Residents fear increase in flooding and lack of doctors appointments if 'new town' is built

Residents fear there will be an increase in flooding and even fewer doctors appointments if a "new town" is built in Harborough. The worries were raised after the government said the Stretton Hall site had "the potential to deliver up to 4,000 new homes" in the area.

The concerns came during a discussion on the proposal last Friday (November 8) - a meeting which was chaired by MPs Neil O'Brien and Alicia Kearns following a statement published by Harborough District Council (HDC) about the plans. Mr O'Brien claimed the settlement, which would be between Oadby and Great Glen, would be "similar in size to Lutterworth".

HDC says the proposal, which features in their local plan arrangements, is considerably smaller than previous ideas for up to 10,000 homes in the Great Glen area near Stretton Hall. That plan has now been withdrawn, but it is instead considering a site with up to 4,000 in the area - with up to 3,000 of them in Harborough.

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Over 200 residents attended the meeting. One asked about infrastructure for the major scheme and if it had been planned to match the housing targets amid fears "you can't get to the doctor now".

Others raised flooding concerns, including one who has Wash Brook Water Course at the boundary of her garden alongside 150 other properties. They said: "We have major problems with flooding. I know Great Glen has exactly the same issue with the River Sence. A few weeks ago the whole of the south of the city was gridlocked because of the flooding through Great Glen, Oadby, Wigston and Blaby.

"The more building we get, the sewer system [...] is still based upon the Victorian system and it is totally overwhelmed now. If we don't get infrastructure changes [...] we are going to have colossal problems." This comment was met with applause from the rest of the meeting.

Councillor Phil Knowles, HDC's leader had previously said it was important residents "have the facts" about the proposal. He said: "We are 100 per cent committed to sharing information as early as possible but we have to caveat that by ensuring we are complying with the necessary rules and regulations. We all appreciate the significant amount of technical work currently going on to prepare the new Local Plan.”

However, Mr O'Brien believed the council needed to communicate better. He said: "I don’t think the council have really engaged with residents on its plan. Only one in a thousand local residents have been involved in the consultation so far. I think most people don’t know this is happening. Even local councillors won’t see the updated list of sites wanting permission until the end of November. It was supposed to be out already, but has been delayed."

Mr O'Brien claimed councillors will only see the final proposals from HDC a week before Christmas, with a vote to put it out to consultation due in the New Year. Coun Knowles said if this vote was passed, the council would "ensure" residents have a say.

He said: "I will be encouraging everyone to have their say on the facts. [...] Once we have received and considered all these responses the council will then decide if we wish to proceed to submit our draft plan to the planning inspectorate in June next year for public examination. To be clear, in January we will not decide where development goes but we will be consulting on proposals, and it will be a widespread community consultation process.”

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