Last-ditch changes to the delayed South Warwickshire Local Plan are set to be published on Friday (July 3) – but councillors admit "serious issues" remain.

The joint plan between Warwick District Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council has become a major headache for both after the government imposed new higher targets for housing numbers, particularly in shire counties.

It means that land for more than 55,000 homes had to be identified in a plan that must be filed with a national planning inspector by the end of 2026 to avoid the need to start again under a new set of national rules.

Despite that race against the clock, the regulation 19 – final version – and the consultation on it was delayed after national inspector Jonathan Bore advised there were "very small margins of comfort" in the proposed housing numbers, "especially as the plan relies on new settlements and strategic sites whose long lead-in times and impediments to delivery are well-documented".

He also noted that proposed standards on biodiversity net gain, affordable housing, net zero policies, highways and social infrastructure could impact on the viability of some of the proposed sites, risking the plan being deemed unsound at formal inspection stage.

Despite the potential for a shortfall, particularly on the Warwick district patch, planning officers were instructed earlier this month to look at getting rid of some of the less viable sites, filling the gaps with a greater volume of homes on sites that could accommodate them, a strategy that it was noted carried risks.

In an update to Warwick District Council on Wednesday, portfolio holder for place Cllr Chris King said the "intention" was to publish the revised plan on Friday but noted there was still a "huge amount of work going on".

From there it is set to go to Warwick's scrutiny panel on Monday, July 13, a joint cabinet committee from both councils on Tuesday, July 14, with full council approval to be sought at Warwick on Wednesday, July 15, and at Stratford on Thursday, July 16.

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"It is still very much a moving feast," warned Cllr King.

"Information is coming in and being processed, some of us have been in meetings pretty much all day (Wednesday) around those issues.

"We are very grateful for all the input from councillors because it has enabled us to really push for and make significant improvements all round.

"I can't say often enough how difficult it is for all of us. None of us love any of this to say the least but it is really important to realise that we mustn't make the perfect be the enemy of the good.

"We have to try to get the plan through in the best way we can and I think we are making great strides at the moment."

Leader Councillor Ian Davison (Green, Leamington Brunswick) said the plan had been his "main focus" with an aim to "improve specific aspects" but stressed again his disapproval for what the councils are being pushed to implement.

"We can complain about the absurd calculations but still need to allocate land for these homes," he said.

"Although viability work is sensible in theory, it is absurd in practice. For example, it does not include potential funding sources."

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He added that there were still "serious issues to be addressed, notably viability" and that it was "getting very close to the wire again".

"I do apologise for the extra work and meetings for us all," he continued.

"However, I trust you all agree that the local plan has such a profound effect on the lives of many of our residents that we must do all we can to improve it."

Chair of scrutiny Cllr Andrew Milton made the case for ensuring the documents would be ready on Friday, giving the panel two weekends to wade through hefty documents, formulate questions and get proper answers from the council's planning professionals.

Cllr King could not offer a guarantee, stating it remained "extremely troublesome to try to shape (the plan) in a way that we would all like to see".

"We are doing our very best," he said.

"The sands are shifting and we are putting a lot of work in, asking and answering a lot of questions. Answers to those are often being supplied by third parties which takes time.

"With the nature of these things, last-minute work is inevitable. However often we have asked people to move quickly and think about what they want to ask ahead of time, they all flood in at the last moment.

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"We need to produce a document that we are confident in and there are more boxes to be ticked to do that."

Cllr Davison added that council staff were planning a 'tracked-change' version to prevent councillors from reading pages and pages that had not been changed.

"There is a lot with consultants and so on but both of us can promise that we will do whatever we can get the bits that are done out and published, even if there are one or two (elements) outstanding," he said.