New homes traffic will 'strangle' Hinckley, councillors warn

Traffic from major housing developments could 'strangle' a Leicestershire town, councillors have warned.

Plans for 475 new homes off the A47 Normandy Way, in Hinckley, were approved on Tuesday.

However Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council's planning committee was told major road upgrades were needed if the A47 and nearby A5 were to cope with additional traffic.

"The town is getting choked," said committee vice-chairman James Moore.

"I can't see how any level of mitigation is going to solve the problem.

"Where does it all end? It's not the case that we can just build a dual-carriageway [on Normandy Way] because there is not the money there and there's not the space.

"By going down the route of approving these ongoing developments we are strangling our own town."

The council refused planning permission for the 475 homes last year but developer Richborough Estates had that decision overturned on appeal.

The company resubmitted its plans to the borough council after Leicestershire County Council said it no longer needed to include a primary school in the scheme.

The developer has since revealed proposals for 415 more homes on an adjacent site off Normandy Way.

Councillor Stuart Bray told the committee: "It does really concern me because this is one of a number of applications in the pipeline.

"I have concerns about the impact on Normandy Way and the A5. At some point it will all come to a standstill. We know it."

The borough council said it would request a meeting to discuss the problem with National Highways and Leicestershire County Council.

National Highways said it regularly met the borough council to discuss the A5 and was studying the entire length of the road to see what upgrades were needed.

A county council spokesperson said: "We will be working with the developers, National Highways and Warwickshire County Council, as the neighbouring local highway authority, to manage the cumulative impact of development on the local and strategic highway networks."

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