Another 70 homes added to new development

A developer has been given the green light to build a further 70 homes as part of a wider housing project in a Leicestershire town.

Councillors approved the scheme off Lake Terrace in Melton Mowbray despite developer G S Property Holdings telling the committee it cannot afford to contribute to health, education and other services through a Section 106 agreement.

Leicestershire County Council and the NHS have said they need roughly £2m to pay for the infrastructure and services the residents in the homes will need.

The new homes will include 10 affordable bungalows, with the rest of the properties to be sold on the open market.

A viability report showed the developer could not afford to make financial contributions to infrastructure and services due to the "significant abnormal costs" of developing the site, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

At a previous meeting, a planning agent speaking on behalf the developer said the company would give the borough and county council £580,000 as part of a financial agreement known as an overage payment should planning permission be granted.

The committee on Melton Borough Council voted in December to defer its decision to allow planning officers time to investigate alternative sources of funding which might enable the developer to make a S106 contribution.

In a report, planning officers said there were two grants the scheme would be eligible for – but the grants can only be applied for once planning permission is already in place, and even then, the applications might be unsuccessful.

Councillor Siggy Atherton described the situation as a "catch-22", and said the developer would win "hands down" at appeal should it be refused.

But she added: "Travelling through Melton this last couple of mornings, it's mayhem. With more households having at least two cars – that's just [the impact] on the roads without thinking schools, doctors."

Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.