The loss of local control over planning decisions is there for all to see. Drive anywhere in Harborough District and you will pass a building site. Planning permission has been granted for over 900 houses in Thurnby, Bushby and Scraptoft and a further 140 are being built up the road in Houghton. It is against this background that the new Harborough Local Plan has been prepared.

Last October my ward colleagues Cllrs Amanda Burrell, Peter Elliott and I attended the Public Examination of the Local Plan which took place over 6 days. The Government appointed Inspector has to determine whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with Government planning rules (the National Planning Policy Framework) and is “Sound.” Only if these requirements are met can the Council proceed to adopt the plan which then becomes the basis for planning decisions and hopefully enables the council to re-gain control over planning decisions.

The Inspector held sessions on housing numbers, proposed sites to be allocated for housing, employment, infrastructure and green space. As is usual at examinations, developers and landowners were there in force to push the sites they have an interest in and we wanted to hear what they had to say about this area. A key topic of discussion was the inability of Leicester City to provide enough land to meet its housing needs. The developers argued that more land should be made available in Thurnby and Scraptoft to make up for the shortfall in the City. However, since the City Council is unable to say when they won’t be able to meet their housing requirements and what the shortfall will be, Harborough Council along with Thurnby and Bushby and Scraptoft Parish Councils opposed any increase in the housing numbers and said this should be a matter for a future review of the plan when the situation in the City is known. In his initial feedback the Inspector appears to have accepted the councils’ arguments largely because the shortfall cannot be quantified. Moreover, it is not just Harborough which will have to take some of Leicester’s housing requirement, whatever the figure turns out to be; all the district councils in Leicestershire will have to agree how it should be redistributed.

The major proposal affecting our area is the development of 1,200 houses on Scraptoft Golf Course to be built during the plan period to 2031. The golf course would relocate to a new site to the east of Houghton with direct access onto the A47. The plan states Scraptoft North would be “A new neighbourhood creating a high-quality living environment within a network of green infrastructure.” The development would provide a new primary school, open space, sport and recreation facilities and a green corridor along Scraptoft Brook. A range of community facilities will be provided including some or all of the following: doctor’s surgery, public house/café, shops to meet local convenience needs, a community hall or upgrade of existing facilities. There would be a new road link between Hamilton Lane and Beeby Road through the site. The promoters, Parkers Strategic Land, in partnership with Scraptoft Golf Club and Leicester City Council, who own part of the site, have produced a masterplan which can be viewed at https://www.scraptoftnorth.co.uk/downloads/scraptoft-exhibition-boards.pdf. This is likely to undergo changes before it is finalised after which Parkers will submit a planning application.

Feedback from local residents following the consultation organised by the promoters confirms that many people are very concerned about the increase in traffic through Scraptoft village centre and on Station Lane, Scraptoft Lane, Hamilton Lane and Beeby Road. The proposed location of the primary school off Hamilton Lane and the loss of the Local Nature Reserve are also issues of concern as is the scale of development and its impact on Scraptoft’s identity. We are waiting to see how the promoters will respond to these concerns.

No further sites for housing in this area are allocated in the Local Plan although a revised countryside policy, GD2, could result in some smaller sites on the edge of the settlements of Thurnby/Bushby and Scraptoft being promoted by developers. As yet, the wording of this policy has not been finalised so we are not sure what impact (if any) it could have in the future.

Another important issue discussed at the examination which affects our area was the Green Wedge Policy. For 35 years local residents, councillors and TABs have fiercely defended the green wedges which provide the last bit of separation between Thurnby and Scraptoft and the City. To compensate for the loss of the golf course the Council is proposing a new area of green wedge east of Station Lane on the upper slopes of the Thurnby Brook valley towards Covert Lane. Developers and landowners were not so keen on this new area of green wedge but it is something we strongly support.

The Inspector has asked the Council to carry out a 6-week consultation on a schedule of modifications to the plan which can be found on the Council’s website. Whilst there are a number of proposed changes to policies which affect our area, they do not fundamentally alter the proposals in the plan.