Traffic Fears Over Development Plan

Leicestershire County Council has raised concerns about Harborough’s draft local plan.

The authority says the plan – which maps out preferred sites for housing and other developments for the next 16 years – does not do enough to mitigate against the impact over 6,000 new homes in the district will have on roads and transport, particularly along the A6 corridor.

The county council, which is the highways authority,  has made the comments in its consultation response to the draft plan, which includes over 1,000 new homes at Stretton Hall near Great Glen, 400 in Great Glen itself and 475 in Kibworth,

Cllr Jon Bateman, leader of the opposition Conservative group at Harborough District Council, says more work needs to be carried out to deal with the concern:

The County Council also says the current draft plan does not give enough detail about how new schools and education provision will be delivered and more information is needed on additional health service provision.

Cllr Phil King (Con) represents Kibworth and spoke to HFM:

Harborough District Council, which is currently consulting on its draft local plan, says it welcomes the feedback and will consider it ahead of the plan being submitted to government for consideration.

David Atkinson, Director of Planning, said: “We are delighted to have published our draft local plan for consultation to ensure we have met all the governments requirements under the existing planning regime which will be meaning we have to build 2,000 less houses over the plan period to 2041.

“We do fully understand that transport infrastructure is one of the key issues communities and residents want when considering our proposed new site allocations and in particular sustainable transport options.

“As a council we fully support such initiatives and are committed to continuing to work with the county council to secure the improvements that are needed.”

Harborough District Council is not expected to be adopting a new local plan until sometime in late 2026 or early 2027.

Following its current consultation, which runs until May 6th, the council will consider the feedback and decide whether to submit the draft plan to government for independent examination in the autumn.

If submitted, an independent inspector will be appointed by government to examine the draft plan before the draft plan can be adopted.