Council leader calls for accurate information for Great Glen residents

Published Friday 4 October 2024

Harborough District Council has been made aware of a leaflet that was recently distributed in the Great Glen area on the subject of new housing numbers.

Leader of Harborough District Council, Cllr Phil Knowles, has expressed the view that the council needs to take steps to ensure residents have facts and are not potentially receiving inaccurate information that could lead to concerns about the future. 
 
Cllr Knowles said: “My understanding is that the Deputy Prime Minister did not announce thousands of new homes would be built at Stretton Hall in Leicestershire. Sites to be brought forward for future allocation for development will come through the council’s new local plan which is subject to member decision making at Council after full public consultation early in 2025.
 
“Harborough District Council has not said 10,000 new homes are proposed on this site. We have a number of sites being considered through the council’s local plan. No final decisions have been made in relation to the sites and the council has had no conversations about a new town in the district.
 
“The council is doing technical work to prepare the all-important local plan. When this work has been completed the public will have a chance to comment on the draft plan in the ‘Regulation 19’ consultation, in line with the government’s prescribed process for the development of a local plan. The local plan will then go to full Council for decision.
 
“Rumours abound but it’s important to state facts. All of this latest speculation comes almost back-to-back with comments made in public that 1.5 million homes are to be built in Great Glen. That inaccuracy has had to be corrected by the press. Residents can be assured that Harborough District Council will give them the full facts not speculation, speculation that can only cause concern.”

The leader’s comments have been strengthened by additional information secured by Cllr Galton, Harborough District Council’s Cabinet lead for planning, which Cllr Knowles described as extremely important. In meetings with Homes England, Cllr Galton obtained clarification that the 10k+ homes referred to in the government’s New Homes Accelerator press release referred to the total of new housing numbers across all the potential housing sites listed in the press release and not just the site detailed in the Great Glen area, which was simply used as an example of a ‘stalled’ green field site. 

Cllr Galton has been informed that a letter is being drafted by the Regional Director of Homes England to the district council to explain this further and importantly clear up the concerning misinformation that been circulating.