Plan to build 40 homes rejected
DEVELOPERS who wanted to build 40 new homes on an empty plot of land in Burbage have been told they can’t.
Members of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s planning committee said no to a plan by housebuilding giant Persimmon Homes for an empty plot of land off Amber Way. The plot is currently fenced off scrub land with newly built homes nearby.
The application by Persimmon Homes North Midlands was for a block of four one bedroomed flats, four two bedroomed houses, 27 three bedroomed houses and five four bedroomed houses. Among them were to be eight affordable homes.
The plot proposed for the development is part of a larger area, the Sketchley Brook site, which has outline planning permission for development. The plot is in an area of the Sketchley Brook site originally earmarked for shops and open space.
The area set aside for the shops and open space is larger that just the plot proposed for the 40 homes. Council planners say there is room for the shops and open space on another area of land to the east of Rugby road.
Council planning officers had recommended councillors say yes.
There were 29 residents who objected to the development. Some pointed out the plot was in an area set aside for shops and community facilities while others said the number of houses on the Sketchley Brook site is already higher than the number in the original plan.
There were worries about traffic jams, parking, the impact on broadband speeds and the impact on local services such as schools and doctors.
Burbage Parish Council also objected to the scheme saying 375 homes set out in the original plan for Sketchley Brook have now been built and there is no demand or justification for more.
One person wrote in to support the scheme highlighting a problem with rubbish and rodents on the empty plot and pointing out that developers have to pay contributions to local services.
If the development had gone ahead Persimmon Homes would have been expected to pay £104,000 towards local primary schools and £20,000 towards health care provision.