Councillors turn down third housing scheme
ANOTHER scheme to develop fields outside Markfield has been refused by councillors, the third proposal to be turned down in two weeks.
Plans to build 72 homes off Hill Lane have been shelved by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, over concerns it would harm the character of an area of open countryside.
Officials were also concerned that the applicant, Glenalmond Developments, had not shown that the site does not contain important archeological remains.
Last week, the councillors turned down a scheme for 48 affordable homes, off Ratby Lane, as well as a proposal for 93 homes between the A50 and Ashby Road.
Residents have previously raised concerns that the village’s infrastructure would struggle to cope with more homes, with 282 homes already being built off London Road.
Markfield borough councillor, Andy Furlong, predicted that the Hill Lane scheme would fail, as the other two schemes were likewise turned down partly due to their rural setting, outside the village’s settlement boundary.
The settlement boundary is set out in the Markfield Neighbourhood Plan, adopted in September, which outlines where new homes should be built.
Cllr Furlong said told his fellow councillors at the planning committee meeting that “the good people of Markfield are not Nimbys, they are realists.
“That’s why the Markfield Neighbourhood Plan accepts the development of 282 new houses off London Road, where construction is already under way.”
However, the 93-homes development is not entirely dead in the water, as the scheme straddles the border between Hinckley and Bosworth and Charnwood.
Charnwood Borough Council approved the bulk of the proposal last year, with the Hinckley councillors left to decide on the access for the complex.
They deferred their decision to seek legal advice, which confirmed that they could base their decision on the scheme as a whole, not just the issues surrounding the access.
On this basis, the Hinckley councillors determined that the houses would harm an area of open countryside and have a detrimental “urbanising”