Brand new town including 2,700 homes could be built

A NEW to wn w ith mor e than 2,700 homes , a r etail centre and an industr ial park could be built opposite Lutterworth.

The proposal, dubbed Lutterworth East , is to develop a h uge 504-acr e swathe of coun tryside spanning fr om south of Misterton to nor th of Bitteswell.

The developmen which is the size of 252 football pitches , would be linked to L utterworth via a new r oad and a motorway br idge cr ossing the M1.

Proposals also include a new pr imary school, a country par k, local facilities and emplo yment opportunities.

It is one of four “suggested str ategic developmen t areas” being consider ed by H arborough Distr ict Council (HD C) as par t of its new Local Plan.

Council documents said “substantial high way infrastructure” changes at Junction 20 of the M1 and the A4304 would be needed to accommoda te the development.

The new linkroad would run fr om the A4303 fr om the south east of L utterworth to the A426 to the north.

Half of the land is not t, suitable for developmen t due to floodrisks, protected agr icultural land and the M isterton M arshes, a Site of S pecial S cientific Interest (SSSI).

A council documen t assessing the suitability of the land concluded it is “developable”, but the transport implica tions and costs needs to be fur - ther investigated.

It r ead: “Ensur ing good connectivity w ith L utterworth, addr essing flooding issues and pr otecting the SSSI all need fur ther investigation.

“A site of this size w ill require compr ehensive development in accor dance with a detailed master plan and w ill need to deliver a w ide r ange of supporting infr astructure.”

The proposal is one of four being consider ed b y HDC as par t of their new Local Plan, which sets out the council’s planning priorities in terms of housing, employment, comm unity facilities, tr ansport and other infr astructure up to 2031.

Council bosses are due to make a decision on their preferred developmen t area in October this year , before la unching a consultation on a dr aft Local Plan at the end of 2016.

Despite plans being in their early stages , a blog opposing the bid h as already been set up.

Website L utterworthNow descr ibes the mo ve as “the biggest thr eat” to Leicestershire’s coun tryside.

A post r ead: “The scale of the developmen t is enormous. L utterworth now only has around 4,000 homes and a popula tion of 9,353 so this would increase the size of the town by more than 60%.

“In other wor ds, for every 10 houses cur rently in L utterworth, ther e w ill be six more.

“As almost half of households h ave two or mor e cars, ther e w ill be thousands mor e cars on local roads. The phased delivery of the development means disruption un til a t least 2030.

“A proposed bridge over the M1 motor way like the one for the new to wn a t Lubbesthorpe near j unction 21 will cost more than £15 million.

“The town’s tr ansport network and sur rounding roads may collapse under the str ain of a whole new town – 2,500 homes equals almost 4,000 cars and vans.” .