Kenilworth's MP says plans to build 55 houses at the Woodside Hotel should not be granted and has written to the district council to object.

Sir Jeremy Wright said the planning application for more homes - put forward by Vistry Partnerships West Midlands - has not been justified and that more houses are not needed in the town.

The Conservative MP also said he regretted the fact that prior approval to demolish the hotel has already been granted.

"It is disappointing that the [previous] operators did not believe they could maintain a successful business on the site, but such a conclusion does not establish that no business on the site could be viable in the future," he said. 

"The reference that has been made to the impact of the pandemic in limiting custom reinforces this point – the pandemic's effects are no longer felt in the same way and are likely to diminish further over time. 

"In any event, it is not clear to me how any conclusion, sufficient to change the planning status of the site, that the Woodside will never be viable again could have been reached, or on what evidence it has been based."

Last May an application to demolish the 74-bed Woodside was thrown out by Warwick District Council on biodiversity grounds.

The site was subsequently sold to Vistry who are currently building 620 houses around the hotel.

If approved, the fresh application would see the Woodside knocked down to be replaced with 43 houses and a block of 12 apartments.

But Sir Jeremy said there is no need for the extra houses, particularly when the local plan said the hotel would be retained.

"Although developers would always like permission to build on more sites, I do not see the justification for more housing land being required in and around Kenilworth, in addition to the very substantial development underway or in prospect under the local plan's provisions," he added. 

"If anything, what has transpired since the local plan was written has been significant challenge to the accuracy of the numbers of houses said to be needed in this part of Warwick district to accommodate the needs of Coventry which cannot be met within the city itself. 

"If justified, such challenge means the local plan provides for too many houses, not too few. 

"The case for additional housing land being needed or justified in the Kenilworth area has not, in my view, been convincingly made and, again, surely the point of the local plan process is to define that need and limit other development outside the sites incorporated in the Plan?"

Kenilworth Town Council has also objected to the application.

See the full application here.

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