Decision on dozens of town homes in 'prominent' field on hold

Julia Breens
·2-min read
A sloping field is pictured, with houses in the distance and a gate and trees and greenery in the foreground.
-Credit: (Image: Google)


A decision has been delayed on dozens of new homes set for a Leicestershire town after councillors decided they needed to see the site in person. Members of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s plans committee were set to debate proposals by Manor Oak Homes for 33 new houses on land east of Leicester Road in Earl Shilton.

But they agreed to delay the decision after ward councillor Richard Allen urged them to take part in a site visit so they could see the land for themselves. He said the plot was “more prominent” from the A47 than neighbouring sites that have recently been given planning permission.

The homes would be built on a field currently used for grazing and on part of a residential garden. There have been 10 objections about the scheme over issues including pressure on local services and facilities, as well as an increase in traffic, and harm to countryside and protected animal species

READ MORE: Housebuilder ordered to stop work at site set for 80 new homes

At the meeting on Tuesday (November 19), an agent speaking on behalf of the applicant said the scheme was “designed to sit comfortably on the urban edge”, and that harm to the landscape would be “limited and localised”. Lynsey Rigg, of Armstrong Rigg Planning, admitted the scheme would mean a change “from green field to housing development”, but she said it was a “natural infill site”, and that other buildings and developments already permitted by the council meant the site would be “isolated from the wider landscape and countryside beyond”.

But Coun Allen said claims in the planning report that the site was enclosed were “completely false”. He acknowledged there was development “to the town side”, but said there was only “a single property to the north”. Of neighbouring developments that have been approved, but not yet built, he said it was “a basic principal of planning that every application is assessed on its own merits”.

Fellow ward councillor Claire Allen said: “This is the gateway into Earl Shilton. You see the fields rolling up. I share concerns about the visual impact.” The plans will be decided at a future meeting of the committee.

Earl Shilton is already in line for almost 2,000 new homes, with 140 and 50 homes previously approved on land across the road from the site at Hill Top Farm. The Earl Shilton Sustainable Urban Extension was also given the go ahead earlier this year, and will provide 1,500 homes, a school, community hub, shops and employment land.

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