Final design details for the 2.4km cutting through Stoneleigh for HS2 works have been signed off.

While work around the NAEC for the high speed rail line is well underway, Warwick District Council has now signed off on an application for a range of design elements.

The HS2 Act states the Stonehouse Cutting will be built, with the local authority only able to decide on a number of smaller bits of the plans.

An application approved in May shows the huge cutting will carry the line from the top of the showground to Leicester Lane.

Stonehouse Cutting will be up to 11.5 metres deep in places.

The works will see a three metre wide 'maintenance access strip' built next to it, while a road for a Stonehouse Farm field will need to be moved.

"The landscape earthworks at Stonehouse Cutting have been designed to better integrate the works with the local topography," the application said.

The outline plan for Stonehouse Cutting (image via planning application)

It continued: "The landscape earthworks comprise of a false cutting to be planted with low maintenance grassland. 

"The false cuttings are used to provide visual screening and integration of the works into the existing topography. 

"The cutting will have a maximum depth of 11.5m."

Plans show the earthworks alongside the cutting will have a maximum height of 6.5 metres and at one point will be as wide as 51 metres.

Meanwhile a series of noise barriers will be created along the route. These will range in height from four to seven metres.

Two ponds will also be created to mitigate the impact on local wildlife, and there will also be a series of woodland and grassland planting.

"In summary, the selected option will be integrated into the surrounding environment to ensure impacts on the local landscape character and nearby receptors are minimised," the application said. 

"The chosen design option will sit appropriately within the local environment, meet the required technical standards, and integrate effectively with the other development in this location."

The cutting will also pass under the new bridge at Stoneleigh Road which is being built already.

See the full application here.