Council postpones decision over new housing estate

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council voted to postpone a decision on the future of a 120-home development off Kirkby Road in Desford

A proposed new housing estate in Leicestershire was likened to a "really unpleasant rash" by a councillor as a local authority voted to postpone a decision on the development.

Plans to build 120 homes at Ashfield Farm, off Kirkby Road, Desford, were approved by the government in 2023 after Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council rejected the proposals four times.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said Davidsons Development hoped to move forward with the next stage of the scheme, including details like the layout of the estate, and the size and style of the homes.

But the council raised concerns about the number of private roads in the plans and this week voted to defer a decision.

'Just keeps coming back'

Councillors on the authority's planning committee also expressed concerns over proposed management fees to pay for the future upkeep of the development's roads, labelling them as "stealth taxes".

They also criticised the site's layout, such as the positioning of green spaces next to open fields rather than between new and existing homes, and called for a traffic management plan to be provided before construction begins.

Councillor Richard Allen said: "I've been dealing with this one for longer than I care to remember.

"It's like one of those really unpleasant rashes which just keeps coming back."

Warning that the council was "storing up problems for the future" by approving developments with lots of unadopted roads, council leader Stuart Bray said it was a "real problem".

"What happens is that people buy these new houses," Bray said. "They get all excited. And they don't realise in 10 years' time they're going to end up with a huge bill to repair the roads.

"I want us to take the strongest line that we can possibly take to make sure that as many roads in this borough going forward are adopted."

Richard Henderson, a planning manager at Davidsons, said the scheme would be "high quality" and "well designed", adding the 40 affordable homes were a benefit.

Councillors voted unanimously to defer the decision so planning officers could discuss the committee's concerns.