Whitwick Parish Council has made a number of concerns known about North West Leicestershire District Council's draft local plan about proposals to develop the land.

In an open letter, the Parish Council has responded to the recent consultation, and highlighted West Whitwick/South of Church Lane, New Swannington, Broom Leys Farm and the site of the former Hermitage Leisure Centre.

The letter says Whitwick Council is providing 'feedback' and has accused the District Council of being 'disingenuous' when it came to the future of the Hermitage site.

It points out that 'a few bungalows for old people' were promised, but has now changed to 'around 32 homes'

Councillors also have concerns over traffic levels around New Swannington and Broom Leys Farm.

About the plans for New Swannington, the Parish Council has raised the following matters.

• The fields proposed retain significant amounts of flood water. Where will this go?

• The roads are unsuitable for heavy traffic

• The school in New Swannington takes children from the local area but also from outside areas too.

• Church lane is extremely busy and also dangerous at school drop off and collection times

• There is very little footpath and it would be impossible to make this safe for children to walk

• Traffic travels along the lane far faster than the speed limit

• The current infrastructure will not support 500 additional homes with an extra 300 proposed in C48

• The lanes surrounding the areas are flooding on a regular basis, so already having an impact on the existing homes

• Where will this excess water go if 500+ homes and a further 300 in C48 area are built on already flooding areas?

• All sewage and waste water will travel down an already unsuitable system towards Osgathorpe. There are currently significant problems with sewage escape and flooding in the Grace Dieu Valley; this infrastructure will not cope with additional pressure.

• The Thringstone fault runs through a significant part of this area

• There are disused mine shafts within these boundaries

• The agricultural fields are prime arable land. Food security depends on us having sufficient arable and grazing land

• The areas were designated countryside and offered enduring protection during the process for developing the current Local Plan. That plan was examined and passed by the Planning Inspectorate and so the proposed protections were robust.

The Parish Council said this about the former Hermitage Leisure Centre in Silver Street.

• The consultation and presentation to the residents of Whitwick were disingenuous to say the least.

• The car parking was given to residents and businesses in perpetuity as a buffer to the double yellow lines being introduced

• This plan will leave very little parking. On match days, the car park is overflowing now. Once the new homes are built, residents and their visitors will utilise much of the available parking

• The residents were promised 'a few bungalows for old people'. This has now changed to 'around 32 homes'. According to the allocation policies of NWLDC, these homes cannot be allocated as housing for the elderly as the points system in force means they go to those who fulfil the criteria and score the highest points

• The leisure centre was designated a community asset; there is very little asset to another building site.

The Parish Council also had this to say about the Broom Leys Farm site.

• Whilst this development is on the border of our parish, it is of great significance.

• This forms part of the precious 'Eastern Green Wedge' which NWLDC spent tens of thousands of pounds of public money defending in the previous application for Stephenson Green. Any erosion of this protection would be viewed very seriously by the Parish Council, the residents of Whitwick and the members of Whitwick Action Group.

• This area of separation has been protected to the highest level with the decision going to Public Inquiry and Judicial Review. Therefore, the designation is very robust.

Working For OUR Future

• ▪ The roads next to Broom Leys Farm are already overwhelmed. Where would a safe entrance and exit go? No traffic could go onto Broom Leys Road and turn right to join Stephenson Way; at peak times the queue is back to the hospital and the exit to the Buckingham Road estate is almost opposite.
• ▪ There have been accidents resulting in fatalities at the Broom Leys Road/Stephenson Way junction.
• ▪ Any further degradation of Stephenson Way by putting further entrance/exits onto it, would render it redundant as a bypass.
• ▪ This is also first grade agricultural land, threatening our food security and biodiversity.
• ▪ We also wish to reiterate that any waste water would travel down through our village, putting the Grace Dieu Valley at even greater risk of flooding.
• The concerns expressed above were also shared by high numbers of residents from within our village that attended drop-in sessions we hosted in order to help members of our community understand the local plan document and consultation process.