CPRE Leicestershire

Leicestershire will be taking the brunt of provision for new homes within the area defined by the Draft East Midlands Regional Plan as 'The Three Cities Sub-Area'. This Draft Plan sets out what is supposed to be a sustainable future for the East Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). Cutting across the normal process of Regional Planning has been an initiative from the Government called 'Growth Point Planning'. This has not been subject to the normal process of public consultation and the extra housing has simply been added to the original housing projections for the region. More information about the RSS can be accessed at http://www.goem.gov.uk/goem/psc/suscom/rss/eastmidlandsplan/

'Growth-point planning' is supposed to be all about sustainability. This doesn't mean ripping off and mis-treating the environment in the way that has been carried out in the past - it means quite the opposite; in a nutshell, not robbing future generations of the largely natural benefits enjoyed by those of the present. By definition, anything sustainable is an activity that can continue ad infinitem so long as what is consumed is instantly renewed. Since we all, in effect, are living on what was once a green-field site the use of 'sustainable' in planning terms rings a bit hollow. With net population growth increasing it is difficult to see how we can achieve sustainability. A planning concept that has come into common parlance is that of the 'Sustainable Urban Extension'.

Growth-point development and Sustainable Urban Extensions ideally mean less distance for the daily commute and - if public transport can run efficiently - less dependence on our cars and less pollution. It also means, through the aid of government grants, town centre regeneration and more jobs in urban locations. The total funding (approximately £5.5M) for the 'Three Cities' is a powerful incentive for local authorities to go along with the Department of Communities and Local Government's aims. Although this might sound a lot, it amounts to just over £10 per new dwelling - not a lot when it comes to tackling unsustainability and carbon-obesity! The Regional Spatial Strategy Review is unfortunately target-driven by the provision of new homes, rather than the promotion of balanced sustainable development.

Theoretically good as an ideal - people living near to where they work in affordable and well-designed homes with a second-to-none public transport system. There has to be a down-side - energy and water supply are rapidly becoming hugely problematic; no one has yet bitten the bullet on either of these issues and at least one aspect, that of sewage, waste water and drainage, doesn't seem to be at the top of anyone's list. The other bullet to bite is whether or not to generate electrical power within urban limits and distribute the 'waste' heat to nearby homes, businesses, hospitals and schools and to encourage micro-generation generally.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England is fighting for a sustainable future at the forthcoming RSS Examination in Public. If you have particular views please let us know by contacting Leicestershire CPRE at cpre@quorncpre.co.uk or PO Box 7986, Loughborough, LE12 8XT.

Development south of Loughborough spreading its tentacles into the valley of the River Soar and the hills of Charnwood Forest.

April 10th, 2009.

The provision of new housing (and employment land) is causing great concern. The figures below relate to the Market Housing Areas in the county, as published in the March 2009 East Midlands Regional Plan. The numbers of dwellings per annum to be supplied up to 2026, presumably mainly on greenfield sites, pose a threat to the country's food security and also raise flooding issues in certain areas, not to mention landscape protection.

 

This table summarises the total housing provision for the county:

These new homes are to be delivered via the county's local planning authorities, through Local Development Frameworks.  Many of the LDFs have undertaken public Core Strategy Consultations which attempt to determine the most sustainable locations.  To that effect local authorities have engaged public participation through workshops and local newspaper information.  Charnwood Borough Council, for example, sent out by post a card to every household in the Borough giving details of consultation venues and dates, as well as preferred and alternative directions for growth.

It would seem that the numbers of houses tabulated above will fail to be delivered, given the economic recession. Even so, it appears that the Regional Plan is interpreted by some as a builders' charter.  While the most sustainable direction for the growth of Loughborough has clearly to be in a westward direction, developers have already floated proposals for an eastward extension at Cotes.  More recently, another alternative has been proposed for a large extension on the south-westward flank of Loughborough, extending to the beautiful Outwoods.  The pictures below show how close the suburban fringe of Loughborough is to this special part of Charnwood Forest.

Incidentally, that's not water in the middle distance, it's biodegradable crop protection film laid over maize, sown for cattle-feed. The school beyond that is Woodbrook Vale High and the spire of the chapel at Shelthorpe Crematorium can be seen in the distance.  Not only is the town of Loughborough very close to this high-quality landscape, infilling the gap with 'development' would almost certainly attract a distributor road between the A512, close to M1 junction 23 and the A6 to the south of the town.  This would be a strategically significant transport infrastructure development and therefore could be a seductive factor in considering an alternative to the preferred option to the north of the A512, adjacent to M1 J23.  

Not unnaturally, action groups are mounting opposition to these proposals.  The group's website opposing the preferred option can be viewed here and the opposition to the alternative south-western proposal is here.

To the south of Charnwood Borough the Regional Plan dictates that large additions of housing and employment land must be made adjacent to the Principle Urban Area, which is planningspeak for 'Leicester'.  Again this is causing much consternation, particularly as developers are proposing much larger schemes than those envisaged in the Local Development Framework. 

At the end of June 2009 a consultation process begins, undertaking a Partial Review of the East Midlands Regional Plan.  This will result in the publication of  the Revised Regional Plan in late 2011/early 2012.  Given the prevailing economic constraints and the likelihood that the ability to deliver new homes will be severely restricted the outcome should be interesting, though as we've seen with LDF consultations, it's not everyone's bedtime reading.