Stratford planning: 27,800 homes, comments close 8 September

The biggest thing in Stratford planning is not an application. It is a plan, it sets the district a minimum of 27,800 new homes by 2050, and the window to comment on it shuts at 23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026.

This page sets out what the South Warwickshire Local Plan actually says about this district, taken from the councils’ own published documents rather than from summaries of them.

The plan, in one paragraph

Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwick District Council are preparing a single joint plan, the South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP), covering both districts from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2050. It will replace Stratford’s existing Core Strategy, which runs only to 2031. It reached its Regulation 19 Publication stage, the fourth and final round of formal public consultation, when both councils approved it at Full Council on 15 July 2026. Consultation opened on Tuesday 21 July and closes at 23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026. After that it goes to the Secretary of State for independent examination, with the councils working to a government submission deadline of 31 December 2026.

It nearly did not happen this summer. At a joint cabinet meeting on 28 May 2026 members recommended delaying the Regulation 19 stage so more work could be done “in several key areas”, and both councils considered that recommendation in early June before agreeing revisions and pushing ahead in July.

The previous Preferred Options consultation, from 10 January to 7 March 2025, drew more than 22,000 responses. This is the last chance to comment before an inspector takes over, and the test has changed: representations now have to address whether the plan is legally compliant and sound, not whether you like it.

The number Stratford district has to hit

Policy DS.3 sets the housing requirement using the government’s May 2025 NPPF Standard Method.

The 3,825 already committed are sites that had planning consent or were under construction as at 1 April 2025. Note what that means: Stratford district enters this plan with barely a fourteen per cent head start on its own target, while Warwick district has more than twice as many homes already consented. That gap is why this district’s allocations are so large.

Two allowances soften the arithmetic before any site is named: a windfall allowance of 3,630 homes on unidentified small sites, and a short-term large sites windfall allowance of 500. Add the allocations and the plan projects 29,279 completions against a 27,800 requirement, a buffer of about 1,479.

Where the homes are going

Ten lines carry the district’s growth. Stratford-upon-Avon town takes three of them, but it is not where most of the building happens.

The striking thing is how much of it lands outside Stratford-upon-Avon. Southam takes 3,122 homes and Bidford-on-Avon 2,225, both towns of a few thousand people. Henley-in-Arden takes 2,084. And the largest single item, 4,500 homes at Long Marston Airfield, is a new community on a disused wartime airfield south-west of the town, delivering from 2031/32 right through to 2050.

The three Stratford town sites

All three are Strategic Growth Locations under Policy DS.2: large allocated growth next to an existing settlement, expected to fund significant new infrastructure.

STR.1, Land to the North: the Clopton Quarter

37.67 hectares, all of it Green Belt, carrying a minimum of 777 homes north-west of the town. The plan’s vision is a development responding to the “Vale Orchard landscape character”, re-introducing local heritage fruits in new orchards, restoring field patterns and creating a new gateway to Welcombe Hills Country Park.

The detail most people will not have spotted: the allocation includes the park and ride site itself. About 139 higher-density homes would go there, with a two-storey decked car park to retain the existing parking capacity. If you use the £1-a-day Bishopton park and ride, that is the proposal to read.

It also requires land for one new education facility and four Gypsy and Traveller pitches. Delivery is anticipated 2029/30 to 2037/38, the earliest of the three.

STR.2, Land to the South-east: the big one

174.45 hectares and a minimum of 2,727 homes, more than three times the size of the other two town sites put together. It is a genuine town extension rather than an estate:

• A new 6-form-entry secondary school, plus two new primary schools (2FE and 3FE)
• An on-site health facility within a new local centre
• A new spine road through the site connecting Shipston Road and Banbury Road
• A mobility hub, accessible links to the existing Rosebird Centre, and a large biodiversity-focused parkland to the east
• 15 Gypsy and Traveller pitches

Delivery runs 2030/31 to 2048/49, so this site is being built out for most of the plan period. It is also the development that makes the safeguarded western bypass corridor necessary: the plan states there is “insufficient capacity for further significant development south of Stratford-upon-Avon town”.

STR.3, Land to the West: West Shottery

64 hectares and a minimum of 687 homes at West Shottery, complementing the emerging Shottery View development, plus up to 130 more homes on land north of Evesham Road. It brings a large new community park extending the existing one east of the site, next to Shottery Conservation Area, a community hall and local retail.

It also carries safeguarded land at its western edge for the proposed Stratford-upon-Avon bypass route. Delivery is anticipated 2028/29 to 2036/37.

