The difference between the village and the city “only 250 meters because of the decision of the houses”

A housing scheme in Leicestershire will result in “just 250 metres” of space between a village and a neighboring town, a councilor has claimed. A plan for 160 homes on land around Three Ways Farm in Melton Road, Queniborough, was given provisional approval by Charnwood Borough Council’s planning committee at a meeting last Thursday.

Ward councilor Sandra Woodward told the meeting that the village had only been allocated 155 homes in the district’s local plan – which sets out where properties can be built – but that more than 500 homes had already been approved recently or were under construction. Concerns were raised about the separation between Queniborough and the neighboring village of East Goscote, but Cllr Woodward pointed out that building on the land in question would also mean there would be “continuous housing” between the village and nearby Syston, resulting in just 250 meters of greenery. space that separates the two.

However, David Pendle, representing applicant Hallam Land Management, told the committee that the 160 homes were “much needed” and would be on a site the district council itself had identified for development in the local plan. He said that while the separation between Queniborough and East Goscote was a “hot topic”, the developer had “worked closely with (council) officers to incorporate a significant area of ​​land to the north which is to be landscaped and set free development, providing new woodland, trees and hedges’ which he claimed would ‘further strengthen the separation between Queniborough and East Goscote.

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Both Queniborough and East Goscote Parish Councils opposed the plans, while 253 separate objections were lodged, along with a letter of objection signed by 270 residents. Councilor Stephen Wright, of Queniborough Parish Council, told committee members that the parish council opposed the scheme for a number of reasons, including a lack of school places, difficulty in getting doctor’s appointments, overdevelopment of the area and traffic. “There would be over 300 vehicles turning onto this already busy road and we are concerned about the traffic along this road which is currently in excess of 50km/h and children walk to school at Wreake Valley College” , he said.

Coun Wright added that the number of new homes previously approved was “simply ridiculous for our little village”. He added: “I know houses need to be built, but in a small village we just can’t accommodate more houses and traffic.” More than 100 houses were also approved at Queniborough Lodge at the same meeting.

Councilor Julie Palmer said the impact of the new homes on local services would be “quite big”. “They can’t cope with this extra housing and the local separation zone will be very small and so it won’t be a local separation zone at all,” she said. “There are many reasons why this planning application. should be refused.”

However, a report prepared by planning officers revealed that inspectors who dealt with three recent planning appeals against previous decisions made by the district council concluded that some of the authority’s planning policies were out of date. This meant the council now had a higher hurdle to overcome when refusing applications for new homes. The site has also been earmarked for housing in the evolving local plan, which will run until 2037 once approved, which in itself is an obstacle to the plan being refused.

Calling it a “complicated decision”, councilor David Infield said: “I note that only a very small proportion of the expected number of primary school children would be able to attend the local school, so they would have to travel on a busy main road. . That doesn’t necessarily seem like the healthiest thing to expose our kids to.”

But councilor Hilary Fryer said: “Having read all the reports and listened to the officers, I can find no planning reason to refuse this application.”

As the council is still waiting for Leicestershire County Council’s highways team and National Highways, Severn Trent Water and Leicestershire to respond to the application, the committee voted to delegate the granting of planning permission to the head of planning so that the scheme can receive formal planning approval once . outstanding responses have been received. The motion was adopted with seven votes in favor, two against and one abstention.

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