Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors blocked a proposed increase in housing numbers by 41 per year until 2042 in North West Leicestershire District Council's draft local plan. 

At the council's Local Plan Committee last month, members were asked to approve an increase from 686 new homes a year to 727 a year.

The five Labour councillors on the Committee, supported by two Liberal Democrats, defeated the proposal which had been backed by all of the Conservative members.

Labour's spokesperson for planning, Cllr John Legrys, said: "The figure of 686 has already been agreed by our Tory/Lib Dem council with the other Leicestershire authorities in a signed statement of common ground and we see no reason to hike it further. 

"It is already nearly 1,000 more over the plan period than the new Labour government's allocation for North West Leicestershire. 

"We see no justification in planning for even more new houses when the new government has reduced the allocation for Leicester City, some of which we were being asked to absorb. 

"Negotiations with the City and other Leicestershire districts have reopened in the light of the new government allocations and we have made it clear to the council that we will not tolerate a further increase in housing numbers.

"The plan period has now been extended by two years to 2042, which will, in itself, mean that we have to find suitable sites for nearly 1,400 more houses over the new plan period. It would make no sense to blight yet more of our countryside for development in the distant future." 

The council reported that, at the meeting, members discussed extending the plan period and the implications of doing so. 

They were broadly supportive, as doing so would give the Council additional flexibility and latitude.

An extensive debate was had about increasing the required annual number of dwellings. 

But a group of members suggested that they were opposed to the increase as the current figure of 686 had been derived from known requirements and there was no uncertainty around that figure at this moment. 

Alternatively, some members felt that proactively increasing the requirement in expectation of possible future increases in the housing requirement would be prudent, as these prospective changes would already be accommodated in the plan, which was subject to significant time pressures.

The Planning Policy and Land Charges Team Manager advised why the proactive approach was preferable, set out the reasons for expecting a higher minimum requirement in the future and the timeline for expecting the new Statement of Common Ground with other local authorities in Leicestershire, and said that there was no reason to expect or plan for a higher figure than 727. 

He also clarified that the 727 figure would require the allocation of additional sites in the draft plan, and if this meant significant moderation to the draft plan was required, consideration would be given to undertaking further public consultations, though he was wary of the time pressures. 

 The Legal Advisor intervened and said that this was an evolving process, and Members must keep an open mind and be led by the evidence presented to them.