Internal review launched by council into controversial scheme to redevelop elderly people’s housing complex in Harborough

An urgent internal review is to be launched by Harborough council into a high-profile but under-fire scheme to redevelop an elderly people’s housing complex in Market Harborough.

The high-level investigation will be carried out into the controversial blueprint to knock down a cluster of homes and build 38 new houses at Naseby Square, off Stuart Road.

The initiative is being pushed through by Harborough District Council and Platform Housing Group.

And it has sparked a firestorm of fury in Market Harborough since residents received letters from their landlord in 2018 warning their homes were to be demolished.

The new internal inquiry will have no impact on the application to build affordable homes on the town’s Southern Estate site which will be looked at by the authority’s planning committee tomorrow night (Tuesday).

A Harborough council spokesman said: “A number of concerns have been raised, which we are reviewing.

“These do not impact upon the planning application itself.

“The outcome of the review will be discussed publicly via our Governance and Audit Committee.”

The new council investigation is being backed by Cllr Phil Knowles, who leads the Liberal Democrat group on the council.

Cllr Knowles told the Harborough Mail: “I’ve been calling for this urgent review for many months – and I warmly welcome the move.

“We have to shine a bright spotlight on this whole strange affair.

“We seriously need to understand quickly what’s been done right and what’s been done wrong – both internally and externally.”

The veteran councillor added: “I am pleased that this inquiry will be carried out under the watchful eye of the council’s chief executive.

“This is very positive step forward – and it’s a crucial thing to do, both for the people who live there and the wider community.

“The council has a lot of questions to answer about the entire process here.

“What could we have done better?

“How and why could this controversial plan have been handled so much better for the people caught up in the middle of this?

“We have to learn vital lessons for the future so that we do not repeat the same mistakes.”

Over 800 furious people have signed petitions slamming the Naseby Square project since the shell-shocked tenants of 19 bungalows were told by Waterloo Housing in May 2018 that their beloved homes were to be knocked down.

“This whole sorry saga has dragged on now for nigh on three years – since the poor people on Naseby Square received ‘almost’ letters of eviction.

“Talk about shocking.

“This close-knit community, dating back to the 1950s, was suddenly being broken up out of the blue and the stressed-out elderly residents there treated very badly,” said Cllr Knowles.

“I’ve spoken to many of the people who live there and understand their anger and huge upset at how this has been carried out.

“Democracy has to be done here and we must make sure that, as a council, we never have to deal with another Naseby Square situation in the future.”