Controversial plans for 267 new Kenilworth homes and five new commercial units look set to get the green light next week, despite over 80 locals objecting.

Warwick District Council's (WDC) planning committee meeting will next week vote on an application for phase three of the major housing development at Thickthorn.

Housing developer Charles Church has already been given outline permission for 550 homes on the Leamington Road site, with reserved matters applications already given the green light for the first 242.

Councillors next week will only able to comment on certain design elements of the remaining houses.

A WDC report has recommended the reserved matters application be approved, despite Kenilworth Town Council and a swathe of locals objecting.

"Officers consider the layout represents an efficient use of land and results in a well-spaced and legible layout that accords with the general design principles set out in the aforementioned design guidance as well as the approved site-wide masterplan provided at outline stage," the report said. 

"In terms of appearance, the dwellings form a well-designed scheme which has been designed to provide character areas throughout the site that define the different areas whilst still retaining a coherent development in terms of the overall design and appearance."

The town council has continued to raise concerns about the development - in particular the issue of traffic onto Leamington Road, but also the design of the local centre and the lack of adherence to the neighbourhood plan.

The application has been revised slightly since it was first submitted, with the total number of houses reducing from 291 to 267. However, one councillor said: "All they have done is rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic."

Local residents have also criticised the plans for not following the Land East of Kenilworth Development Brief - a major planning document created to control how the town is expanded around Leamington Road.

Other issues around traffic, loss of privacy for neighbouring homes and the scale of the local centre have also been raised.

However, the council report said the houses are needed for its five-year housing supply - something WDC has recently come under scrutiny for.

"In this application for reserved matters, the delivery of housing on this site is included within the five year housing land supply figures," the report continued. 

"Should this application result in a delay to the delivery of housing on the site, this would further affect the housing land supply.

"In weighing up this scheme, officers are satisfied that there are no matters which would significantly or demonstrably outweigh the benefits of delivering housing on the site to support the five-year housing land supply on sites that are already allocated within the local plan."

The application will go before WDC's planning committee on Thursday 12 December.

Plans show 125 of the homes on this section of the estate will be designated affordable homes, while there will also be 12 'self-build plots'.

The latest application also includes details of the 'local centre' on the ground floor of one of the apartment blocks.

See the full report here.