Warwick District

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the former Leamington Spa and Warwick municipal boroughs, the Kenilworth urban district and the Warwick Rural District.[6]

District Council composition as of 2023 local elections

  Conservative

  Whitnash Residents

  Liberal Democrats

  Labour

  Green

The district council headquarters are in Leamington Spa. It employs more than 500 people in a four-storey building close to the River Leam. The district council deals with issues such as waste management, the collection of council tax, planning/building regulations, council housing and council house repairs. In April 2016 the council announced its plans to move their headquarters nearer the town centre,[7] however in February 2019 plans were put on hold,[8] and as of July 2021 no decision had been made and is unlikely due to the probable merger with Stratford District.

The political makeup of Warwick District Council following the 2023 election is as follows:[9]

In August 2020 Warwickshire County Council put forward proposals for the five district and borough councils in the county to be abolished and replaced with a single county-wide unitary authority.[10] This prompted a backlash from the district and borough councils who commissioned their own report, which argued in favour of Warwickshire being split into two unitary authorities, one for the north of the county, covering the current districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rugby, and one for the south of the county, covering Warwick and Stratford districts.[11] In September 2020, it was agreed that both proposals would be sent for consideration to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.[12] In February 2021 it was announced that both Warwick District councillors and their Stratford counterparts had "agreed the next steps towards closer working between both District Councils, which could see a recommendation to Government for a merger of the two councils in July 2024."[3] The joint council is expected to be called South Warwickshire District Council and as such early summer 2021 saw a South Warwickshire Local Plan to replace the two existing plans.[13] However in April 2022 the merger was scrapped, with Councillor Day (Warwick Leader) accusing Councillor Jefferson (Stratford Leader) of writing to Central Government behind his back asking for more time for the merge to take place.[4][5]

The district has six railway stations – Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth, Hatton and Lapworth. Regular bus services run between Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth and onwards to Coventry, Stratford upon Avon and the University of Warwick. The Grand Union Canal flows through the district and the M40 motorway also passes through. Right on the edge of the district is Coventry Airport.

National Health Service general healthcare is provided by South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and mental health care by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. Local hospitals include Warwick Hospital, the Leamington Spa Hospital,[22] St Michael's Hospital and the Warwickshire Nuffield Hospital (non-NHS, part of the Nuffield Health group)[23] Social services is pro On 13 July 2021 a coronavirus "mega lab" was opened in the town. Named after English chemist Rosalind Franklin. The site is expected to be capable of processing "hundreds of thousands of samples a day". The largest laboratory of its kind in the UK, and it is hoped it will create up to 1,500 jobs. It will also play a "key role in responding to new variants of the virus".[24] Historic hospitals included St Michael's Leper Hospital, Warneford Hospital and Central Hospital. Social services and fostering are dealt with on a countywide basis by Warwickshire County Council.

• MoD Kineton: 4 April 2013.[25]
• On 26 November 2013 the freedom of the district was bestowed on the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers following a parade through Royal Leamington Spa.[26]

The Warwick district includes the settlements and Parishes of:

• Ashow
• Baddesley Clinton, Baginton, Barford, Beausale, Bishops Tachbrook, Blackdown, Bubbenhall, Budbrooke, Bushwood
• Chadwick End (part), Cubbington
• Eathorpe
• Haseley, Hatton, Honiley, Hunningham
• Kenilworth
• Lapworth, Lillington, Leamington Spa, Leek Wootton
• Norton Lindsey
• Offchurch, Old Milverton
• Radford Semele, Rowington
• Sherbourne, Shrewley, Stoneleigh
• Wappenbury, Warwick, Wasperton, Weston Under Wetherley, Whitnash, Wroxall

• 
  Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire and the second-largest settlement in the district
• 
  Kenilworth, the third-largest settlement in the district and close to the border with Coventry
• 
  Whitnash, the fourth-largest settlement in the district
• 
  Leamington Spa Town Hall, the meeting place of both Leamington Spa Town Council and Warwick District Council
• 
  Collegiate Church of St Mary, the parish church of Warwick and one of the largest churches in Warwickshire
• 
  Warwick Castle, Warwick is the historic castle of the town and one of its oldest landmarks.
• 
  All Saints Church, Leamington Spa, the parish church of Leamington Spa and a grade-II* listed building
• 
  Kenilworth Castle, the historic castle in the market town of Kenilworth
• 
  The Royal Pump Rooms and Baths, Leamington Spa which house the spa baths and give Leamington Spa its status as a spa town.
• 
  Warwick Racecourse in Warwick, which is a horse-racing track
• 
  Whitnash parish church and Warwick Gates.
• 
  Lord Leycester Hospital, an old hospital in Warwick
• 
  Guy's Cliffe House in the north of Warwick is a ruined Gothic house.

• www.warwickdc.gov.uk, Warwick District Council.

52.2894°N 1.5435°W / 52.2894; -1.5435