What are the plans for Homestead View?
Homestead View will be a connected and vibrant new neighbourhood for Rugby, providing high quality new homes and new community facilities for the area.
The development 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.
Homestead View was allocated as part of the wider South West Rugby Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) in the Rugby Borough Local Plan 2011 to 2031 (adopted June 2019), to provide around 5,000 homes and 35ha of employment land. The South West Rugby SPD (adopted June 2021) provides additional guidance to help shape the delivery of the site.
Over the next 15 years the proposals for Homestead View will seek to deliver the aims and aspirations of the Local Plan by delivering:
- The remainder of the allocated 5,000 homes (circa 4,000 homes once recent developments at Ashlawn Road and Coventry Road are accounted for)
- 2 primary schools
- 1 secondary school
- New highway infrastructure including the Homestead Link
- 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
Green infrastructure and protection of existing assets including Cawston Spinney.
Who is involved in the land at Homestead View?
The developers and landowners on the site include:
- L&Q Estates
- Richborough Estates
- Taylor Wimpey
- Homes England
Find out more about each of the Partners
Why do we need more homes?
National Planning Policy requires Local Planning Authorities to identify land for new housing to meet the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the area.
As part of the Rugby Borough Local Plan examination, the Inspector assessed Rugby Borough Council’s housing needs and concluded that the Council’s housing requirement of 12,400 homes for the period 2011 -2031 was appropriate.
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.
Why is this area being developed in South West Rugby?
Developing SW Rugby SUE will help the county to fill a substantial gap in available and affordable housing in the area. The site has been listed as suitable for development in Rugby Borough Council’s Local Plan 2031.
What proportion of the homes will be affordable?
Homestead View will deliver up to 30% affordable housing with 75% of that being Rental property and 25% as First Homes. This allows families and individuals on lower incomes to afford to move onto the property ladder.
It also give the local authority more control in who is allocated this housing i.e. local people with real needs such as family homes for example. Affordable Housing will be interspersed with private dwellings and will be tenure blind in terms of appearance.
As identified in Rugby Borough Council’s Local Plan, all residents will have the opportunity to live in decent homes that they can afford through the provision of a variety of housing that meets the needs of all sectors of the community.
Will it create more traffic?
A key requirement of development at Homestead View is that it will be supported by a significant package of site wide infrastructure works including on-site and off-site highway improvements. This will improve the surrounding traffic infrastructure, providing better vehicular access to the area and alleviate traffic problems. This includes the creation of the new Homestead Link road, which includes a buffer landscape zone for the Dunchurch area.
Although the development of new homes will create additional traffic movements in the area, the supporting highway improvements will mean that there will not be adverse traffic impacts on local roads.
Planning applications will be supported by transport assessments that will need to demonstrate that highways impacts are mitigated and kept to a minimum, otherwise proposals will be resisted by Rugby Borough Council and the highways authority Warwickshire County Council.
What is the planning process for this proposed development?
The principle of development at Homestead View has been tested and accepted through the preparation of RBC’s Local Plan 2031. We will continue to develop our plans in consultation with the local community and stakeholders.
Homestead View is a strategic allocation in the Local Plan which established the requirements of the site for residential-led mixed use development.
We will update this website with details and news of the different planning applications associated with the area’s development, and share news of how you can have your say on the plans and of public consultation events.
We recommend signing up to our newsletter to stay up to date on news for this site.
What environmental considerations have been made to local wildlife and biodiversity?
Warwickshire County Council is one of the pioneers of Biodiversity Net Gain and applications will be expected to deliver at least a 10% net gain in biodiversity compared to pre-development levels on the site.
Is Homestead View sustainable?
All partners involved in the vision for Homestead View are committed to delivering a new sustainable community. The proposed scheme is well placed to improve existing levels of sustainability for existing communities by delivering wide ranging social, environmental and economic benefits.
Proposals are being designed to help address the challenges of climate change and respond to the climate emergency in Warwickshire. As well as reducing the need to travel and improving access to sustainable transport choices, sustainability measures have been embedded into the design.
A key objective for Homes England is to work in collaboration with partners to bring forward sustainable development in areas where supply and affordability is a real problem.
What employment opportunities are being provided?
As identified in Rugby Borough Council’s Place Plan, urban extensions to the Rugby area include a primary focus for employment development, with jobs being delivered up to 2031, in order to support economic growth and balance the provision of new jobs with new homes and employment premises.
The SW Rugby development will provide 35 hectares of B8 employment land which will provide a strategic employment function and deliver space for growing and start-up businesses.
What education provision will there be?
The scheme involves the creation of two primary schools (each with 2 Forms of Entry per year group) and one 6 forms of entry (6FE) secondary school.
