Ashby de la Zouch Town Council raises objections to District's proposals for new housing estates
Ashby de la Zouch Town Council has raised objections to proposals for new housing in the area - which would keep North West Leicestershire District Council on target to build more than 680 homes per year up to 680 homes a year up to 2042.
Proposed housing sites across the district include the area adjacent to 194 Burton Road, Ashby de la Zouch - with land at Packington Nook, near Tamworth Road as a reserve site.
The council says it needs to ensure that at least 686 new homes are built every year up for the next 17 years.
It adds that, currently, there is a shortfall of about 2,000 homes when compared to this requirement.
A District Council consultation ends on Friday (May 2).
But the Town Council laid out its concerns in a document that went before Monday's Planning Committee meeting.
Residents from both areas gave their views in the public section of the meeting.
The Town Council also pointed out the 'blatantly political' move to take Meadow Lane in Coalville off the local plan for future development - saying this has put extra responsibility on Ashby which could increase in size by 50 per cent.
Labour-led Ashby Council presented a detailed response to the proposals - you can read the report in full HERE.
Referring to the land off Burton Road, the council suggested the homes could included as part of the Money Hill development.
The report said: "Planning officers have stated on numerous occasions that additional housing on the north west side of Ashby is undesirable, as it will lead to increased traffic congestion to Ashby town Centre, which is already a major problem.
"Ashby Town Council shares this opinion.
"The majority of the traffic to and from this site will inevitably pass through the town centre in order to access the motorway network and the out of town shopping facilities at and around Tesco, soon to be supplemented by a new Lidl.
"We strongly suggest that sufficient land to accommodate these extra 30 Holmes could be found on the money hillside, specifically on the 2HA at the Smisby Road a 511 roundabout previously allocated for employment and which the developers now claim to be unviable for employment, due to lack of direct vehicle access at the roundabout.
"This alternative site would have easy access to both the motorway network, the shopping facilities around Tesco, and the local services plan for the Money Hill development.
"Should this allocation go ahead, then we endorse the site requirements."
The council also said it 'strongly opposes' the inclusion of Packington Nook as a reserve in the draft local plan.
The report says: "We believe it is highly probable that the Government will not remove the HS2 safeguarding in time and that inclusion of this site as a reserve will inevitably lead to its full allocation in the local plan.
"Consideration of its merits must therefore be on the basis of assuming its full allocation.
"We are concerned that the consultation document states, 'if the safeguarding is lifted before the local planning examination, then it is highly likely that this reserve allocation will not be required'.
"This implies that the site could be included even if safeguarding is withdrawn. That would be wholly unacceptable and is an example of the District Council phrasing its documents to provide it with maximum flexibility, while appearing to be taking account of public opinion."
The Town Council said it objected on a number of grounds.
The report talks of over-allocation and says: "This site of 1,100 dwellings has been allocated to fill a potential shortfall of 677 should the HS2 safeguarding remain. We believe that an alternative site should be found that is much closer to the identified potential shortfall.
"We do not accept that this round of consultation should be confined to the specific sites referred to, when it is obviously necessary to view these proposals in a wider context. Our own analysis indicates that the current situation is exacerbated by two independent issues.
"The District Council says it needs to ensure that at least 686 new homes are built every year for the next 17 years, adding that there is currently an assumption that the new settlement (Isley Woodhouse) will not be able to deliver its quota of 35 per cent of the new housing requirement.
"We call upon officers to re-examine their figures. It is probable that, at examination, the Isley Woodhouse consortium will successfully argue for a higher allocation of homes.
"The second is the removal of the officer-recommended 400 dwelling site at Meadow Lane, Coalville, prior to the consultation.
"This was a blatantly political decision made by the alliance against officer recommendations and has resulted in the significant under allocation to the principal town (Coalville). Again it is probable that Meadow Lane will be added at examination resulting in a further over allocation if Packington Nook is retained.
"The District Council's own most recent site assessment points out that development of this site, alongside the Money Hill site, would result in an increase of around 50 per cent in the size of Ashby. This cannot be sustainable."
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