The biggest Kenilworth planning stories from 2024
As in previous years, 2024 has seen a huge number of planning stories across Kenilworth.
HS2, new housing estates and the redevelopment of Talisman Square have all featured heavily on the Kenilworth Nub News website over the past 12 months.
We have taken a look back at some of the most significant planning stories from the last 12 months.
A46
Works around the A46 Stoneleigh Junction works have dominated the news agenda in 2024.
Kenilworth Nub News has reported extensively on the delays and rising costs for the £38 million redevelopment project which will eventually see a new bridge and roundabout built.
The 'bridge to nowhere' was installed over the junction in 2023 and is still yet to be connected with the local authority continuing to blame supply issues.
But no end date for the project has yet been announced.
And with HS2 due to close the road initially for two weekends and then for three weeks to install its new bridge, it is unclear how the Stoneleigh Junction works will impact that project.
Local councils have also been grilled on how they will help limit disruption to locals during the closures.
Wetherspoon
The ongoing planning saga around the new Wetherspoon pub in the centre of Kenilworth has continued in 2024, with little work on site actually taking place.
Having already been given planning permission and an alcohol licence to open the venue at The Square, the pub giant has continued to change its mind on the design for the venue.
Wetherspoon has since confirmed to Nub News that it is committed to renovating the former Poundland shop - but no opening date has been announced yet.
Bank's New Life
There has been good news for the town centre in 2024 with the closed HSBC unit being given a new lease of life and turned into two new businesses.
The vacant unit at The Square has been split in half to become Edmonds Jewellers and another base for Morning Sunshine Coffee.
Both have been a big hit with locals, adding some colour to the town centre.
Carl Edmonds of Edmonds Jewellers told Nub News: "We have tried to be as imaginative as we can and as creative as we can to create a real experience.
"I have loved every minute of redeveloping this building, it has been a complete and utter joy.
"We have brought all these ideas together and created something from scratch which we have poured our heart and soul into, we have loved it.
"And we think and we hope we have created something that is stunning and unique."
Dalehouse Lane
HS2 has submitted a host of planning applications in 2024, many of which included bridges.
The high speed rail developer has been given the green light for its designs for the Dalehouse Lane overbridge which will carry the road over the new rail line.
Eventually this project will see the road closed for over a year, although a timeline for this is yet to be confirmed.
Town councillors have called on HS2 and the county council to make sure the series of major road closures around Kenilworth are all coordinated to minimise the impact on locals.
Talisman Square
Residents and councillors have criticised the decision to allow a developer to build on the car park in Talisman Square.
Having originally been refused planning permission for the development, Cobalt Estates has won its appeal to build a block of flats and new shops on the site.
A planning inspector said the development would not have an adverse impact on the appearance of the town centre, and said the loss of the car park would not be a problem for shoppers.
The company has made itself unpopular in 2024 by forcing volunteers to remove all the plants they had spent hours installing in the square over the past few years.
Cobalt - which had previously shouted about its support for the community garden - made the decision after the Friends of Talisman Square community group tried unsuccessfully to list the land as an Asset of Community Value which could have made it harder for the site to be redeveloped.
Kenilworth Gate
Nub News has written extensively about the Kenilworth Gate housing estate on Leamington Road in 2024.
Developer Persimmon Road has now been given full planning permission for the full extent of the estate which will ultimately see over 500 homes built as well as new shops.
Designs for the spine road and delays to it being built have continually come under fire, as well as the designs of the homes.
An application for six industrial units on the site has also now been submitted, with the plot off Leamington Road designated for an employment zone when outline planning permission was granted for the major development.
These units have already drawn an objection from Kenilworth Town Council.
Woodside Hotel
Campaigners have lost their bid to save the Woodside Hotel in Kenilworth which has now been given planning permission to be demolished to be replaced with houses and a block of flats.
Vistry Group has been given the green light for the development, despite a huge number of objections from locals and the town council.
Councillors said they approved the scheme only "through gritted teeth".
Work on site is yet to begin, and Vistry has already spoken out following rumours the land is for sale again.
And the Sundial Group - the last operators of the hotel before it closed - has now been voluntarily wound up.
Abbey Fields
Local councillors are calling on Warwick District Council to make sure 'lessons are learned' at the new Abbey Fields swimming pools.
Kenilworth councillors have continued to raise concerns about the parking issues at Castle Farm, despite having been assured before planning permission was granted for the new leisure centre that there was enough space for cars.
And with the same assurances having been made at Abbey Fields, councillors want to make sure the problems are not repeated.
The calls have come as the works on the new swimming pools resumed in spring 2024, with the council approving a new budget of £22 million for the redevelopment.
The new leisure centre is expected to open in 2026 now.
South Warwickshire Local Plan
As in previous years the new South Warwickshire Local Plan has been much debated in 2024.
Alongside a number of projects included in this list, the major planning document has already been delayed significantly and members of the public are once again due to have their say on the next stage of the project.
Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon District Councils have whittled down a huge number of potential development sites to a shortlist of 36 areas. These include 12 potential new settlements and three plots specifically around Kenilworth.
Residents in Hatton in particular have been very vocal in their opposition to more development as a local landowner looks to promote a huge parcel of land for thousands of new houses.
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