Join battle to save our heritage

Do you enjoy looking at the parkland and trees from all over the site and not have restricted areas where you can’t go? Have you spent time watching for foxes, badgers, otters, kingfishers and other wildlife around the park and woodland at the castle, listening to the birds, enjoying the tranquillity?

Well this is all about to drastically change. Despite the fact that the entire grounds at the castle are Grade I listed by English Heritage and not suitable for what they plan, Merlin is determined to ignore this with the scheme it has to further develop a considerable area of park/woodland into what amounts to a considerable holiday camp.

It began 18 months ago by putting up ‘glamping’ tents and now plans to erect 21 more, plus 20 semi-detached two-storey holiday ‘log cabins’ and five two-storey ‘tree houses’ - all on the Grade I-listed land known as Foxes Study.

These dwellings will generate 195,000 ‘bed nights’ a year which will therefore not be spent in local hotels, guest houses and B&Bs. There are eating facilities on site and this too will take trade away from the businesses in the surrounding area and further afield.

This number of visitors staying will generate the need for more, larger service facilities for the site (toilets, washrooms etc), the widening of paths and the access, parking provision for 65-plus cars per night, the destruction and lopping of trees in the woodland and a huge increase in both light and noise pollution for Warwick residents who live in homes that back onto castle grounds, not to mention increased traffic in the already crowded roads of the area.

If you want to object to this thoughtless, unnecessary development please contact your local Warwick district councillor or get in touch with the WDC planning department at Riverside House, Milverton Hill, Leamington, CV32 5HZ before November 5.

Many, many thanks in anticipation on behalf of our beautiful castle and parkland.

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