Ashby councillors have objected to plans for the proposed new 605-home development at Money Hill.

Councillors were concerned at a recent meeting of the Ashby de la Zouch Town Council's planning committee that developers had moved away from the original master plan for the development.

The committee highlighted a number of problems with the plans that have been put forward.

Cllr David Bigby was concerned with how the documentation had been presented.

He said there was no apparent commitment to various cycle and pedestrian routes and that the affordable housing was poorly designed, there was a lack of bungalows and the three storey dwellings were out of place for the area.

There was also insufficient information provided to assess the impact on the local highway.

Cllr Mike Ball agreed with these comments and also said the committee must not lose sight of the conditions for existing residents.

It was resolved the committee should object to planning application on the grounds of:

• Cycle and walking routes - with numerous departures from the Masterplan regarding cycling and pedestrian access.
• Housing - Poor design of affordable housing, insufficient parking spaces for some flats, insufficient bungalows, three storey flats – more suited to city centres than Ashby.
• Highways - insufficient information provided to assess the impact on the local highway.

Four other assurances that the Town Council has also requested were also submitted with the objection:

• No construction traffic on Nottingham Road - this all needs to come from the A511 bypass.
• Trees and shrubs need to be planted earlier in the build process, not after all of the houses have been constructed
• A car park has been promised and the would like this earlier, along with the promised upgrade of a footpath
• Children's play area - this needs to be relocated away from existing properties.