South West Rugby

The council has started putting together a design code for developments at the South West Rugby site.

A design code details the design requirements for development and aims to:

• achieve a higher level of development quality
• enable conversations about design earlier in the dev
• provide a level of predictability in the planning process for developers
• provide consis
• elopment process
• enable conversations with residents about the places they live in
• provide a level of predictability about what will be built
• provide consistency in development over multiple phases

We intend the design code to:

• be clear and concise
• use drawings, diagrams and numbers as far as possible, rather than large sections of text
• contain 'musts' and 'must nots' where possible, minimising 'shoulds' and 'coulds'

The design code will become a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), meaning it will be a material consideration in planning applications.

The SPD will be used by applicants to progress designs during the development process and by council development management officers when determining planning applications.

The Rugby Borough Local Plan was adopted in June 2019.  It allocates the South West Rugby site for 5,000 dwellings and 35 hectares of employment.

The SPD will sit beneath the Local Plan.  Its purpose is to provide additional detail and information to help guide and support comprehensive development in line with the Local Plan.

An SPD is a material consideration in the determination of planning applications, but it cannot add new policy to a Local Plan.

The SPD was required by the Local Plan Inspector and is specifically referred in Policies DS8 and DS9 of the Local Plan.

• More on the South West Rugby Supplementary Planning Document

The SPD ensures the creation of a green and blue infrastructure network that includes the landscaped buffer between Dunchurch and Rugby to prevent coalescence between the two settlements and creates a continuous green infrastructure corridor between Cock Robin Wood and Cawston Spinney. This network will also link a range of other spaces and assets such as open space, gardens, trees, hedgerows, streams and ponds.

The SPD provides for over 65 hectares of open space in accordance with the Local Plan open space standards.

The SPD requires that site features, including hedgerows and trees, are retained wherever possible, including areas already protected by group Tree Preservation Orders. Any proposed loss of biodiversity features will need to be justified through the planning application process and mitigation measures identified.

The SPD advises developers on how to plan their developments in a way that prevents harm to the on-site woodland and more specifically to prevent loss or deterioration of the ancient woodland within the allocation. 

The SPD includes a Woodland Management Plan which will enable long term stewardship and management of the woodland.

Key pieces of highway infrastructure are to be delivered as part of the South West Rugby development including the Homestead Link and the Potsford Dam Link.  These mitigation measures were identified in the transport modelling work prepared for the Local Plan and are requirements of Policies DS8 and DS9 in the Local Plan.  Detailed work is ongoing with the County Council on the design and implementation of this infrastructure.

The Homestead Link will minimise impacts on the existing highway network and relieve pressure on other areas, in particular the Dunchurch Crossroads.

The Homestead Link investment has been secured and work is underway on preparing the planning application for submission later this year.

High quality public transport services to the town centre and a comprehensive walking and cycling network to link residential areas with key facilities on site will also be provided. Work is underway with the County Council to identify the bus services required as well as the new cycling and walking routes and infrastructure.  Appendix K of the SPD includes costs for the bus services and the cycling network improvements. The primary cycling routes are also listed in Appendix K.

The Council is taking a partnership approach to the delivery of South West Rugby - working closely with Homes England, the Midlands Design Review Panel, Warwickshire County Council, infrastructure and service providers, and the private sector to bring much needed homes, including affordable housing, and jobs as well as schools and other local services to the area.