Protest over 4,500 homes plan near to M1 Lubbesthorpe New Town - Source Leicester Mercury 21/09/09

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Planning officials have been accused of ignoring the Leicestershire public over plans to build more than 4,500 new homes.

Residents living close to the proposed site told officers from Blaby District Council at a meeting last night there had been a lack of consultation over proposals to develop 1,000 acres of land to the west of the M1, near Leicester Forest East.

More than 250 people crammed in to the village's parish centre to hear council representatives outline the plans, though many said afterwards they feared it was already a done deal.

Bev Mitchinson, acting chair of the parish council, called for the opportunity for "full and meaningful" input from residents in future.

She said: "We do not support the argument that this site is the best option available. "We ask Blaby District Council to address the serious affect this development will have on our residents and the resources that are already overstretched with the overflow from Thorpe Astley."

Villager Roger Green, 65, added: "We accept we have got to have a percentage of houses, but we seem to have to take it all in one place. We will be lobbying against the proposals but it feels like it is already a done deal."

Gary Clarke, planning policy manager for the district council, argued that the site had been chosen following five years of research and numerous feasibility studies.

He said efforts to reduce the Government-imposed target to build 7,600 houses in the district had been rejected by Whitehall.

"We are not saying everything is perfect," he said. "We know there are issues and challenges that we have to address.
"But we have been given a target that we have to meet."

Under the proposals, the site, which is bordered by the M1 to the east and Beggars Lane to the west, would include three new primary schools, a secondary school, health care facilities and shopping areas, for a predicted 10,000 new residents.

Alternative sites at Glenfield and to the west of Kirby Muxloe have been rejected by Blaby District Council as untenable. Included in the plans is a 20-hectare site to be developed for factory and office space to the south of M69, in Enderby.

A six-week consultation period ends on September 10, at which point the council will submit its strategy to Whitehall.

Update - 30th October 2009

Latest information from Blaby District Council regarding Site C.
The District Council are currently considering the representations received on the Core Strategy (some 700 representations were received by the District Council). The initial programme had submission to the Secretary of State in September 2009, which did not happen due to the above considerations.

Once the District Council has considered all those representations they wll advise their Cabinet Members on how best to proceed with the Core Strategy. The District Council will keep all parties updated on progress.

Area " C " covers the area south of Forest House Lane Beggars Lane, to the M69 to the south and the M1 to the east

You can view the 58 page report by following this link to the Blaby District Council web site >> Blaby District Council Local Development Framework - Core Strategy Draft Submission (version 2) <<

The cross hatched area currently farmland and the proposed location of the 4500 new homes.

Old Warren Farm, New House Farm Hopyard Farm and Abbey Farms will be swollowed up and lost in this new estate

Tenants of the farms will have to leave to enable the new homes to be built.

Access points marked X are through Thorpe Astley near to the Royal Mail Sorting Office and towards M1 Junction 21 & the M69.

A possible footway cycle route is proposed across the M1 to the north of junction 21 to Thorpe Astley

An employment area is also proposed the south of the M69 with a link bridge providing access directly from the housing development.

400 homes are expected to be built per year from 2013/14 with the last of the 4500 houses being available in 2025/26.

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Petition the Prime Minister to stop Blaby District Council from developing valuable green belt land to build 4,500 new homes. >> Sign the Petition << opens a new window to the official site of the Prime Ministers Office

Clerk Details: Sue Jones, 23 Seymour Way, Leicester Forest East, Leicester, LE3 3LY

Telephone : 0116 239 2198 Fax: 0116 239 2198 Email susanljones23@ntlworld.com

The following comments were made on the article by readers of the Leicester Mercury.

This is a cracking idea.People have got to live somewhere and I'm always in favour of new house building Mr LFE, LFE commented on 21-Aug-2009 14:46

Me'thinks I'll open a tea/coffes shop at Booze buster, they'll be plenty of customers in stationary traffic to serve Sofa Tester, L.F.E. (The Traffic Jam Parish) commented on 21-Aug-2009 14:43

Why don't they build on top of the M1 too? Pablo, Birmingham commented on 21-Aug-2009 13:55

Where is Mr LFE in this debate- he is always in favour of new house building so I thought he would be on saying this is a great idea. Paul, Hamilton commented on 21-Aug-2009 13:39

So Blaby District Council decides LFE is the best place for another 5,000+ homes? - Well BDC you need to think on this FACT. Currently the A47 is at CAPACITY at rush hour. Even if every household within this new development only had one car, that would create another 5k vehicles needing access onto the A47 - How on earth will these vehicles be able to gain access, when currently some days the tail backs are from the Braunstone Cross Roads to the Desford cross roads(some 3 miles) Add to this the FACT that the air quality within LFE during rush hour periods is very poor, so much so, that it nears the danger levels on many occasions, again a fact that BDC chooses to ignore.

Another 5k cars pollution will ensure these levels far exceed the legal limits.So BDC have a little think on this matter, residents of LFE pay higher council tax than many for living in a supposidley better area, with excellent surroundings and above all quality of life should be in keeping with the charges you make. If this plan goes ahead and pollution does worsen (which it will) I will be the first to chair a committe to ensure that the council tax of EVERY RESIDENT in LFE is REDUCED as our quality of life will be drastically reduced and pollution levels increased to a very unacceptable level.

