Newbold Verdon: Rejected homes development plans re-submitted

Developers plan to build 239 homes near the Windmill Inn in Brascote Lane, Newbold Verdon

Plans to build 239 homes on village fields in Leicestershire have been re-submitted, two months after councillors rejected the first application.

The development on land in Brascote Lane, Newbold Verdon, was rejected despite the land being allocated for homes in the council's draft plans.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council said there were more suitable sites in the borough.

Developers said they have "directly" addressed concerns raised.

Councillors refused the previous application at a planning committee meeting in September, although the land, near the Windmill Inn, being earmarked for up to 221 homes in the council's draft 2020 to 2041 plan.

There were also almost 40 objections with people concerned about traffic problems and the pressure on village services, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One objector Robin King described the land as "the very personification of rurality".

Newbold Verdon Parish Council had also objected, saying they feared the development would escalate speeding problems in the area.

'Safe and suitable access'

However, Leicestershire County Council's highways team found the application to be acceptable subject to planning conditions.

Developers Richborough Estates said the team found the development "provides safe and suitable access for all users including pedestrians, will not have an unacceptable impact on highway safety, and that cumulative traffic impacts on the road network would not be severe".

Ward councillor, Robin Webber-Jones said a road next to the land had been built in the 13th Century, adding: "The road system around there has never been widened and has never got any bigger. It has been tarmacked and that's about it.

"I find it bizarre... highways is suggesting this is wholly acceptable because I think it absolutely wholly isn't."

Councillor Brian Sutton praised the application, which includes a new park, saying: "This is not a recreational site. It is private land.

"When it is finished you've got a hell of a good park area there. The amount of recreational ground that will be there, it is not there at the moment. It outweighs a lot of objections."

Richborough Estates has now submitted a new application, along with a statement claiming it "directly addresses the concerns expressed by the planning committee".

The company has also launched an appeal against the council's decision on its previous application.

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