X2
Why X2 could be a viable site
We have comprehensively demonstrated that site B1 is unsustainable and almost certainly not deliverable. What is the alternative?
We believe that the best new settlement option is X2, south of Leamington. All the new settlement sites have their challenges but there are some aspects which make this site particularly appealing:
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It is not in the Green Belt.
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It is almost all within Warwick District, thus satisfying any perceived need to share out the burden of accommodating new settlements between the two districts.
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It opens up the possibility of creating a new motorway junction between the existing junctions 13 and 14. Crucially, this would take some of the pressure off Longbridge which will bear the brunt of widespread development along the A46 corridor.
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A fast, convenient bus/rail interchange could be established, taking advantage of existing road improvements, at Leamington Station. There is plenty of land adjacent to the station.
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Leamington Station offers a frequent service to a wider range of destinations, including Coventry. This is the only station in south Warwickshire due to receive major upgrades. There are plans to double the line between Leamington and Coventry which will further enhance services.
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As there has been development in this part of the county already and, bearing in mind the immense strain being placed on Warwick Hospital now, never mind in the future, there is a golden opportunity to create a new hospital.
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There is a brand-new school, Oakley, just north of Bishop’s Tachbrook, a convenient distance away. This opened in 2023 and could accommodate X2 pupils, both primary and secondary, until on-site facilities are built.
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The site is only a short distance from Gaydon, a Major Investment Site and a likely source of increased employment opportunities.
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There is the potential to accommodate 6,480 houses, more than enough to ensure that facilities such as primary schools and a new secondary school are built.
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It does not impinge on any neighbouring settlements, unlike B1 which will be metres away from Hatton Station residents, and other strategic growth sites in the area, notably SG09 and SG10 which completely engulf Bishop’s Tachbrook.
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At the Regulation 18 Public Consultation, there were more responses in favour than against. In fact, this site did not generate much response at all, probably because it would not have such a devastating impact on neighbouring settlements.
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Although the site is in multiple ownership, an X2 Consortium exists, led by Marrons.
When and Why did X2 get rejected?
There are two early documents which were designed to assess the viability of the 12 potential new settlement sites.
Firstly there is the Sustainability Appraisal. This attempted to rank the sites by examining each site against a range of criteria. Here is how the two sites compared (although bear in mind that B1 was far larger at the time and included sites around Hatton Park)
As you can see there really isn’t much to choose between them. Overall, B1 was ranked 2nd and X2 was ranked 4th. B1’s ranking is highly dubious. For example, the ranking of 1st for health stems from the weighting given to the distance to a hospital with an A&E department: 3km. Really? Warwick Hospital to, say, Hatton Country World (roughly the centre of the Turley/Arkwright development) is 6.9km. Unfortunately, this is one of a number of absurdities that led to site B1 being ranked higher than it warranted. We have challenged the rankings relating to Health, Landscape, Economy and Education.
The second document is the New Settlements Assessment, November, 2024. Here are extracts from the appendices.
X2 ranks more highly than B1. At this stage, four sites were then deemed “more suitable”. What is clear from the right-hand table is that the availability of the land was an issue: only 48% compared to 100% for the other favoured sites. However, that does not seem to be the case following the 3rd Call for Sites (see interactive map). We have, of course, asked why X2 seems to have been ignored but we have failed to get an answer. However, WDC definitely do need to be ready with an explanation as to why a high-ranking, non-green belt site has been rejected in favour of B1.