135 more homes announced for controversial 'stupid' housing development

News135 more homes announced for controversial 'stupid' housing developmentAlmost 400 homes are now planned in totalleicestermercuryBookmarkShareCommentsNewsByJulia BreensLocal Democracy

Reporter04:00, 13 JAN 2025BookmarkThe Windmill Inn at Newbold Verdon, which stands next to land that will be turned into homes. (Image: Leicester Mercury staff photographer)Get the latest

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More than 100 homes have been announced for the second phase of a controversial housing development. Councillors had claimed the original scheme would "create mayhem" before it was approved

at appeal.

Phase one will see 239 homes built off Brascote Lane in Newbold Verdon by Persimmon Homes. Development in the area now looks set to increase even further after Richborough Estates applied to

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (HBBC) for a further 135 homes to the north of Persimmon's site.

The original plans, on a site near the Windmill Inn, were highly contested, with one resident dubbing the land "the very personification of rurality” in a 2023 plans committee meeting.

Almost 90 objections were sent to HBBC about the plans, which were twice knocked back before Richborough Estates – which later sold the land to Persimmon – was awarded planning permission by

a planning inspector.

READ MORE: Rejected Leicestershire planning applications that could still go ahead

Homes on proposed second phase would be accessed through roads to be built as part of phase one. The main access for both phases of the estate will be off Brascote Lane. Although there are

no details of the size of homes that would be included in phase two, the application documents reveal 40 per cent of the homes will be classed as affordable.

There will also be a playground and just under two acres of green space. Applicants say the scheme would also benefit from the proposed 12-acre country park, which is part of the phase one

development. In planning documents, Richborough Estates say phase two would provide “a diverse range of housing options, and access to different housing types within a sustainable and

attractive environment”.

When HBBC first refused the phase one plans in September 2023, Councillor Joyce Crooks said the village was already beset by traffic and parking problems and the prospect of another

potential 400 vehicles was “just going to create mayhem”. Speaking when the second attempt at planning permission was refused, council leader Stuart Bray said it was “a stupid application

last time and it’s a stupid application this time”.

Alasdair Thorne, of planning agents Marrons, argued the country park included in the scheme was "a significant environmental benefit of the scheme" as well as a "resource for the community".

Last year, planning inspector Owen Woodwards overturned the council’s decision on phase one, saying the scheme’s benefits of were “many and weighty” and that there was an “acute need” for

affordable homes in the borough.

Application documents on phase two can be viewed on HBBC’s planning portal. Comments and objections can be made by Monday, January 27.

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