Planning policy

The law places a duty on the Council to produce a series of documents that set out the planning policies for the District, and these are used by the Council when deciding planning applications, or enforcing against unauthorised development.

Planning policies can:

• shape the future of the District by identifying where new development, such as housing, retail, community facilities and employment, should be located;
• guide and promote development in areas in need of regeneration or change;
• protect existing assets such as recreation areas, wildlife and buildings of special historic interest;
• improve the quality of the physical environment;  
• achieve key objectives for the Council and its partners, such as providing more affordable homes and making places safer for people to use,
• give a degree of certainty to landowners, developers and the public as to the likely future pattern and location of development; and, 
• contribute towards delivering sustainable development.

Within Warwick District, the relevant planning policies can be found within the following documents:

• The West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy 2008 which was prepared by the Regional Assembly;
• The Warwickshire Structure Plan which was prepared by Warwickshire County Council;
• The Warwick District Local Plan (1996 - 2011).  This was prepared by the Council and is the key document setting out the planning policies for the District;
• Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) or Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG).  These are prepared by the Council and provide more detailed guidance on particular issues, such as car parking, or on a particular development site.

In order to keep the planning policies up-to-date, they are regularly reviewed.

The Local Plan (1996 - 2011) is also currently being reviewed and will eventually be replaced with a series of local development documents (LDDs), including a new Local Plan, which together will form the Local Development Framework for the District. 

The Council have prepared a Local Development Scheme which sets out the timetable for preparing the New Local Plan over the next three years and identifies the opportunities for public involvement in the process.  

To monitor the success of its policies and inform future reviews, the Council also undertakes land use monitoring and provides information on how the District is developing.

For further information and advice on planning policy, please call 01926 456504 or email ldf@warwickdc.gov.uk.

Planning policy email alerts

Would you like the Council to keep you informed when we prepare new planning policy documents or carry out public consultations? 

If so, please subscribe to our email alert service.

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