-Arden, more quickly and in a sustainable location.

As part of gaining planning consent, any housebuilder that develops the site will pay a sum of money known as a ‘Community Infrastructure Levy’ (CIL) to Stratford-on-Avon Council, as well as entering into a ‘Section 106’ agreement. Both of these will ensure that funds raised from the new development are reinvested into infrastructure and community facilities in the area around Henley-in-Arden.