Decision due on second attempt to build 170 village homes
A BID to build 170 homes at the edge of a village is to be decided this week.
Catesby Strategic Land resubmitted its plan for fields off Leicester Road, Countesthorpe, in February.
A very similar plan was rejected in 2016. This time, planning officers have recommended the scheme be approved.
The previous refusal went to appeal. Blaby District Council’s decision was upheld by the planning inspectorate because the authority could show it had plans in place to build the number of homes needed in the area.
Officers said the authority could no longer demonstrate that.
The planning inspectorate rejected the council’s concern the development would have a harmful effect on the character and appearance of the area.
A third reason for denying permission for the 2016 scheme was the impact on nearby roads.
However, prior to the appeal, Catesby submitted a new plan to reduce highways concerns and this was accepted by the council, which withdrew this reason for refusal.
The updated proposals for the road network included upgrading the roundabout at the Leicester
Road/Foston Road junction and creating a fourth arm from Ladbroke Grove, which the developer said would “remove the queuing and delay issues” along the route.
It also said it would widen the carriageway at the exit from Foston Road to “accommodate queuing vehicles turning both left and right”.
The district and county council, as highways authority, have said those changes would be appropriate mitigation for the increased traffic on the roads from the new homes.
The county council said “the impacts of the development on highway safety would not be unacceptable and, when considered cumulatively with other developments, the impacts on the road network would not be severe”.
The district council has received 715 comments on the latest plan, 700 of which were objections.
Residents said they feared the proposal would exacerbate flooding, which they said was particularly bad last winter.
They said the roads were already dangerous and there was too much traffic going through the village already and a lack of school places, GP appointments and suitable shops.
The Catesby application was one of three housing developments submitted for the area in one week.
Cumulatively, they would total 426 homes if all approved.
A Countesthorpe Parish Council spokesman said: “You will read a lot of comments from residents about lack of school places, inability to get an appointment at the health centre, the long queues to get in and out of the village at peak times, lack of leisure facilities, flooding, sewage problems, the strength of roads, the width of the pavements, the danger on the roads.
“They are real, lived consequences of Countesthorpe’s infrastructure being already overloaded.
“If the cumulative effect of this and other potential developments is not given consideration, the potential increase in the population of Countesthorpe is a third.”
A Blaby Parish Council spokesman said: “Roads are already very congested.
“If this development was to be approved, there could be up to approximately 340 additional vehicles on the roads.
“The infrastructure needs to be put in place, otherwise Blaby will become gridlocked.”
Kilby Parish Council said the application formed part of a “creeping expansion” of Countesthorpe which would also impact on neighbouring areas.
A spokesman said: “Residents are already victims of the noise, pollution, congestion and risks to road safety caused by Main Street forming part of a rat run for vehicles from Countesthorpe, Blaby and villages beyond travelling to and from destinations to the east, especially at peak times.”
The planning application from Catesby is for outline permission only.