Co-op’s eco-town bid for up to 15,000 homes on land it owns between Great Glen and Stoughton was shortlisted as one of 15 possible sites by the Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government on April 3.

The department’s head of ‘growth areas’ Henry Cleary met Harborough District Council officers behind closed doors last Wednesday afternoon prompting campaigners to stage a protest outside while the meeting was being held.

Cllr Steve Charlish, a district councillor for Billesdon, said members of Cascet (Campaign Against the Stoughon Co-op Eco-town) were frustrated at the ‘secrecy’ of the meeting.

Cllr Charlish also slammed a suggestion from Housing Minister Caroline Flint who told Channel 4 News on April 3 that the Government’s 12-week consultation into the 15 sites was ‘probably the most transparent public debate’ the country had ever seen. Cllr Charlish has complained that any fine detail about Co-op’s plans have not been revealed.

Chris Atkinson, a spokesman, for the DCLG said the consultation period, due to end on June 30, was only looking at the merits of sites in principal, not the fine detail.

Questioned by the Mail on why the DCLG felt last Wednesday’s meeting should not be held in public, Mr Atkinson said: “The department wanted private discussions with the local authority.”

He refused to expand any further on why the discussions needed to be private.

Meanwhile, the district council’s chief executive Sue Smith went on record this week as saying the process was ‘frustrating’.

She said: “At the moment we do not have enough information from DCLG to enable us to plan and announce what HDC is going to do.

“I find this very frustrating, as everyone is expecting us to be doing something, but it seems that the whole process appears to have been rushed through by the Government, which is unfortunate as it is having an impact on everyone – local communities, the bidders, and organisations such as ourselves who are also now involved.

“I understand the concerns and share the frustration of people who want to know more about the consultation.”

l Campaign group Cascet is appealing for volunteers to help with administration tasks.

Chairman Dr Kevin Feltham said this week: “We are accumulating a huge amount of information and need some help to categorise and file it, so we can access it readily for preparing responses to the consultation and key public forums.”

Helpers can phone Dr Feltham on 07771 967323 or email kfeltham@leics.gov.uk.

l Harborough MP Edward Garnier has submitted a Freedom of Information request to nine Government bodies this week asking for any documents they have about the Co-op proposal.

They include the Environment Agency, DCLG, the Highways Agency and the Department for Transport.