Plan for 650 new homes reluctantly approved

Councillors have approved a plan for 650 more homes at the edge of a Leicestershire town.

The proposed houses will be built on farmland off Welford Road, adjacent to land in Wigston, where 520 homes are already being constructed, forming a wider development.

Oadby and Wigston Borough Council's planning committee raised concerns about the development's impact on surrounding roads and flooding in the area at a meeting on Thursday.

However, with officers recommending the scheme for approval, one member of the committee said they were left with "nowhere to go" and the application was given approval.

The site already had outline permission to be developed from February 2023, with the current application - from David Wilson Homes East Midlands - relating to the housing, open spaces and road layouts.

Councillor Bill Boulter said: "As much as I'd like to argue against [the scheme] and vote against it, it isn't going to matter one iota at the end of the day.

"If we don't agree with what is before us tonight, [the developer] will go to appeal and it'll be passed on appeal because we have no experts to back up what we’re saying as local people."

Councillor Colin Gore was among the members raising issues about the impact the scheme would have on the local community, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Gore said: "The county council [as the highways authority] say they are not unhappy with the increase in traffic. With respect to them, I think I know the area better."

He also raised flooding as an issue in the area, saying: "We are concreting over farmland. Flooding is going to get worse."

Severn Trent Water said it had no problem with the development and it did not believe the new homes would cause any further issues in this regard, according to planning officers.

Plans for a new community building, primary school and play areas on the site will be considered through separate applications.

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