The Great Groby Litter Pick will take place on Saturday 23rd July, 2022 - SEE PAGE 15 FOR DETAILS
GROBY & FIELD HEAD
Spotlight
MID-JUNE 2022
DELIVERED FREE TO HOMES & BUSINESSES IN GROBY, FIELD HEAD & THE BRANTINGS
Lady Jane Grey Primary School Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
Three Parish Councils oppose Field Head housing proposal
A PROPOSAL to build up to 150 new homes has not found favour with any of the Parish Councils with an interest in it. Although the land lies within Newtown Linford parish, any development will be at the rear of houses on Leicester Road, which is part of the parish of Groby and Field Head. The residents of Markfield have an interest as their village will be the centre that any new home owners will look to for services such as schools, doctors and shops. The result is a situation where all three parishes are committed to opposing the suggested development. No planning application has been submitted, and the proposal is at the ‘consultation’ stage. Charnwood Borough Councillor David Snartt told Newtown Linford ParishCouncil (NLPC), at a recent meeting, that although the land concerned was not included in the Draft Charnwood Local Plan, which is now at the formal examination stage, representations have been made by Pegasus Group on behalf of Davidsons Developments to get this changed. To the layman this will sound very familiar to the situation that Groby may find itself in with regard to site of a suggested trading estate on land off Anstey Lane.
ON WEDNESDAY and Thursday the 25th and 26th of May, the children of Lady Jane Grey celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style.
As part of the celebrations, the school also planted an Oak tree in front of the school. The school chose the youngest and the oldest child to assist Mr FitzGerald in planting the tree, and every child in the school has painted a Jubilee stone to mark the occasion.
The children were able to spend time learning about Queen Elizabeth, her reign and how Britain has changed over the last 70 years. As well as the learning, the children were able to create many different crafts with their classes. Every child had the opportunity to make bunting, their own royal crowns, flags, decorated plates, painting the Queen’s portrait and making a memento out of clay to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee. Other crafts made included tissue silhouettes, windmill spinners, fortune tellers etc. We were also able to theme our school P.E. lessons for the 2 days to include traditional British playground games such as British Bulldog (an adapted version), Hide and Seek, Hopscotch, Skipping and Marbles.
On the final day, the whole school came together to have a garden party in the school grounds. The children loved this with traditional British party songs being played and sung, the conga, playground games and jelly and ice cream. Lots of laughter and merriment was had by all the pupils and staff and the party culminated in the whole school standing together to sing the National Anthem in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Chair of NLPC said how vitally important it is for as many people as possible to submit comments once a planning application is registered, adding that the council could not declare their position until an application had been submitted and plans had been thoroughly considered by Councillors. To do so, the Chair said, would be considered predetermination before an application is formally lodged. Residents who addressed the meeting expressed their concerns about environmental and traffic issues, adding that since December 2021, a mature hedgerow had been flailed, a pond was now dry and trees had been removed. There was a loss of habitats and species including frogs and newts and it was felt this work had been undertaken to make the planning process easier for the developers. Markfield Parish Council members are concerned about the impact any development might have on the village, and decided that their response to the consultation should indicate their opposition to the proposal. As reported last month Markfield Councillor Matthew Lay has written comprehensively about the consultation and Markfield Borough Council fully supported his comments. Members of the public also attended the May meeting of Groby Parish Council and voiced their concerns, and the fact that initial works to trees and hedgerows had already been carried out. It was unanimously resolved for Groby Parish Council to oppose the proposed development. They also decided to engage with the two neighbouring Parish Councils of Markfield and Newtown Linford, to request that the Parishes work together and to ask whether consideration could be given to sharing the costs of the services of a Planning Lawyer should a formal planning application be submitted. The Field Head residents in attendance were assured that they had the full support of the three Field Head Councillors and the Parish Council.
Norman Griffiths
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