WILLOUGHBY

The Consultation paper for the new Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan was uploaded on Friday, 19 December to the RBC website, together with the agenda, for the RBC Cabinet Meeting, on Friday 6 January 2026. Lodge Farm has not been allocated in the new version of the Plan. This is really great news for the thousands of people who campaigned against it as being a ‘reasonable alternative scenario’.

If you click on the link at the bottom of this news item (click Read More), it will take you to the Consultation paper - all 469 pages of it! Information about why Lodge Farm has not been allocated (it is now an omission site) is on pages 181 - 183, so an easy read. There is also more detailed information in Appendix 12 pages 453 - 467 which brings together most of the points made by campaigners during the consultation.

The next RBC Cabinet meeting is on Tuesday, 6 January 2026. If the new version of the Local Plan (Regulation 19) is approved by Cabinet, there will be a vote on the Plan at the Council meeting on 21 January 2026. If the Plan is approved at both meetings, a final public consultation will open on 26 January. This consultation will invite comments on the Plan’s soundness and legal compliance. After considering feedback, RBC will submit the finalised plan to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government via the Planning Inspectorate.

If you wish to watch the meetings live, go to rugby.gov.uk/committees-meetings  and click on the relevant meeting to watch the Live stream videos.

The car park opposite the village hall on the other side of Main Street is private land and belongs to the Parish Council for the benefit of residents, their visitors, and users of local community facilities. The Council intends to clarify the terms of use for the car park to include: Short-term parking only (12 hours maximum in any 24 hours) for cars, motorcycles and small vans. The Car Park is not intended for long-term vehicle storage or commercial use.

If you wish to comment on this proposal, please contact Jo Jarman, our Parish Clerk, by 5.00pm on Wednesday, 5 November.  Email clerk@willoughbyparishcouncil.org or phone 07809 197817. Thank you.

Play Rangers sessions start this month on Monday, 21 July. There will be four more sessions on 28 July, 11 August, 18 August and Tuesday, 26 August. The sessions run from noon until 2:00 pm on the playing field and have proved very popular in the past.

The activities are best suited to children in the 3 to 13 ’ish’ age range, although everyone is welcome. If the weather is wet, the activities will take place in the Village Hall. Children under 8 years must be accompanied by an adult.

The Parish Council’s main response, objecting to the inclusion of Lodge Farm as a ‘reasonable alternative scenario’ in the Sustainability Appraisal for the consultation was submitted on 15 May 2025 with an additional response submitted on 19 May 2025.

The dates between which the public has a right to inspect the Parish Council’s accounts, for the year ended 31 March 2025, are from Tuesday 3 June to Monday 14 July 2025.

Please click here for further information.