What the Draft Local Plan Means for Warton

North Warwickshire Borough Council has published its Draft Regulation 18 Local Plan for 2026. For Warton, the message is fairly clear: the village is as a smaller rural settlement, but it ‘ss also being asked to absorb significant new housing growth.

Warton is described in the plan as a small village north-west of Atherstone and east of Polesworth. The plan recognises that it has already taken additional development since the 1960s, and that it has a range of local services: a primary school, two pubs, a Working Men’s Club, a remaining shop and post office, another facility with an ATM, and recreation facilities that the council says need improvement.

Clearly they didn’t listen to the corrections – and I will be writing to the council asking for a revision – i.e we have 1 pub, the shop and post office should be listed as shop/post office. I have no idea where the ATM is?

Two housing sites are proposed

The plan identifies two Warton housing allocations (below)

This is much reduced from the proposed sites at the start of the consultation (below). Well done to all who answered the consultation

The first is H26: Land to the South of Warton Recreation Ground. This is the Richborough site that we fought and lost last year. In the allocation table this is listed as 5.72 hectares and 100 homes. But in the detailed Warton section, the plan says the site has planning permission for up to 110 dwellings. We will point out the discrepancy.

The second is H27: Land between the Rear of 59 to 83 Austrey Road. This is listed as 2.61 hectares and 69 homes in the allocation table. The detailed policy says the site is allocated for at least 69 dwellings. It also notes that there is already a pending planning application for 41 dwellings on the site. This is the one that we are still waiting for and for us to raise objections to.

Traffic

The plan identifies the main constraint to development as traffic!

It says that recent major growth in Warton raises concerns about the capacity of the B5000 and the junctions serving it from settlements and roads to the north. It also says that major developments in the Warton and Polesworth area that generate traffic onto the B5000, including the junctions at Bridge Street and Old Smithy, will need to contribute towards highway improvements.

That is important because the plan is not pretending there is no problem. It accepts that there is a constraint. The issue for residents is whether “contributions towards highway improvements” are enough, whether those improvements are clear, costed and deliverable, and whether they will arrive before the impacts are felt. The traffic issue as it is at the moment helps us when it comes to further proposed development as the council have already identified it as a constraint.

Questions for the Consultation

We can continue to question the scale of growth (proposed 179 houses) and ask if it is proportionate for Warton, given its role as a smaller village rather than a main town or local service centre? We should ask what is the cumulative impact of H26, H27 and recent development already built or approved in the village?

We can also ask exactly what improvements are expected on the B5000, Bridge Street and Old Smithy junctions, and when would they happen?

We should continue to push the councils at all levels on the village’s recreation facilities, school places, open space, drainage, pavements and everyday services and how they will cope with additional growth?

The concern for us is not simply “development or no development”. It is whether the plan has properly tested the amount of growth Warton can absorb, whether the promised infrastructure is specific enough, and whether the village’s character and day-to-day functioning will be protected.