MPs raise concerns over plans for 180,000 homes
CONCERNS have been raised by MPs about proposals to find space for more than 180,000 homes to be built in Leicestershire in the coming decades.
Councils are currently working to develop a strategic growth plan (SGP), a long-term blueprint for where 96,000 homes could be built to meet demand in Leicestershire by 2031, and a further 90,000 by 2051.
These will be needed to cope with a growing population caused by people living longer, a rising birth rate and immigration.
Officials hope the plan will enable them to better control future development by specifying areas where homes can be built.
A 17-week public consultation on a draft version of the plan ended this month.
The draft plan hinges on the construction of an A46 Expressway running from Syston in a loop round the east and south of Leicester, meeting the M1 between the existing junctions 20, at Lutterworth, and 21, at Fosse Park and the M69.
About 40,000 homes are proposed along the corridor it would create.
A further 10,000 houses are earmarked for land near East Midlands Airport, and 5,000 between Lutterworth and Hinckley in an area designated by the plan as a southern gateway.
The plan assumes Leicester will not be able to meet its housing target, so neighbouring districts would take some of its share.
Leicestershire’s MPs have sent a joint letter to Councillor Trevor Pendleton, the chairman of the SGP’s member advisory panel, which is overseeing the process, expressing concerns about the draft plan.
In the letter, Loughborough’s Nicky Morgan, Charnwood’s Ed Argar, Harborough’s Neil O’Brien, South Leicestershire’s Alberto Costa, Melton’s Sir Alan Duncan and Bosworth’s David Tredinnick – all Conservative – said they had received representations from people concerned about the plan, including from people who said they were not aware of it.
The MPs asked for assurance there would be “appropriate scrutiny in public in order to guarantee transparency and secure resident support”.
Mr O’Brien’s constituency, which is where much of the expressway would be situated, stands to be most affected by the plan as it stands.
He said: “I have surveyed a lot of residents and the level of awareness of the plan is very low.
“When I have had views back, people remain to be convinced that this is the right option because they haven’t seen any detailed plans for this road (the expressway), and that makes it hard to come to an informed decision.”
Speaking about the assump- tion Leicester will not be able to take all of the housing it will require, the MP said: “As it stands, it is clear the city of Leicester needs to do far more to meet its own housing needs, because far too much of the belt of housing is being pushed into my constituency.”
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has been highly critical of the draft plan.
It has condemned the emphasis on large-scale road building, particularly the proposed A46 expressway, which it said was flawed. The aim of the expressway is to ease pressure on the congested A46 north of Leicester
However, the CPRE said the traffic generated by proposed housing developments adjoining the expressway were likely to overload it and create congestion problems.
The CPRE is also unhappy about how vehicles using the expressway might decant on to local roads, which could become inadequate “short cuts” into the city.
That, it said, would have an adverse environmental impact on air, noise and light pollution, and on unspoilt areas of coun- tryside.
Tony Stott, chairman of the CPRE’s Leicestershire SGP task group, said: “Without some clear principles in the SGP, we fear the proposed development will end up as environmentally destructive, car-dependent, low-density greenfield sprawl with large dormitory suburbs and with a lack of sustainable transport infrastructure.”
He said he believed the plan was not based on sound data and, backing the view of the MPs, said it should be tested by a Government inspector independent of the councils putting the strategy together.
Simon Galton,. leader of the Liberal Democrat group at Leicestershire County Council, said: “There has been a lack of local involvement in the preparation of the plan, with the absence of options or alternatives proposed for consultation.
“It also relies on the A46 Expressway, which is not in the control of the local authorities.”
The Government would have to approve such a huge plan. It would not be determined at local level.
Councillor Galton said: “I’m concerned at the level of planned growth and the distribution of housing in south and east Leicestershire and in particular Harborough district.”
He said he was also concerned a transport assessment of the impact of the plan on roads was published only midway through the recent consultation.
The assessment indicates there would need to be “radical” measures to cope with growing pressure on the road network in and around Leicester.
The report suggested more park-and-ride availability and priority routes into the city for public transport.
Coun Pendleton said: “We’re very pleased to have received more than 550 responses to the consultation, many of them from residents.
“Each of the councils has considered the draft plan and given us their views.
“We’ll now be carefully considering the responses and the findings will be reported back at a later date.
“It’s important to stress no decisions have yet been made, but we do have to plan ahead and identify areas for future growth, which would then be built into our local plans.”
Local plans, put together by each council individually, are much more detailed than the county-wide SGP.
They pin down where development will take place in each council’s area.
Local plans have to be approved by Government inspectors via inquiries. However, Coun Pendleton said that would not happen with the SGP because it was not a legally required process.
He said: “We know that some of these proposals are controversial, but that’s why we held this consultation – to gather people’s views.”