Warmington is off to a very good start, with the team preparing the VDS keeping in regular touch with the Council as well working with the whole village community. If the VDS is adopted by the Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance it will be used to help reach decisions about the design of new developments. The Council has emphasised the importance of some key factors:

The District Council is ready to advise and assist, but this is Warmington's Design Statement and it is essential that it is prepared and supported by Warmington. We can then work together towards the protection and promotion of the village and its special character, for a long time into the future.

When new houses are needed in villages, I would like to see local people saying where and how they want those houses to be built. I believe that new housing should "build on tradition" combining the best features of traditional architecture with modern technology and a knowledge of what is needed. This way new houses will be improving our villages for the future.

Village Character Workshop
Jane Blackford (edited)

Someone said that the day had helped them to learn a lot about their community, while another concluded that we live in a "vibrant, lively village that is growing and we just want to 

Never has Warmington been photographed from so many  angles by so many people in one day.

You name it - they snapped it. Old buildings, new buildings, farm buildings, shops, road signs, post boxes, open spaces, green spaces, ditches, trees, hedges right ... down to a single brick with Warmington stamped on it, found up at Rectory Farm.

While Warmington's many features were later displayed in pictures, residents were also invited to post their views on a graffiti board - "Don't build on Long Lane"; "Keep the school"; "Don't remove all the character houses"; "Take into account the wildlife, trees, green spaces, views, character buildings and  people"; "Infill is spoiling the character of the village", were just of the comments.

Small teams went out and took more than 500 photographs ... and all to help build a unique profile of the place in a bid to demonstrate to local planners just what it is that makes the village special and why they should take our views into consideration when planning new development.

This    was    the    Village    Character

influence the way it grows."

Many thought the appeal of Warmington lay in the fact that it was a 'real' village with its church, shops and pub. But perhaps one of the most encouraging comments of the day came from one 14-year-old girl who had lived here for just two years. When asked by her friend whether, when she was older, she would want  

Workshop, staged over a good part of Saturday April 27 at the village hall. It attracted local people of all ages - from toddlers in pushchairs to some of the oldest residents; from those who had not long moved in to many who had lived in the village for several years, and even some who were born here.

Soup and cakes prepared by local ladies, including a cake made especially for the occasion, guaranteed that many stayed for lunch while the 20 rolls of film taken earlier managed to shut down the one-hour developing  service at Hampton's Boots for a  while.

Encouraged by William du Croz, chairman of the Steering Group, people suggested what they thought was distinctive about Warmington - stone, crumbly red brick; attractive signs; the church; the lanes; the mixture of building;. the land mark trees; the Dovecote; the school the footpaths; the wildflower verges; the mixed buildings -  in fact, 'a glorious muddle', said one.