An application relating to the 605-home Money Hill development in Ashby is set to be debated by North West Leicestershire District Council this week.

Outline planning permission – that is whether the use of the site to the north of Ashby would be acceptable in principal – was approved by the District Council in 2016.

The outline permission only determined whether the site could be used for housing and the means of access from the Nottingham Road and the A511.

The current application addresses the remaining elements of the development, such as its appearance, landscaping, layout and scale.

Work has been ongoing at the site since late March

In addition to the 605 homes, the applicants – the Money Hill Consortium – proposes to build a 60-bed extra care centre, a new primary school, a nursery, shops and a community hall.

There are also plans for three public green spaces, a play area and a square as part of the development.

Work has already started on the site next to the Ashby by-pass.

The consortium – made up of Bloor Homes, Taylor Wimpey and Cogent Land – has said the scheme, if approved, will provide much needed homes in the area as well as a proportion of affordable housing. There would be a mix of one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bed homes on the site.

These would comprise of a mixture of detached, semi and terraced houses, maisonettes, bungalows and duplexes to buy and to rent - 182 of the homes are described as being 'affordable', 70 per cent of which will be rented properties.

Two houses are due to be demolished to make way for the Nottingham Road access to the new estate/ Photo: Instantstreetview.com

The outline planning permission was initially refused by the district council in 2014, over concerns about the scale of the scheme and the impact of the new traffic it would create.

However, the applicants appealed and amended its proposals which were approved by the council despite continuing objections – including that of Ashby de la Zouch Town Council.

The consortium is also in the process of improving the roads and junctions around the site.

It is building a new roundabout on the A511 and a new junction at Nottingham Road - where two houses are due to be demolished this month - the two access points to the Money Hill site.

Traffic management measures have also been agreed with Leicestershire County Council, the local highways authority.

These will see only 98 of the proposed homes able to enter and leave the site via Nottingham Road.

The applicants have also agreed to a number of financial contributions – known as Section 106 agreements – to help mitigate any impacts of the development on local services and the local area.

These include a £200,000 contribution to health care, around £220,000 to police services and over £2 million towards secondary education.

However, the plans have proven controversial locally, with fears that the size of the development will harm the character of the neighbouring town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Added congestion on the road, the loss of countryside and the lack of employment opportunities in the area were also raised as concerns by objectors.

North West Leicestershire District Council's planning committee will be debating whether to grant permission for the plans – which are recommended for approval by officers – on Tuesday.

If approved, the development will take place in four phases, with the first focused at the south of the site.