Minister to rule on homes
VILLAGE PLAN TURNED DOWN THREE TIMES
THE Secretary of State has been asked to make a final call on whether plans for 120 homes in Desford can go ahead – after councillors rejected them three times.
Davidsons Homes has appealed against the council’s decision on the scheme off a single-lane track near Desford Primary School.
The council was sent 203 letters objecting to the most recent application for the site, prior to councillors voting against it last month. There was one letter of support.
Residents raised concerns about its impact on the rural character of the village, loss of countryside and congestion.
They also pointed out another developer is already building homes on the other side of the village while a third development has planning permission.
Davidsons originally failed to get permission to build on the Ashfield Farm site in 2015, when Hinckley and Bosworth councillors agreed it would significantly exceed the requirement for housing in Desford.
An updated application from Davidsons, of Ibstock, failed to gain permission last summer.
The same application was resubmitted and refused in December.
A Davidsons Homes spokeswoman said: “We were obviously disappointed committee members chose to refuse the two recent applications at Ashfield Farm, despite having the full support of Hinckley and Bosworth’s planning officers, who recommended approval.
“An appeal was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate on October 16, in response to the application being refused in May. The appeal was validated on November 9.
“Davidsons are reviewing whether to appeal the refusal of our re-submitted application, which was refused in December, given that the two are identical.”
She said the site was recommended as a reserve housing site in the Desford Neighbourhood Plan by an examiner appointed by the Secretary of State, who had advised landscape harm was “local and limited”.
She said: “The site is highly sustainable, located to the western edge of Desford.
“It is exceptionally well placed to encourage walking and cycling to services and facilities, including shops and other amenities, while Desford Primary and play park are opposite the site, off Kirkby Road.”
She said the plans included 48 “affordable” houses and under a section 106 Agreement, Davidsons would be obliged to put £1.5 million into the community – including more than £950,000 for education, almost £200,000 for highway improvements, more than £255,000 for play and open spaces, and more than £60,000 for surgeries in Desford and Ratby.
Speaking at the time of the last application, resident Graham Cole, who has children in village schools, said Desford had grown massively in the past few years and had more than taken its share of the borough’s growth needs.
He said: “I get the impression Desford is picked on as it is on the edge of Hinckley and Bosworth borough.”
Another dad-of-two said: “This is a small village with a handful of shops, two pubs and two schools and its character would be totally changed by further development.
“It is in the worst possible place for access, so all traffic, during construction and once built, would have to come through quiet residential streets, affecting the lives of everyone who lives along them.
“Previous applications for the site were turned down and Desford is even less suitable for further development than was then.” it