Background
Homestead View is the name of the South West Rugby Sustainable Urban Development Extension, which intends to answer the area’s growing housing needs by creating a new community in the area. It will fulfil Rugby Borough Council’s allocation of the site for housing, employment and supporting community and highway infrastructure.
Homestead View will not only provide much needed housing, schools, healthcare facilities, community uses and employment opportunities for the area, but it will also deliver key highways infrastructure improvements to alleviate traffic congestion in and around Dunchurch, as well as new cycle and pedestrian linkages throughout the site.
South West Rugby was allocated as part of Rugby Borough Council’s Local Plan 2011 to 2031 (adopted June 2019), to provide around 5,000 homes and 35ha of employment land. The South West Rugby Supplementary Planning Documents (adopted June 2021) provide additional guidance to help shape the delivery of the site.
The housing allocation at South West Rugby, which includes Homestead View, will perform a significant role in enabling the council to meet its local housing needs and will provide approximately 40% of all new homes in Rugby over the plan period.
Rugby has significant housing supply and affordability issues with the average house price around eight times the average workplace-based earnings (National Housing Federation data). The delivery of a significant number of affordable homes at Homestead View will go some way to address affordability issues in the Borough and will provide opportunities for local people to get a foothold on the housing property ladder.
What are the plans for this area?
The proposals for Homestead View seek to deliver the aims and aspirations of the Local Plan, including:
- The remainder of the allocated 5,000 homes for the site*
- 2 primary schools
- 1 secondary school
- New highway infrastructure including the Homestead Link Road
- New district centre including a GP surgery and retail outlets
- 35 hectares of employment land
- New walking and cycle routes
- High-quality public transport services to Rugby Town Centre
- New walking and cycle routes, green infrastructure and protection of existing assets including Cawston Spinney
*Circa 4,000 homes accounting for recent developments at Ashlawn Road and Coventry Road
Who is involved?
The site is controlled by five different landowners.
In 2020, Homes England acquired 92.03 hectares of land from Warwickshire County Council and another private owner. Outside of Homes England’s land, the South West Rugby Neighbourhood encompasses land being promoted and developed by individual private developers delivering portions of the new housing, employment and community facilities for the site, including:
- Taylor Wimpey
- L&Q Estates
- Richborough Estates
- Tritax Symmetry
Homestead Link Road
A key requirement of this development is to provide a new link road to relieve existing congestion in Dunchurch village and reduce air quality issues, whilst enabling the delivery of new housing in South West Rugby.
The link is designed to accommodate vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians safely, and also provides significant landscape corridor to the north of Dunchurch, and a buffer zone to protect Cawston Spinney woodland.
Homes England has developed the design of the Homestead Link Road to meet the criteria set by Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and Rugby Borough Council.
Work has focused to date on:
- The purpose and function of the Homestead Link Road
- Access for pedestrians, cyclists and bus services
- Pre-application discussions with WCC to discuss traffic modelling and detailed design.
Early design work for the proposed landscape corridor has also started. The first public consultation on the road plans was held in December, and an online consultation on the plans ran until 7th January 2022 to allow the public to share their views on the plans.
You can view the information shared at the event on our Engagement Page
