An unpopular housing scheme south of Ibstock - where developers hope to squeeze a further 22 homes onto land already approved for more than 50 properties - has been dubbed "a monstrosity".

Leicestershire County Council was given permission in 2021 for 55 homes on fields off Barton Road, between the village of Barlestone and the hamlet of Osbaston.

But a more detailed planning application for the scheme by developer My Pad 2020 – which later bought the land – revealed it hopes to eventually add 22 more properties on the same site, with all the homes being classed as affordable. Last month, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council's (HBBC) plans committee deferred a decision on the latest application regarding the plans, with one councillor claiming the change to the original layout of the site to accommodate the potential extra homes was "dubious practice".

Councillors asked the developer to address concerns over gardens below the minimum size recommended by the council and a number of 'unadopted' roads in the scheme. Unadopted roads are those that haven't been built to the standard required for them to be adopted by the county council for maintenance and upkeep.

The developer did amend the layout to increase the size of the gardens, but the road plans were unchanged, prompting much concern. At HBBC's meeting last week, committee members said the issue of unadopted roads was "storing up problems for years to come".

Councillor Ozzy O' Shea said: "We need roads, proper roads to go in and out of an estate and they need to be maintained and there's only one way you can do that is by adopting it. The only way you can get proper street lighting is by adopting it."

Council leader Stuart Bray said: "I really am unhappy about this level of unadopted roads. We are storing up problems for years to come. Developers sell their houses and then they clear off. You don't see hide nor hair of them after they've sold them. And this is exactly what's going to happen in this case."

Coun Richard Allen said the unadopted roads issue was a "nightmare", while ward councillor Bill Crooks, who spoke against the plans at the meeting, also criticised the number of roads that wouldn't be adopted. He said he was "surprised" that the council's affordable housing officer had identified a need for two- and three-bed homes in the area. He claimed there were still nine empty homes on a nearby recently built estate 18 months after they were completed.

Coun Scott Gibbens said the initial plans approved by the council three years ago "looked quite nice", but labelled the additional properties as a "monstrosity" as they were all "crammed in". He asked how members were supposed to have "any confidence in outline plans when this one is completely different".

A planning agent on behalf of My Pad 2020 said it made sense to make "more efficient use of sites that already have planning permission", due to government plans to increase the numbers of new homes being built across the country. He stressed that affordable homes were needed in the borough.

Although councillors discussed the possibility of deferring the item again, the council's head of planning Chris Brown informed them there was a risk the developer would lose grant funding for the affordable homes if there was a further delay. Members then decided to delegate the decision to Mr Brown, who could make a decision in time to avoid the grant funding being withdrawn, but directing him to give "one last push" to get the roads adopted.