Harborough MP demands answers over 4,000-home new town
Neil O'Brien MP has demanded an urgent meeting with the chair of Homes England after plans for a 4,000-home new town between Great Glen and Oadby were sent to the councils.
Earlier this month, Urban&Civic and Homes England submitted plans for a huge new town on countryside in Stretton, with the proposed development sitting across both Harborough District Council and Oadby and Wigston Council jurisdiction.
The plans show that farmland around Stretton Hall could be turned into a new neighbourhood on the 932-acre site off Gartree Road.
Neil has now written to Homes England demanding an urgent meeting with its Chair and senior officials to discuss the proposals, particularly the impact on the A6 and surrounding roads, the infrastructure needed to support the development and the Government's timetable for progressing the scheme.
Neil said: "Four thousand homes is an enormous development. It would fundamentally change the countryside between Oadby and Great Glen, and local people are rightly worried about the consequences.
"The A6 is already under enormous pressure, particularly around Great Glen and Oadby. How on earth is it supposed to cope with the traffic generated by another 4,000 homes?
"Residents are also rightly asking questions about schools, healthcare and whether the infrastructure needed to support a development of this size will actually be delivered.”
The concerns were echoed by Cllr Peter Scott, who represents Great Glen and Newton Harcourt. He has warned that the plans submitted to the council by Urban and Civic and Homes England could worsen traffic congestion and put pressure on public services.
Neil said: "Labour has already massively increased mandatory housing targets in our area – by 42 per cent in Harborough and 93 per cent in Oadby and Wigston.
"Within weeks of coming to power, Labour had already singled out Stretton Hall as a site where it wanted to accelerate housebuilding."
He has also raised concerns about what he believes is an unrealistic deadline being imposed by the Government on local councils to determine an application of this scale.
The MP said: "Now we have a huge 4,000-home new town being pushed forward, with the Government placing what I believe are completely unrealistic demands on local councils to determine this enormous planning application in an unreasonably short timeframe.
"I think the way local people are being treated is disgraceful. They deserve to be listened to, not brushed aside in a rush to get thousands of houses built.
"These are fundamental questions, not details to be worked out later. What improvements will be made to the A6 and surrounding roads? Who will pay for them? And will they be in place before thousands of new homes are occupied?
"That's why I've requested an urgent meeting with the Chair of Homes England and senior officials to understand exactly what is being proposed, how quickly the Government wants to push it through, and what guarantees local people will have about infrastructure.”
Neil has requested that the meeting take place at the earliest opportunity.
He added: “Residents deserve proper answers, not a rush to build thousands of homes without first demonstrating that the surrounding area can cope."