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Stratford-on-Avon District Council has agreed how it will oversee the biggest site in the draft South Warwickshire Local Plan: a new community of 10,300 homes on Long Marston Airfield, about five miles south-west of Stratford-upon-Avon. The Cabinet approved a governance framework for the site on Monday 5 October, with a Strategic Board at the top.
What’s planned at Long Marston Airfield
The draft plan proposes 10,300 homes in total, with 4,500 of them built by 2050, plus 15 hectares of employment land and 21 pitches for Gypsies and Travellers. The site would also need schools, shops, community and health facilities, open space, walking and cycling routes, road improvements, a solar farm and a western bypass for Stratford-upon-Avon.
It is one of 18 large housing-led sites in the plan, which went out for consultation over the summer. The council’s report says the plan is due to be submitted by December 2026, examined in 2027 and adopted in early 2028.
Why set up a board now
The report says the scale of the infrastructure, “most notably” the bypass, means arrangements are needed early. Most of the land has several owners, and the council wants one masterplan and consistent design across them. The framework sets out a Strategic Board, a steering group and specialist working groups, including one for transport.
The report also warns that, given the scale, compulsory purchase of land could be needed, “notably” for the Stratford-upon-Avon western relief road, which would probably need its own delivery group. An interim site delivery officer has already been recruited from the Local Plan budget, and the council says there are no direct extra costs from this decision.
What happens next
The Strategic Board’s members and terms of reference will be set by a later decision of the council leader. Similar arrangements are planned for the other large sites, with Warwick District Council, once staffing is in place. The site still has to go through the Local Plan examination before it can be confirmed.
See what’s being applied for near you on our planning map, and the other decisions from the same meeting in our Cabinet round-up.
Alex Harrington
Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.
