A move to ward off unwanted planning applications and have more control over future developments in the area has been made by North West Leicestershire District Council.

The Partial Review of the North West Leicestershire Local Plan has been approved by the Planning Inspector and adopted by the district council's Full Council.

Without this, the Local Plan would have been regarded as being out-of-date - and would have made it difficult for planners to resist unwanted developments.

However, adoption of the partial review means that the plan can continue to be used to inform decisions on new development across the district.

The Local Plan sets out the District Council's planning policies for the development of the district up to 2031.

Having an up-to-date Local Plan is vital to ensuring that the council has control over future development, where it takes place and what it looks like.

The district's Local Plan was adopted in November 2017, but it was a requirement that the plan be subject to an early review, which is why the partial review process has recently taken place.

The review was examined by Planning Inspector Louise Gibbons during a series of virtually held public hearings in September 2020.

The district council then proposed changes (referred to as 'modifications') to the Local Plan partial review in November 2020, and the public were invited to comment.

The responses to this consultation were considered by the Inspector in coming to her final recommendation that the plan is 'sound'.

In the meantime, the council will also continue with a wider review to address development needs up to at least 2039.

Councillor Robert Ashman, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning and Infrastructure at North West Leicestershire District Council, said: "The approval of the partial review of our Local Plan is excellent news and enables the district council to retain control over future development in the district, ensuring that we grow and develop in the right way.

"It also gives us the backing we need to ward off unwanted applications that don't fit in with our long term development aims for North West Leicestershire."