More homes set to be approved for town where 2,000 already have go ahead

Dozens of new homes are set to be approved for a Leicestershire town where almost 2,000 others are in the pipeline. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s (HBBC) plans committee will make a decision next week on an application by Manor Oak Homes to build 33 homes on land east of Leicester Road, in Earl Shilton.

Council officers have recommended the committee approve the scheme, which would be built on land at the north edge of the town and includes a field used for grazing and part of a residential garden. Access to the scheme would be via an unnamed road off Leicester Road, and seven of the homes would be classed as affordable.

Two separate applications for 140 and 50 homes respectively have previously been approved on land across the road from the site at Hill Top Farm. A massive expansion of the town was also approved earlier this year, with the Earl Shilton Sustainable Urban Extension set to provide 1,500 homes, a school, community hub, shops and employment land. There are also 81 homes earmarked for land off Clickers Way.

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The Grade II listed Church of St Simon and St Jude is just 210 metres away from the proposed site, with the council’s conservation officer saying the church is “a prominent feature in the landscape” and advising the developer to use ‘a high-quality, landscape-led approach to protect views of the building.

Ten objections have been raised in opposition to the scheme over a range of potential issues, including pressure on local services and facilities, as well as an increase in traffic, and harm to countryside and protected animal species. A report prepared by HBBC's planning team for members of the committee acknowledges it would cause “adverse impacts to the rural character of the site”, and that it would be “visually prominent” from “key viewpoints”.

But the report added the site is surrounded by “built form”, and is therefore “isolated” from the wider countryside. Planning officers said positive aspects of the scheme included the provision of affordable housing, and economic benefits including the residents being potential customers and employees of local businesses.

The report said: “By virtue of these factors, it is considered that, whilst the scheme is likely to cause significant harm to the rural character of the application site, this limited localised harm is not considered to significantly nor demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the scheme in these site-specific circumstances.”

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 19 at 6.30pm and can be watched live or via playback on the council's YouTube channel.

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