Who are Homes England?
Homes England is the Government’s housing accelerator, and our mission is to intervene in the housing market to ensure more homes are built in areas of greatest need, and to improve affordability.
As a Government Agency, Homes England has a range of tools that can help deliver new high quality and sustainable communities. A key priority is to make sure that the appropriate facilities are in place to make great places, to support both new homeowners and existing surrounding communities.
Homes England has a track record of delivering homes, community uses, open space and the necessary supporting infrastructure on similarly complex sites.
Why are Homes England involved at Homestead View?
Homes England acquired 90ha of land from Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and a private landowner in 2020 to assist in bringing forward the South West Rugby site through forward funding some of the critical infrastructure, including the Homestead Link, at the right time.
This is an important project for Homes England, in terms of scale of investment and through supporting the delivery of new high-quality homes, employment opportunities and supporting community and highway infrastructure.
What is the proposed Homestead Link Road?
The highways modelling work as part of the Local Plan identified existing capacity issue within the local area, particularly at Dunchurch crossroads, and so any new development would need mitigation measures implementing before building new homes starts. The Homestead Link road is being built to avoid any additional issues and will cater for the amount of new homes and cars associated with the new development.
The Homestead Link Road will provide an alternative to travelling through Dunchurch Crossroads and is designed to accommodate vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians and also provides significant landscape corridor to the north of Dunchurch.
A public consultation on the plans for the Homestead Link Road took place in December – view and download the information boards here
What is the timescale for the Homestead Link Road?
- Summer 2022 Planning application is submitted for Homestead Link Road and landscape buffer
- Summer/Autumn 2022 Formal opportunity for the local community to comment on the submitted application
- Winter 2022 Decision on application
- Summer 2023 Homestead Link Road construction to commence (subject to approval)
- Summer 2024 Homestead Link Road completion
- Throughout 2023 Future planning applications for the residential and Local Centre and Community Use plans will follow.
What route will the Homestead Link Road take?
The proposed route is in accordance with that identified on the Indicative Masterplan, included within the South West Rugby SPD (June 2021). From a new roundabout at the junction with the A426 it will head west to connect with Alwyn Road and Cawston Lane and then turn south to join the B4429 to the west of Dunchurch.
A previous road alignment iteration did not link to the Coventry Road (as is now proposed) and instead travelled across the larger site from east to west to join up with the M45/A45 junction. This iteration was included in the ‘Publication Draft’ of the Local Plan in September 2016 and local residents may remember seeing plans of this route alignment from previous consultation events.
Since 2016, Rugby Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council (as Highway Authority) have undertaken further stages of technical and design work, and this led to changes to the proposed route of the link road and more specifically, a link road that connects to the Coventry Road. When the Local Plan was adopted in 2019 the plans within it were changed to include the current route.
It is important to note that because this route has been subject to detailed testing and review as the Local Plan has been developed the alignment of the Homestead Link Road would need to comply with the adopted Local Plan and South West Rugby Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document.
What is the landscape buffer and what will it include?
The landscaped green space corridor is integrated into the existing landscape features and will ensure there is a segregated buffer between the village of Dunchurch and Rugby, an important local planning policy requirement included in the South West Rugby Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document. Homes England feel this strategy provides more certainty to the local community and to the Council that some of the landscape mitigation planting can be delivered and implemented early.
The landscape buffer will provide an enhancement of biodiversity through the inclusion of new habitats including new species rich hedgerows and the provision of several wildlife ponds. It will also help safeguard the long-term habitat used by existing wildlife between Cock Robin Wood and Cawston Spinney and allow for a tree/landscape corridor along this route.
In addition, we want to add seasonal visual interest by providing orchard planting and to encourage opportunities for the community to come together. We are keen to speak to local community members or voluntary groups that are keen to receive further information on the proposals for the landscape buffer; this could include future activities such as tree planting and the future involvement to develop a community orchard.
If I see people on the site, who are these likely to be and what will they be doing?
People will visit the site regularly. These will include Homes England staff, the design team and on-site specialists that will be undertaking important survey information such as site investigations, geophysical surveys, archaeological trial trenching, ecology surveys and small-scale enabling works.
In November 2022 our ecology team will conduct bat / tree climbing surveys that will identify and record any presence of bats. This does not constitute works that require planning permission. It does however provide our commitment to be comply with important UK habitat regulation legislation. From December 2022 onwards our archaeological team will be conducting geophysical surveys and trial trenching works to survey areas for archaeology. A Written Scheme of Investigation will be agreed with the County Archaeologist to determine the number, location, size and scale of the trial trenches.
No development / construction works will be carried out until planning permission for the HLR has been determined and granted by the Local Planning Authority.