Inside the town itself

Four smaller Local Growth Locations sit within the built-up area, and one of them is not small at all:

• STR.7, Canal Quarter western area: 800 homes, to be delivered in accordance with the Canal Quarter Regeneration Zone Framework Masterplan.
• STR.6, south of Alcester Road: 65 homes, with development kept to the northern part of the site.
• STR.4, 10 Greenhill Street: 29 homes, expected to come forward as intensification.
• STR.5, land north of Saffron Meadow: 27 homes.

The Canal Quarter figure is worth noticing. At 800 homes on brownfield land in the middle of town, it is larger than the entire STR.3 Shottery allocation and carries none of the same greenfield objections.

Whether any of this shifts prices is a separate question. The district’s shortage of consented land is one of the reasons the average home here costs £392,880, close to £90,000 above the Warwickshire average, and nothing in this plan delivers a home before 2028.

How to comment, and by when

Responses go through the consultation portal, by email to swlp@warwickdc.gov.uk, or by post to the South Warwickshire Local Team, Stratford-on-Avon District, Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6HX.

One practical warning. This stage is not a general survey. There are no consultation questions. Comments must address whether the plan meets legal requirements, shows effective joint working between the two councils, and passes the soundness tests: positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. A representation that simply objects to a site is far less useful to you than one that explains which soundness test the plan fails and why.

Checking an individual planning application

Stratford-on-Avon District Council does not use the Idox Public Access portal that most neighbouring councils run. It has its own system, E-Planning, at apps.stratford.gov.uk/eplanningv2, with an advanced search by reference, address or applicant.

The other difference worth knowing: Stratford publishes a monthly list of applications, not the weekly list most districts produce. If you are watching for something on your street, check monthly rather than assuming a weekly rhythm, and note that the old apps.stratford.gov.uk/eplanning/ address now redirects.

Frequently asked questions

How many new homes are planned for Stratford-on-Avon district?

A minimum of 27,800 by 2050, at 1,112 a year, set by Policy DS.3 using the government’s May 2025 NPPF Standard Method. With 3,825 already committed as at 1 April 2025, the plan has to find sites for a further 23,975.

How many homes are planned for Stratford-upon-Avon town?

4,191 across the three Strategic Growth Locations: 2,727 south-east (STR.2), 777 north at the Clopton Quarter (STR.1) and 687 west at Shottery (STR.3), plus up to 130 more north of Evesham Road. Four Local Growth Locations inside the town add a further 921, of which 800 are in the Canal Quarter.

When does the South Warwickshire Local Plan consultation close?

23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026. It opened on 21 July and runs for seven weeks. This is the Regulation 19 Publication stage, the last formal consultation before the plan is submitted for examination.

Is Green Belt being released around Stratford?

Yes, for one site. STR.1, the Clopton Quarter north-west of the town, is 37.67 hectares of Green Belt. The other two Stratford allocations are not Green Belt.

When would building actually start?

Not soon. The plan anticipates delivery at Shottery from 2028/29, at the Clopton Quarter from 2029/30 and south-east of the town from 2030/31, running to 2048/49. The plan must first be submitted by 31 December 2026 and then found sound by an independent inspector.

Would the new housing come with schools?

The south-east site (STR.2) is required to deliver a 6-form-entry secondary school and two primary schools, plus an on-site health facility. The Clopton Quarter (STR.1) must provide land for one new education facility.

How do I check a planning application in Stratford?

Use the district council’s own E-Planning portal at apps.stratford.gov.uk/eplanningv2. It is not Idox, and it publishes a monthly list of applications rather than a weekly one.

Sources

• South Warwickshire Local Plan, Publication (Regulation 19) draft, July 2026 for Policy DS.3 and its housing figures, the Policy DS.2 list of growth locations, the Stratford-on-Avon housing trajectory (Figure 13), the Policy DS.7 Local Growth Location table and the site requirements for Proposals STR.1, STR.2 and STR.3.
• Next steps for South Warwickshire Local Plan, Stratford-on-Avon District Council, 16 July 2026 for the 15 July approval, the 21 July to 8 September consultation window, the 31 December 2026 submission deadline, the 22,000 Preferred Options responses, Cllr Cowcher’s comments and how to respond.
• South Warwickshire Local Plan update, May 2026, Stratford-on-Avon District Council for the 28 May joint cabinet recommendation to delay.
• The South Warwickshire Local Plan, Stratford-on-Avon District Council for the plan’s status as the fourth and final stage and what representations must address.
• South Warwickshire Local Plan consultation portal for the online version of the Publication draft.
• Stratford-on-Avon District Council E-Planning for individual applications and the monthly list.

The South Warwickshire Local Plan is a consultation draft. Nothing in it is adopted policy, site capacities are stated as minimums and can change through examination, and an inspector may require changes before it can be adopted. Checked August 2026.