LPA Profile: Stratford-on-Avon
A preview of a whole-authority profile, built from public planning policy and decided applications.
What decides applications now
The adopted development plan is the district Core Strategy (2016), sitting alongside 32 made neighbourhood plans. A joint local plan with the neighbouring district is emerging but only carries limited weight for now, so until it is adopted the Core Strategy governs.
The opening
Because the authority cannot demonstrate a five-year supply, its own Interim Policy Position Statement names, policy by policy, the restraint policies it now treats as out of date, and therefore carrying reduced weight:
- The spatial-distribution policy and its settlement boundaries
- The overall housing-level caps, including the village limits
- The countryside restriction that would otherwise resist development outside settlements
Still at full weight
The tilted balance opens up housing distribution, not the hard designations. Green Belt, the national landscape, heritage assets and flood risk all still provide strong reasons to refuse, even under the presumption. That is what shapes the where-to-avoid list.
Where to focus
Sites where the distribution restraint has fallen away and delivery can be evidenced within five years, with the authority itself signalling that a full application, front-loaded obligations, and a delivery commitment tip a scheme over. Avoid the hard designations, which the shortfall cannot outweigh.