Plans for 10 homes in Harborough village get refused by planning inspector

A planning inspector has ruled that Harborough District Council was correct to refuse permission for 10 homes on land south of Dingley Road in the village.

Planning inspector GJ Fort concluded that the public benefits of the scheme did not outweight the harm it would do to Great Bowden’s conservation area.

Local councillor Phil Knowles said he was “delighted”.

“People will know that over recent years Great Bowden has seen a huge increase in the number of properties being built in and around the village” Cllr Knowles said.

“This is an important decision because the infrastructure of Great Bowden is already creaking.”

Langton Developments Limited had wanted to build 10 homes, with open space, with access off Dingley Road.

The council’s planning committee refused the application in November, 2017. Langton Developments appealed against the decision.

The inspector Mr Fort said he considered the main issue in the appeal to be “the proposed development’s effects on the setting and significance of adjacent heritage assets”.

These include medieval ridge and furrow fields, listed old brick gate piers, the houses on Dingley Road opposite the development, the adjacent cemetery and the village’s conservation area generally.

The inspector said: “The proposed development would be at a relatively low density, and would leave portions of the site towards Dingley Road and at its top and bottom corners adjoining the cemetery open and landscaped.

“Nevertheless it would introduce a considerable amount of development, not only the proposed houses, but also their related garages, accesses, and the estate road itself onto the site.”

He said the new houses would be “visually prominent” and “intrusive” in views from the cemetery.

He added that Harborough Dirtict Council now had an almost seven year supply of deliverable housing sites around the district.