Green light for Sileby homes plan

PLANS for 170 homes in Sileby have been given the go ahead.

The homes will be built by Barwood Homes on land at Peashill Farm, Ratcliffe Road on the south east side of Sileby, and will include a new roundabout, more than 6.5 hectares of green space, a children’s play area and land allocated for a potential future extension of the nearby cemetery.

The application had been put before councillors just last month and had been refused because of an impact of traffic on minor rural roads.

But it was brought back to be reviewed by members of the committee because the head of planning and regeneration at Charnwood Borough Council felt that the reason for refusal could be considered unjustifiable.

Now that the application has been given the green light the original Peashill farmstead will be retained and the buildings will be refurbished and could be used as business space or for community use.

A property at 94 Ratcliffe Road will also be demolished to create a new access point for the site.

Within Barwood’s design and access statement for the site the “vision” for the developers is “to provide a high-quality residential development that integrates sensitively with both the village and surrounding rural and landscape context.”

Barwood will also make contributions to Sileby Library for £5,130, Highgate Community Primary School and/or Sileby Redlands Community Primary School for £493, 639.61 and £8,784 towards Mountsorrel Waste Site to deal with additional waste from the development.

Members of the committee discussed the application at length at the meeting on Thursday, January 11, and some mem- bers wanted to defer the decision to a later date.

Others including Coun Brenda Seaton, said that they felt it was hard to come to a conclusion on the application before a decision had been reached by the planning inspectorate on 195 homes at Seagrave Road.

Speaking on behalf of Barwood Homes, Lizzie Marjoram said that it was “in the best interests of the council” to approve the application, and that approving it would give the council a better position to defend the Seagrave Road application to the planning inspectorate.

George Waistell, speaking in objection to the application urged councillors to “do the right thing” and refuse the application.

He said: “it wasn’t right in 2015 and it isn’t now, it wasn’t all about traffic then and it isn’t now.”

Five councillors voted to approve the application, three voted against it and two members decided to abstain from the vote.