Plans to turn a former Warwick car showroom into two new shops have been rejected, following multiple pushbacks on a decision.

The former Kia showroom on Stratford Road has been vacant since April 2023.

An application to convert the showroom into two retail units was submitted to Warwick District Council by Warwickshire Partnership.

Twice already, the application for the Stratford Road unit was due to be discussed by Warwick District Council's planning committee, but on both occasions it was pulled from the agenda ahead of time.

The most recent of these - due to be on Tuesday 20 May - was "in order to enable the applicant to clarify certain aspects of their proposals." 

The application was also withdrawn from the previous planning meeting held in April for reasons noting: "This item has been withdrawn from the agenda pending further consultations and clarification."

The application was shortlisted for consideration and discussed by councillors on Tuesday, 17 June, where a decision was finally made – refusal. 

Multiple objections were made to the application, which would have seen a 'top-up' food shop created and a smaller unit for a hairdressers, funeral director or salon.

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In the decision notice, the council concluded: "The proposal fails to provide sufficient car parking facilities and vehicles would therefore be likely to park on the public highway, causing inconvenience to other road users. 

"The increased parking stress would harm the amenity of nearby residents.

"The development is thereby considered to be contrary to the aforementioned policies."

View the plans in Warwick District Council's planning portal here.