Catesby's consultation on 550 Green Belt homes at Kenilworth closed on 20 September. No outline application was on the council's register as at 24 September.

Updated 24 September 2026. Both consultations on these fields have now closed. Catesby Estates’ own feedback deadline was Sunday 20 September, and the council’s Regulation 19 consultation on the South Warwickshire Local Plan shut at 23:59 on 8 September.

The next step is the one that counts. Catesby said it was preparing two outline planning applications. We searched Warwick District Council’s planning register on 24 September and neither has been submitted: there is no application on the register for Land West of Rouncil Lane or Land West of Warwick Road, and no Catesby application anywhere in Kenilworth. Until one appears there is nothing formal to comment on, and nothing for the council to decide.

The South Warwickshire Local Plan now goes to the Secretary of State for examination.

Previously updated 14 September 2026. The rest of this article is the piece we published on 24 August and is unchanged.

A land promoter consulted Kenilworth on about 550 homes across two fields on the town’s southern edge, and asked for comments by Sunday 20 September.

Catesby Estates advertised its proposals in a statutory notice published on 21 August. It is preparing two outline planning applications on Land West of Rouncil Lane and Land West of Warwick Road. Both parcels are Green Belt today.

What Catesby is proposing

From the company’s consultation website:

  • Land West of Rouncil Lane, about 61 acres (24.80 hectares), south-east of Oaks Farm and next to the houses off Rounds Hill: circa 350 homes
  • Land West of Warwick Road, about 40 acres (16.51 hectares) of arable land on the southern edge, with allotments along the north-western boundary and Cattle Brook to the south: circa 200 homes
  • Up to 50% affordable housing on both sites
  • New equipped play areas, landscaped open space and a pedestrian and cycle network through the development

Both would be outline applications with all matters reserved except access. That means the council would be asked to agree the principle and the access points first, with layout, appearance and landscaping settled later.

Catesby sets out this timetable: consultation in summer 2026, planning applications in autumn 2026, a planning committee decision in spring 2027, and sale to a housebuilder in summer or autumn 2027.

The council’s own plan asks for more homes, later

These fields are not a surprise. They are already in the South Warwickshire Local Plan as proposal KEN.1, Land south of Kenilworth, and the published Regulation 19 draft is more demanding than the developer’s leaflet.

The plan gives KEN.1 a site area of 60 hectares and a target of a minimum of 776 new homes, at a density of at least 35 dwellings per hectare. Its timescale is 2029/30 to 2036/37. That is three years after Catesby expects a committee decision, and the allocation is bigger than Catesby’s two sites, which add up to 41.31 hectares, so other land is involved.

The draft plan attaches conditions to the site that no consultation leaflet mentions:

  • a spine road connecting Rouncil Lane and Warwick Road, to be built in the earliest possible phase, to avoid pushing traffic onto other local roads
  • a second access west of Rouncil Lane if more than 150 homes go on that parcel
  • a buffer to the north-west to protect sightlines from Kenilworth Castle
  • a belt of open space on the southern boundary to form a new defensible Green Belt edge and keep Kenilworth separate from Leek Wootton
  • an assessment of sewerage capacity with Severn Trent Water, which may require upgrades at Finham waste water treatment works
  • footway improvements on both Rouncil Lane and Warwick Road, extra bus stops on Warwick Road, and contributions to the IndieGo demand-responsive transport service
  • an odour assessment where necessary, and regard to a minerals safeguarding area for sand and gravel

On affordable housing, the plan’s Policy HO.3 sets a minimum, not a ceiling. For land in or released from the Green Belt it requires at least 50% affordable housing in the higher-value zone and at least 40% in the lower, subject to viability evidence. Catesby’s wording is “up to 50%”.

Key dates for the 550 homes proposed south of Kenilworth Timeline. 21 July 2026, the council's South Warwickshire Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation opens. 21 August 2026, Catesby Estates publishes its consultation notice. 8 September 2026 at 23:59, the council consultation closes. 20 September 2026, Catesby's feedback deadline. Autumn 2026, outline planning applications submitted. Spring 2027, planning committee decision expected. 2029 to 2030, the first homes on the council's own delivery trajectory. Two consultations, and the first one closes first Key dates for the land south of Kenilworth (proposal KEN.1) 21 Jul 2026 Council's Local Plan consultation opens 21 Aug 2026 Catesby publishes its consultation notice 8 Sep 2026 23:59 Council consultation CLOSES The one that decides the allocation 20 Sep 2026 Catesby's own feedback deadline Autumn 2026 Two outline applications submitted Spring 2027 Planning committee decision expected 2029/30 First homes, on the council's own trajectory Sources: South Warwickshire Local Plan Regulation 19 draft (July 2026); Catesby Estates consultation website. Graphic by The Leamington Post
The council's deadline falls twelve days before the developer's.

Why an application is coming before the plan is adopted

Catesby’s website is blunt about the reason: “There has been a significant increase in the housing targets for the local area, and there are not enough sites to meet the identified need for the next 5 years. This is why these proposals are coming forward now.”

That claim checks out against the council’s own arithmetic. Warwick District Council’s 5 Year Housing Land Supply paper, calculated at 1 April 2025, works through the sums line by line and lands on 1.96 years’ supply. Against a five-year requirement of 5,696 homes including a 5% buffer, it counts a deficit of 3,466.

The paper explains that its method follows a planning inspector’s decision on an appeal at the Warwickshire Police headquarters site at Leek Wootton, dated 24 May 2024, which required a 45% discount to the supply figure to account for Coventry’s unmet housing need.

A council that cannot show five years of housing land has weaker grounds to refuse. That is the backdrop to an autumn 2026 application on land the plan does not expect to deliver homes until 2029 at the earliest.

The land is Green Belt, and the plan proposes to take it out

KEN.1 appears in the draft plan’s list of land to be removed from the Green Belt, alongside Leamington North at Blackdown, Lillington East and South of Coventry. The plan states that “exceptional circumstances exist which justify making changes to Green Belt boundaries”.

A residents’ campaign, Save Our Fields, is asking the councils to drop the allocation. Its stated grounds are the setting of Kenilworth Castle, ancient woodland and hedgerows, pressure on roads, GPs, schools and sewerage, and the Green Belt’s role as a buffer between Kenilworth and neighbouring villages. It asks residents to sign its petition and to write to the councils.

What it means for you

There are two consultations open, they are not the same thing, and they do not carry the same weight.

The council’s Regulation 19 consultation closed at 23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026. That was the last formal stage before the plan goes to the Secretary of State for independent examination, and it was where the case for or against allocating KEN.1 at all had to be made. Representations already submitted go to the planning inspector. The next opportunity to be heard is at the examination itself. The councils’ own consultation page still described the consultation as live when we checked on 14 September, which does not mean it has reopened.

Catesby’s own consultation closes on Sunday 20 September 2026. This is a pre-application exercise run by the developer, not by the council. Comments go to Catesby, who will summarise them in the statement of community involvement that accompanies the applications. Respond via the survey on its consultation website, by email to feedback@catesbyestates.co.uk, or by Freepost CATESBY ESTATES.

There will be a third opportunity. Once the outline applications are submitted and validated, expected in autumn 2026, anyone can comment on them formally through Warwick District Council’s planning register. We track new applications on our Leamington planning news page.

One practical note if you are heading that way: Rouncil Lane and four neighbouring roads are closed to traffic on weekdays between 9.30am and 3.30pm until 28 August for unrelated drainage works. Details are on our roadworks and travel page.

Sources