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ID sylw: 108312

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: CEG Land Promotion III (UK) Limited and Mixed Farms

Asiant : Nexus Planning

Whilst CEG and Mixed Farms does not oppose planning to deliver new settlements, per se, the SWLP is urged to
proceed with caution in terms of relying upon the delivery of new settlements to meet housing requirements
within the plan period.
It is well evidenced that large strategic sites such as new settlements are costly and complex in terms of land
assembly and therefore take much longer to deliver housing than allocations in locations which are already
sustainable.
The Lichfields document ‘From Start to Finish’ (March 2024) is an industry-wide accepted document which
considers housing delivery, lead-in times for planning application of different scales and average build-out rates
for development sites. The SWLP confirms that any new settlement will be a minimum of 6,000 dwellings, and
whilst Start to Finish considers developments of 2,000 + within one category, it outlines that:
 Planning approval for these sites averages at 5.1 years from validation;
 First delivery for these sites averages 6.7 years from validation;
 Build out rates average between 100 and 188 dpa.
The above data, which suggests that the first dwelling is not occupied over 10 years after submission of a
planning application, should be treated as an absolute minimum for a new settlement. In reality, given the
significantly uplifted number of dwellings in a South Warwickshire new settlement, it can be expected that
planning permissions, delivery and build out rates for a site of 6,000 dwellings will be substantially increased
above the evidence set out within Start to Finish.
The SWLP will therefore need to ensure that market and affordable housing and associated necessary
infrastructure is also delivered early in the plan period and should therefore allocate sites at a variety of scales to
ensure the spread of housing delivery across the trajectory. Whilst the infrastructure to be delivered alongside a
new settlement can be selected to meet the needs of future residents, urban extensions, such as at East of
Stratford-upon-Avon can rely initially on existing infrastructure to deliver development earlier within the plan
period whilst also unlocking additional land to be developed later in the plan period. This approach is critical to
the Council demonstrating a five year housing land supply upon adoption of the plan and maintaining sufficient
supply and meeting delivery rates throughout the plan period.
CEG and Mixed Farms’ land at East of South East Stratford-upon-Avon can deliver approximately 1,200 dwellings
across the plan-period, however CEG and Mixed Farms expect that a first phase of 300 - 450 dwellings can deliver
housing within the first five years of the plan period.
In terms of the specific new settlement options put forward within the SWLP, CEG and Mixed Farms note that
‘Land at Hatton (B1)’, ‘Long Marston Airfield (E1)’, ‘Land south of Leamington Spa/Whitnash and west of B4455
Fosse Way (X2)’ and ‘Land at Bearley and Wilmcote (BW)’ are all considered to be ‘More Suitable’ of the New
Settlement options. Two of these options (‘Land at Hatton’ and ‘Land at Bearley and Wilmcote’) are located
entirely within the Green Belt and therefore, again, are sequentially less preferable than SG19 in terms of the
NPPF’s direction to allocate non-Green Belt land first, before considering review and allocation of Green Belt
land. SG19 is a sustainable non-Green Belt option which can accommodate significant levels of growth and unlock
land required to deliver vital infrastructure for Stratford-upon-Avon and Wellesbourne in the form of the Eastern
Relief Road.
In summary, whilst new settlements might be appropriate as part of a strategy to accommodate the longer term
housing needs of the Local Plan area, CEG and Mixed Farms consider non-Green Belt urban extensions such as
East of Stratford-upon-Avon, which can deliver market and affordable housing earlier in the plan period, should
be allocated for development.