Whilst the Council acknowledge that the 12,300 homes for the District between 2011 and 2029 is an interim figure and refer to the Coventry & Warwickshire joint Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA), the significance of this emerging evidence cannot be understated. The SHMA has already been published though regrettably not reported to Warwick DC Executive Committee ahead of the close of this consultation. It has found that the housing need in all of the authority areas, including Warwick District, is likely to be higher than that currently planned for, i.e. 720 dwellings per annum, as opposed to the planned for 683 dwellings per annum.

This is a significant increase and could have considerable bearing on the number and/or density of sites required. We appreciate that this is only part of the evidence base feeding into the emerging Development Strategy which is yet to be tested and consulted upon, however, it gives a strong indication of how the housing requirement is likely to evolve. Furthermore, the NPPF states at paragraph 158 that Local Plans should be based on adequate, up-to-date and relevant evidence. Therefore, any objections received to specific site allocations should be considered in light of the fact that those sites currently proposed are likely to be the minimum that the District will have to allocate in order to meet the full objectively assessed need and boost significantly the supply of housing as required by paragraph 47 of the NPPF.