Plans to build up to 2,500 houses and two new schools in Stoneleigh have finally been given the green light, two years after councillors first gave their approval.

Warwick District Council's planning committee voted in favour of the application on December 3 2019, but it has taken 24 months for the council to issue its final decision.

WDC has been negotiating the section 106 agreement with the developers, Lioncourt Homes, since then – only officially granting permission on December 24 2021.

A section 106 agreement forces developers to invest in the local area to offset the impact of building thousands of houses.

But the plans will see a shopping centre, primary school and secondary school built on the Kings Hill Lane site.

Six parish and town councils as well as hundreds of residents objected to the application.

And speaking at the December 2019 planning meeting Coventry City councillor Cllr Tim Sawdon said: "In peak hours the traffic queues all the way down Stoneleigh Road and back through Stoneleigh village leave traffic from the southern slip road of the A46 at a standstill.

"The proposed Stoneleigh junction scheme will make no difference and the expansion of the university will only make it worse.

"We all know that Coventry's housing needs have been grossly overestimated and that dumping the surplus on Kings Hill was a last minute act to get Warwick District Council's plan approved. The infrastructure was hardly considered."

Lioncourt will now have to submit a detailed planning application for the council to approve before any houses are actually built.

The application can be seen in full here.

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