“NO MEANS no” say campaigners after a proposed new town of some 6,700 homes near Stratford overwhelmingly proved the most unpopular in a public consultation.

The Wilmcote Action Group are staunchly opposed to the “massive” development earmarked for land between Wilmcote, Pathlow and Bearley, which is one of several potential options laid out in the South Warwickshire Local Plan, being drawn up by both Stratford and Warwick district councils, to increase housing in the area.

The proposed development would span some 329 hectares of green belt land – the size of some 460 football pitches – and include 6,762 homes for some 16,000 potential residents. It would also require a new secondary school and up to four new primary schools as all nearby schools are at capacity.

And they are not alone in their opposition.

Out of all the 3,796 respondents to a consultation on the South Warwickshire Local Plan, the proposal to “shoehorn” new homes on green belt land between Wilmcote and Bearley attracted the most opponents.

Campaigners against the so-called ‘BW New Town’ claim this shows their campaign is the strongest of all the 12 proposed sites across south Warwickshire.

A total of 1.064 people voted against the Bearley, Wilmcote development.

Hatton followed with 672 votes against, followed by a proposed development in Long Marston with 360 votes.

Residents say the plan would tear up precious green belt land, destroy the rural setting of Mary Arden’s historic home, and swamp the A3400 – Stratford’s northern gateway – with traffic chaos amounting to an extra 10,000 vehicles per day. The scale of the scheme would strain local infrastructure beyond breaking point.

As a result, campaigners are stepping up the fight with a new wave of protest roadside signs across the area and on Saturday (August 23), villagers rallied outside Mary Arden’s House for a demonstration with banners to show they are determined not to allow this ‘developer-led, ill-conceived sprawl’ to wipe away centuries of Warwickshire heritage and destroy wildlife and biodiversity.

A SDC spokesperson said that not all of these locations will ultimately be needed to meet the area’s needs and the councils would be undertaking further analysis to conclude which locations should form part of south Warwickshire’s growth strategy.

This includes feedback from the recent public consultation exercise.

Visit www.southwarwickshire.org.uk/swlp for further details.