Good news - Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council will NOT include the Norton Heath development for 10,000 homes in the draft Local Plan.
I’m pleased the Council has recognised this part of its proposed Local Plan was not fit for purpose and, crucially, they have removed it.
Residents across our area raised serious concerns with me about the proposed 10,000-home development near Norton-juxta-Twycross, from its scale to the loss of farmland and the pressure it would place on already stretched rural roads and infrastructure.
I shared those concerns and raised them directly with the Council, challenging the process and making sure our community’s voice was properly heard.
This is a significant step forward and reflects both the strength of local feeling and the weight of the concerns raised.
Thank you to everyone who spoke out and took part in the consultation!
However, this does highlight a wider issue. You may have seen from my posts before that the Labour Government has increased the number of expected houses to be built by +59% in Hinckley and Bosworth and +74% in North West Leicestershire, while reducing them in Leicester City by -31%. This is shocking considering the city has brownfield sites and the right infrastructure.
At the same time, development locally is continually compounded by the Liberal Democrat-run Borough Council still not having an up-to-date Local Plan - which means we are lacking protections against speculative developments in our area. This saga has sadly been dragging on for years now.
I'll continue to do all I can to reiterate the impact of this on our area.
You can see the Borough Council Leader's statement here:
