22
Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-MAY 2022 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk
Field Head housing proposal opposed by local residents ALTHOUGH Parish boundaries result in Field Head falling within Groby Parish Council for administrative purposes, for the infrastructure which affects day to day life it is essentially part of Markfield.
The nearest schools, medical facilities, shops, and employment are all in Markfield. Any development in Field Head inevitably has consequences for the village, but residents of this development will never contribute to the Markfield community because they will pay local taxes to Charnwood and Newtown Linford Councils. They will also have no democratic say on how the community operates or how resources are allocated. The news that Davidsons Builders are consulting on the provision of between 100 and 150 new homes on a land locked wedge of land between Leicester Road and Markfield Lane, near the Fieldhead Hotel, has been met with dismay from Field Head and Markfield residents already alarmed by the attractiveness of the area to speculative development. Davidsons Homes has put together proposals for the land, and would like to build on their 15.9 acre site. Harvey Singh, 45, who lives off Leicester Road in Field Head told the Leicester Mercury that the company has bought two properties, presumably to connect the development to local roads. The access location suggested is on a bend in Markfield Lane, where the limit is 40mph but
the traffic often goes much faster. “It’s going to be dangerous for traffic turning out on Leicester Road” he said. “Most people will be turning to go onto the A50 and that roundabout is already very busy at times and dangerous because of the speed of traffic crossing the roundabout from the M1 direction towards Leicester. There will be more queues and more accidents.” Mr Singh added that although a 13ft-wide lane joining the site with Leicester Road had been suggested, this would be a pedestrian route for children walking to school, and would be dangerous as it is a rightof-way for vehicles. The group formed to oppose the proposal also intends to draw attention to the impact on wildlife. “There has been work already carried out to the site,” explained local resident Linda Allen. “Mature trees have been removed, and a hedgerow has been flailed to virtually nothing. This time last year and in previous years it has been home to an array of birds and wildlife.” The challenge the residents face is not to be underestimated, and they are appealing for support from the wider community. The site does not have planning permission, but it is reported that the land is earmarked as being suitable for a residential development of up to 150 homes. The Charnwood Borough Council view is said to be that the site is in a suitable location in terms of its access to Markfield, a sustainable location in the Hinckley and Bosworth Core Strategy. But it is this proximity to Markfield which gives weight to the argument that any development of the site
should be considered in the context of the overall vision for the village. Matthew Lay, Borough Councillor for Markfield, has written a comprehensive letter to the agents for the developer, explaining that Markfield has taken steps to provide for its housing requirements, and has a Neighbourhood Plan which has allocated land to the south of the village. This is a significant allocation that is underway and will lead to 284 houses being built over the next 10 years, providing 112 affordable housing units. The Neighbourhood Plan, Cllr Lay explained, ensures that the settlement of Markfield benefits from enhanced protection in national planning policy. This enhanced protection includes a variation of the requirement for a Planning Authority to maintain a 5 year supply of deliverable housing sites. For communities with a Neighbourhood Plan this is reduced to 3 years supply, which the Borough Council currently satisfies. The Plan also delivers its housing requirement up to 2039 in full. We will have to see whether Charnwood Borough Council, who will be responsible for determining any planning application in due course, will take all these factors into account. Some residents may feel that the boundary issue provides the potential developer with a back door into Markfield. What is clear to most, however, is that neither developers nor planning authorities should be allowed to cherry pick the rules in boundary situations like this.
Norman Griffiths
‘It comes to something when the state of the pound is such that we hope to find lots of foreign coins!’
Look, it’s simple - if caterpillars eat it, it’s compostable. If maggots & rats eat it, it’s waste. Everything else is recycled.
Did you spot all 10 differences?
1. Colour of Kite, 2. Boy on hill, 3. Boy stood in different direction, 4. Extra Hill, 5. Heel patches on boy’s shoes, 6. One eyebrow missing, 7. Different colour sleeves, 8. Bottom teeth on second boy, 9. Hand missing on kite of second boy, 10. One fewer bows on second boy’s kite
CREATE instant designer stubble by sucking a magnet and dipping your chin in a bowl of iron filings.
