First chunk of a giant new estate in Harborough set to get the go-ahead after being backed by planning officers

The first chunk of a giant new estate in Market Harborough is set to get the go-ahead after being backed by planning officers.

The Davidsons Homes scheme to build an initial 164 homes, including 56 ‘affordable’ properties, on land by Coleridge Way off Kettering Road is being recommended for approval.

The blueprint will form just the first part of a 88-acre project to build 600 homes at Clack Hill at the top of Kettering Road by the busy A6.

You can see from our aerial pictures here, taken by our photographer Andy Carpenter, just how big this development to the south of the town will be as it starts to take shape.

The scheme, to be called Overstone Park, will include a primary school, medical centre and community centre.

And it will bring well over 1,000 more people – including many families – into Market Harborough over the next few years.

A new roundabout will also be built at the entrance to the site to help deal with a much greater weight of traffic generated by the huge housing estate.

The 164-home application was to have been discussed and dealt with by Harborough District Council’s planning committee at a meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday).

But the meeting is now poised to be adjourned to a later date following a landmark High Court ruling last Tuesday (May 4).

The High Court ruled that “local authority meetings must be open to the public in a physical sense”.

“We have had to review the arrangements for the Planning Committee on Tuesday 11 May and will seek to adjourn the meeting to a future date,” said Harborough council.

“This will ensure we can comply with the Government’s current Covid restrictions to ensure the health and safety of all those participating at the meeting.

“We will share further information about arrangements for meetings as soon as possible.”