Controversial 185-home 'village extension' approved

The new homes will be built on fields to the south of Countesthorpe

A controversial 185-home development on the edge of a Leicestershire village has been approved.

Blaby planners ruling on the plan off Willoughby Road in Countesthorpe granted permission to Davidsons Developments by a split decision on Tuesday night.

Despite the scheme asking for a lower number of homes, reduced from an initial 205, the application remained divisive with more than 600 letters of objection filed.

Concerns had been raised about the seven-acre scheme including a lack of infrastructure, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Countesthorpe Parish Council was among those to object.

In its statement to Blaby District Council, it said: “You will read a lot of comments from residents about lack of school places, inability to get an appointment at the health centre, the long queues to get in and out of the village at peak times, lack of leisure facilities, flooding, sewage problems, the strength of roads, the width of the pavements, the danger on the roads.

“They are real, lived consequences of Countesthorpe’s infrastructure being already overloaded.”

Applicant Davidsons said the development would form an “extension” to Countesthorpe and contributions to local education, travel and other amenities would be made to help mitigate the impact of the housing.

A quarter of the scheme - 46 homes - will be classed as “affordable”.