Harborough's new housing target is 'twice the rate of Leicester', says MP

Neil O’Brien said all parts of Leicestershire “must play their part” in meeting housing targets, which currently states that Harborough should increase its share of new homes by 42 per cent, compared to figures from 2001.

Last week, a draft local plan from Harborough District Council (HDC) – a strategic document that sets out where development can and cannot take place – set out the need to build 657 homes per year between 2020 and 2036 in the district.

The draft plan also outlines the need for 534 homes per year between 2036 and 2041 – that’s slightly down on the 557 homes a year under the 2019 Local Plan. However, Mr O’Brien said the numbers were over a third more compared to 2001’s numbers, which was “a much faster rate of growth than the national average, and twice the rate of Leicester”.

The MP said since the Labour government came into power, it had “decided to increase our housing target by 42 per cent, even as it cuts the target for Leicester by 36 per cent”. He warned to achieve the targets, it means Harborough would see less brownfield regeneration and more building on green spaces.

However, the government has claimed Harborough is not being treated differently to other areas. A spokesperson for the ministry of housing, communities and local government said: “We have inherited the worst housing crisis in living memory, which is why all areas including Harborough must play their part to deliver 1.5 million homes as part of our plan for change. This government has set out a major planning overhaul to deliver on this ambition, unblocking the barriers to building and setting out targets for councils to ramp up housebuilding, so that new homes are built where they are most needed.”

While the government’s moves have been criticised by Mr O’Brien, he has also hit out at the process which led to HDC publishing its draft local plan He said: “For something so important, the process that has led to these life-changing proposals has been appalling. It has been hopelessly untransparent all the way”.

He claimed councillors had no input into which sites were chosen for potential housing developments, and accused council leaders of seeking to avoid public discussion about choices between different sites. He said: “The list of which sites they were even choosing between was supposed to be out many months ago, but only appeared a couple of days ago.

“The plan-making process started with a terrible decision to take on extra overspill houses from Leicester, and since then we have seen every deadline missed along the way. It feels like there has been a deliberate strategy to minimise public discussion about these controversial choices”.

A HDC spokesperson said: “Harborough District Council has worked hard to meet national requirements and follow the Government’s prescribed process for local plan making. The council published its draft local plan on Wednesday, February 12 ahead of the cabinet meeting on Thursday, February 20. If cabinet recommends the draft local plan to council, council will consider on Monday, March 3 whether to approve the draft local plan for an eight-week public consultation.”

Explaining the process, the spokesperson said if the draft local plan was approved by councillors, it would go out for public consultation through a series of public events held across the district. From here, HDC would then consider responses when deciding whether to send the draft local plan to the planning inspectorate for independent examination later in the year.

The spokesperson added: “It is important to understand that the process for producing the local plan is a statutory process that is governed by national legislation, regulations, policy and guidance. The council is duty-bound to follow that specified process. The process the council has followed in preparing the new draft local plan to this point is in accordance with this nationally established prescribed process.”