Belive me, I succeeded with the council tax increase and I WILL succeed in ensuring a reduction in council tax payments for EVERONE in our parish. This plan is completely un acceptable to the residents of LFE, Lubbesthorpe and Enderby and if those parishes join my petition, believe you me you will have a very large number of residents to argue with. So please think very carefully before you pass this one for permission!!- It could cost you a small fortune?? stuart coar, Leicester Forest East commented on 21-Aug-2009 13:05

My problem with this proposal is the sheer scale of it,an extra 7-8000 cars 4 Hinckley Road & Narboro Road. The loss of 1000 acres of countryside. Yet another Business Park!!! to add to Carlton Park,Warrens Park.Fosse Park.Grove Park & the Park & Ride. This area has been hammered because of its closeness to the motorway.The other suprising thing here is the amount of people in Enderby & LE19 who are not aware of the proposal & or think it just affects LFE. This proposal joins Enderby to LFE !! The "roadshow" was in Enderby for 1 day & was NOT highly publised.The other question of course is why are these houses actually needed??? j, Enderby commented on 21-Aug-2009 13:00

Let them build them!, i dont live anywhere near there, so am not bothered by all this sour grape cake eater, North leicester commented on 21-Aug-2009 12:49

As ever the resident of LFE have been let down and badly represented by their Local Council (BDC). At the meeting, we were spoken AT and consulted with, as BDC will put this proposal forward with no alterations and DO NOT have to take on board public opinionOur local MP was not in attendance - no surprise

See my other comments from an earlier story on this website at http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Proposals-4-500-home-development-outlined/article-1264216-detail/article.html# Leicester Mercury 19 Aug 2009 (previous comments follow below)**

As a community we can offer our comments if they are based on planning reasons but they must be submitted to BDC by 10th SeptemberA view of how much BDC think of Leicester Forest East is shown in the text of the Transport document, where LFE is only refered to as the "A47 Corridor" Sorry BDC you have let us down as a community and you only want to talk AT us and not consult with us.Maybe you are all in the wrong job ! Peter, LFE commented on 21-Aug-2009 11:49

Further comments from the same writer on an earlier story are below Source Leicester Mercury 19 Aug 2009

** The "Exhibition" held in LFE last night was well attended by local's, but poorly represented by Blaby Council, who had 3 representitives delivering the same message. .

This was that:
1) This was the plan that BDC will be presenting to the relevant bodies as their plan - and that no changes will now be made by BDC as they see this as the solution.

2) Public opinion will not make any difference to BDC, but can only be made via official channels in writing by September 10th and this will be passed to others to view (not BDC) and "may" be considered in the future independant assessment, expected in Feb/march 2010

3) No other locations or option will be considered by BDC, as this is their plan . FULL STOP

4) There are no more details than covered in their strategy document, which does not include details on anything such as how the volume of transport to the area will work - not the problem at this stage, as this comes once the full green light is given.

5) BDC accept that transport is one of the major problems and that planned access routes are only via 3 points: A47 Hinckley Road, Enderby end of Beggars Lane & via bridge connection to Thorpe Astley (near post office/roundabout)

Unfortunately, access to the traffic report they referred to at the meeting was not available (it had gone missing) and can not be downloaded from their website at present (as there is a website problem)

6) No consideration will be given to the residents of LFE in the district of Blaby at this time - as this is their plan

7) BDC & other bodies WOULD consider an althernate plan should any individual wish to put this together and submit before 10th September (at their cost and without the support of BDC no doubt)

Summary
As usual, LFE is badly represented by Blaby District Council and thier plan remains flawed at many levels.

An interesting comment was made by a BDC representitive, saying "if BDC do not put forward a workable plan, then developers would be able to challenge any planning decision, so it is better to have a plan"

In my personal opinion, as far as BDC is concerned LFE/Lubbesthorpe is a suitable solution to "dump" all deelopment in a single area, at a cost to the local environment, well being and life style/culture, as they simply cannot develop a better plan across their whole district.

BDC, you have let the people of LFE down with this poor plan and I urge all residents to voice their opinion as they feel appropriate - mine will be to try to prevent the planned BDC destruction of LFE and of the scenic countryside of Lubbesthorpe/Beggars Lane are.

If BDC cannot do better for the residents of LFE & BDC as a whole, then maybe they are in the wrong job and should move on - one question to all involved at BDC - Where do you live, and what do you personally feel about the destruction of a greenbelt area and a local community?

Public Meeting Thursday 20th 7pm LFE Parish Hall - please attend (including BDC), it could be interesting !
Peter, LFE )

As a community we can offer our comments if they are based on planning reasons but they must be submitted to BDC by 10th September A view of how much BDC think of Leicester Forest East is shown in the text of the Transport document, where LFE is only refered to as the "A47 Corridor"Sorry BDC you have let us down as a community and you only want to talk AT us and not consult with us. Maybe you are all in the wrong job ! Peter, LFE commented on 21-Aug-2009 11:49

Where will all the extra traffic from this propsal go? the roads are already at full stretch. The road structure around Kirby Muxloe is in a better position to take the traffic.Also where are all the jobs for these new residents? There are plenty of people in the area already looking for jobs.The land that you propose to build on is prime agricultural land and I thought that we were going to need as much of that as possible in the near future. Leicester Forest Eeast seems to be the dumping ground for everything. S M Watkin, Leicester Forest East commented on 21-Aug-2009 11:19

"More than 250 people crammed in to the village's parish centre to hear council representatives outline the plans, though many said afterwards they feared it was already a done deal."
A DONE DEAL??? Say it aint so...ooops Ohhh sorry for the intrusion I thought I was reading the West Bridge article,..... Mr A, leics commented on 21-Aug-2009 11:15