Put basics in place before growth call

COUNCILLORS have had their say on a major blueprint for housing and infrastructure growth across the borough and beyond.

Views were sought from local Lib Dems on the Strategic Growth Plan for Leicestershire which looks at how the area will expand in the future in terms of homes, highways and transport, the economy, business and investment.

To ensure the best outcome for communities the Lib Dems are suggesting urgent action is taken on basic infrastructure problems which already exist and which may be stretched further by extra expansion.

Dualling of the A5, increased access to broadband, improvements to healthcare and enhanced school provision are all put forward as requiring support.

Hinckley and Bosworth is among nine local authorities in Leicester and Leicestershire along with the Local Enterprise Partnership which are determining priorities.

Playing its part could cost the council up to £65,000 as expenditure, mainly on securing supporting documents, is being split between all parties - at a level yet to be determined.

Consultation on the bare bones of the plan is planned this year but Lib Dems, in making their comments, have suggested the public should have been involved right from the start.

In a letter to council chief executive Steve Atkinson on behalf of the local group, Councillor David Bill (Hinckley Clarendon) said with some 9,500 homes already in the pipeline, the public should have been made aware before now that the area would be expected to take many more houses.

He added: “We have to say that there is little confidence in the community that essential roads, schools and medical facilities will be provided in time and indeed the consistent response from so many of the people we represent is ‘ Why do we need so many houses?’.”

To make the plan work, the Lib Dems are suggesting dualling of the A5, improvements to the A5/ Dodwells Bridge roundabout, A47/A447 crossroads, Desford crossroads and town centre junctions such as Rugby Road/Hawley Road to address daily congestion and gridlock; improved rail connections to Coventry and Nottingham as well as to the mainlines at Leicester and Nuneaton; high speed broadband for all parts of the borough; sufficient school accommodation and solutions to parking problems outside schools; improved, easily accessible hospital services and a walk-in centre; wider provision of dental care; increased technology deployment for GP surgeries; adequate resources to support the emergency services; adequate support for young people and the ageing population; and engagement with commercial interests such as MIRA, Triumph, DPD, National Grid and Caterpillar.