THE CONTROVERSIAL eco-town proposal for Harborough district is being put to the test in a parish poll.
The merits of the Co-op ‘Pennbury’ plan for 15,000 homes on farmland between Great Glen and Stoughton will be put before villagers in Great Glen on Wednesday, January 14.
Co-op’s proposal was earmarked as a potential site by the Government last Ap
ril.
Residents will be asked: “Do you agree with this plan? Yes or No?” The vote takes place between 4 and 9pm at Great Glen Village Hall in Main Street.
The eco-town’s border would be near to Stretton Hall and Bridgewater Drive in Great Glen.
It follows similar referenda in Thurnby and Scraptoft last June where people voted emphatically against the Co-op’s plan.
Those polls saw 1,147 people in the two parishes vote, with more than 98 per cent saying they were against the scheme.
Oliver Whitney-Coates, a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government, which will decide on a final shortlist in the Spring, said: “We know there are strong views for and against eco-towns. We have set up a consultation period where all views will be considered.”
The count is being organised by Harborough District Council but the poll itself has been arranged and paid for by Great Glen Parish Council under powers conferred on it by the Local Government Act of 1972.
The result is not legally binding but will give an indication of public opinion on the issue.
l A public meeting on the eco-town issue is taking place next Friday, January 16, at the Gilbert Murray Conference Centre in Manor Road, Oadby, from 7pm.
It has been organised by the protest group against Pennbury, the Campaign Against the Stoughton Co-op Eco-Town (Cascet).
Confirmed speakers include Harborough MP Edward Garnier, Cascet chairman Kevin Feltham, Cascet vice-chairman Simon Galton and Leicester City Councillors Ross Grant and Hussein Suleman.
The Co-op has declined an invitation to attend.
l The Department for Communities and Local Government has extended its eco-town consultation period for a further six weeks.
It was launched on November 4 last year and was due to run until February 19, 2009, but the Government has now extended that until March 6.
Oliver Whitney-Coates, a DCLG spokesman, said this was to allow for the result of the High Court’s judicial review hearing on the legality of the eco-town process.
Campaign groups in Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire have brought the case, which is due before the High Court on January 22.
Mr Whitney-Coates said it expected the hearing to last a day or a couple of days, with a decision due shortly after.
Cascet is planning to join forces with other groups in London on the day to hold a combined protest.
Those interested can contact Cascet chairman Kevin Feltham by emailing kfeltham@leics.gov.uk.
