The Site
The site is located to the east of the settlement of Shipston-on-Stour and sits just outside the built-up area boundary. It extends to approximately 67 hectares (Ha) in size.
The land is currently an area of undeveloped land.
The site is located on the River Stour, approximately 10 miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon and 14 miles to the west of Banbury. The town is close to the northern edge of the Cotswolds and is a focal point for communities within an extensive rural area.
Nearby public transport options include bus services connecting Shipston to Stratford-upon-Avon, Banbury, and Chipping Norton.
The nearest railway stations are in Moreton-in-Marsh (7 miles away) and Banbury (15 miles away), offering direct train services to London, Birmingham, and Oxford.
Site Location
Click on the play video to view a 360 view of the site
The proposed development is sustainably located and connected into Shipston-on-Stour with the key existing amenities located within a maximum of 20 minutes walking distance of the furthest eastern point of the site.
These include but are not limited to; health centre, pharmacy, primary and secondary schools, independent shops, cafes, restaurants, library, post office, sports clubs, churches, leisure centre, walking trails, town hall and others.
Planning Policy
Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick District Councils are working together to produce a new South Warwickshire Local Plan to cover their combined geographic area. The Councils have undertaken an Issues and Options Consultation, Call for Sites and Preferred Options consultation. The Preferred Options consultation provided a third opportunity for residents and stakeholders to have their say on the emerging South Warwickshire Local Plan, following feedback from the previous Scoping (2021) and Issues and Options (2023) consultations.
The new Local Plan will need to make provision for the delivery of at least up to 2,188 homes per annum or 54,700 homes by 2050, in line with the Governments housing targets (called the 2024 Standard Method.) The draft South Warwickshire Local Plan sets out that Stratford District Council and Warwick District Council would collectively need to identify land for 28,257 additional dwelling.
The Preferred Options document identifies 24 potential Strategic Growth locations and 12 potential New Settlement locations, which are an indication of where the councils consider large-scale strategic growth may best be located.
The site is located within SG17: Shipston-on-Stour Group within the emerging South Warwickshire Local Plan Preferred Options document.
Unlike many other proposed Strategic Growth Locations, SG17 is located outside of the Green Belt, which creates an opportunity for the settlement to accommodate higher levels of growth without requiring the release of Green Belt land.
The Government requires local planning authorities to be able to demonstrate five year’s worth of deliverable housing land. In a recent planning appeal decision (Ref: APP/J3720/W/25/3358848), the Inspector concluded that the Council could demonstrate 2.74 years of housing land supply.
