Designs for a 750-metre cutting just outside Kenilworth have been signed off by district planners, as work on the high speed rail line begins to intensify around the town.

The cutting - which was met by continued objections from local MP Zarah Sultana - will be up to 11 metres deep and will run from near Crackley Wood to the A429 Kenilworth Road.

The High Speed Rail Act 2017 decrees the cutting will happen at some point, but approval for certain design and construction matters was still needed from Warwick District Council.

Having been accused for neglecting the residents close to development, HS2 has committed to installing a sound barrier and raising the height of the earthworks along the length of the line.

The high speed rail developer also said it will create habitats in the area to "benefit a range of species".

The cutting will be between Crackley Wood and Kenilworth Road (Image via planning application)

"Proposed woodland planting along the top of the cutting will provide a linear feature to guide bats and other species to safe crossing points at Canley Brook Viaduct and the Bridleway W164 Overbridge," the application said.

"It will also provide screening for barn owls to minimise the risk of collisions with trains." 

HS2 has previously announced changes to the Canley Brook cutting which it said would vastly reduce the amount of excavation needed along that section of the line.

Changes have also meant the brook will only need to be diverted by around 80 metres rather than the 700 originally planned.

Ms Sultana, MP for Coventry South has twice objected to the application, and told the council not to consider the application until "a further noise demonstration report is produced".

"On behalf of my constituents in the Gibbet Hill area in Coventry, I have previously formally registered concerns with the railway cutting, the vertical track realignment, and the associated landscaping works and noise mitigations in this area of my constituency of Coventry South," she said in her second objection.

"Specifically, I objected to the disparity between the noise pollution mitigations planned on the Kenilworth side versus the Coventry side."

The Labour MP's second objection came less than a month before the plans were signed off.

See the full application here.