The biggest Kenilworth planning stories of 2025
By James Smith 2nd Jan 2026
By James Smith 2nd Jan 2026
From HS2 to new houses and new businesses, 2025 has seen a host of planning applications submitted in Kenilworth.
We have looked back at some of the biggest planning stories from the last 12 months, and the articles which received the most readers.
New plans revealed for closed Kenilworth cocktail bar
Councillors have unanimously backed plans to give a closed Kenilworth cocktail bar a new lease of life.
Warwick District Council's planning committee approved new plans for 'The Kenilworth' which will see the Warwick Road venue turned into an Aparthotel and a house.
Plans show number 61 Warwick Road will be turned back into a house, while 59 and 63 would serve as accommodation.
Wetherspoon Comes to Life
A story which has rumbled on for many years, 2025 has seen Wetherspoon opened its new pub in Kenilworth.
Work began on site at The Dictum of Kenilworth in February.
The pub eventually opened in July and has proved very popular with locals.
Birmingham City FC didn't have planning permission for £1.25m upgrades at Warwickshire training ground
Birmingham City Football Club did not have planning permission for the £1.25 million facility upgrades at its Warwickshire training ground, an application has revealed.
The football club has asked for retrospective permission for the works at its Henley-in-Arden base which included replacing a 3G pitch with a 'stitched hybrid grass pitch', undersoil heating, a media pod, ball-stop netting and a 'performance camera tower'.
Plans submitted to Stratford-on-Avon District Council state the works began in 2023 when Blues moved to Stratford Road following a fire at their Wast Hills training ground.
Developer wants to merge Warwickshire villages with thousands of houses
A park and ride, a secondary school and thousands of houses would all be built if a housing developer gets its way to see two Warwickshire villages effectively merged.
Hundreds of acres around Bearley and Wilmcote in the south of the county have been put forward for the new South Warwickshire Local Plan which will ultimately decide where 35,000 homes are built in the region.
Drawn up by Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon District Councils, the plan is also considering creating a 'new settlement' with 12 potential areas shortlisted.
Bearley and Wilmcote have been included in four of the "most suitable" locations with housing developer David Wilson Homes pushing for the villages near Stratford to be released for development.
Owners fight council decision after being told to pull down 156 metres of fence in Kenilworth
January brought the news of a battle between the council and a local landowner who built a 156-metre long fence without permission.
The metal fence along a piece of land on Crewe Lane was installed in 2022 without planning permission, with a retrospective application refused by Warwick District Council last year.
The local authority has since issued an enforcement notice against the structure, saying it must be removed - but the landowner appealed the decision.
Green light for HS2 cutting which will pass within 20 metres of local park homes
Designs for an HS2 cutting which will pass within metres of a local park home estate has been signed off.
The high speed rail developer has been given the green light for the 530 metre-long 'Bockenden Cutting' which will connect to the southern end of the Burton Green 'cut and cover' tunnel.
The HS2 Act decrees the cutting would be made, with Warwick District Council allowed to comment on certain elements of the design.
Three local villages set to become a town to 'help protect green belt'
A plan to merge three leafy local villages into a single town has been backed by residents in a bid to save swathes of countryside.
The scheme for Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath (KDBH) to be defined as a single settlement was proposed by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council planners as a way of defending the borough's green belt.
Councillors and planning officers stressed the move was purely for "planning purposes" and residents would still live in their self-contained villages.
School Site's Future
A planning application has now been submitted to demolish the former Kenilworth School site at Leyes Lane and replace it with 224 homes.
The application has been submitted by Homes England and follows a recent public consultation.
If approved the development would see 40 per cent of the homes designated as affordable.
The scheme also includes an 'extra care' facility with 75 bedrooms for the elderly.
Work underway turning troubled Kenilworth pub into offices
Work is underway on site turning a former Kenilworth pub into offices.
Impenza Limited was granted planning permission to turn the Cottage Inn into five offices earlier this year.
The closed Stoneleigh Road inn had 12 different owners since 2009, closing multiple times in that period.
It had been shut for a year and put on the market before the new plans were revealed.
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