Market Bosworth Parish Council – Community Led Planning (in partnership with Market Bosworth Neighbourhood Forum)

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COMMUNITY LED PLANNING – THE MARKET BOSWORTH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

Market Bosworth was one of the first communities to undertake a Neighbourhood Plan (NP). The NP was based on extensive consultation with residents and stakeholders e.g. businesses, schools, doctors, and other services. Public engagement and consultations were very well supported, and a questionnaire was completed by over 50% of households. Two full consultations and an independent examination were held prior to the referendum. An impressive 89% voted to adopt the Neighbourhood Plan (NP) which came into force in 2015. The NP provides a policy for sustainable development plan for our town.

The NP can be downloaded from www.bosworthvision.org.uk – where all the context and history can be found. In summary the NP identifies that developments should be on the South Side of Station Road to the west of the town, and that the main development should be of mixed use i.e. to provide an additional employment area for expansion of housing and provide additional business opportunities. The Plan incorporates policies to protect and enhance our rural character and environment.

Since 2015 the Parish Council and NP group have worked to implement your other priorities, including the footpath to the Water Park, high speed broadband, Wi-Fi access in the town centre and improving the Memorial Gardens on Park Street. Major concerns related to pedestrian safety in the town centre, traffic speed, congestion and parking issues, are

being addressed and in 2018 the concept for the ‘Town Centre Redevelopment Scheme’ was published and, at a public consultation that was held, the scheme was supported by 87% of attendees.

The group has produced supplementary documents to support the policies of the NP these include a Design Brief, ‘Tree and Hedgerow survey’ and ‘Tree Preservation Order Application’ to keep our rural environment safe and to protect the valued trees and ancient hedgerows which benefit our environment in multiple ways. The group is also undertaking a revision of the Plan in line with best practice guidance and requirements.

Important Information regarding a Proposed Housing Development on Shenton Lane

The application (ref 20/00345/OUT) for outline planning is for an initial development of an additional 90 houses. You may recall being sent a postcard by the developer requesting comments as to the suitability of the site. Just over 50 responses were submitted almost all of which were NOT in support of this proposal, yet these have clearly been dismissed in their decision to submit this formal application to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, our Local Planning Authority (LPA).
The LPA has lost control of its ‘5 year land supply’ for the Borough so developers now have greater rights to seek developments anywhere they can acquire land, including Market Bosworth. We do however have a designated site for development of 100+ houses in the Neighbourhood Plan. This site is supported by a ‘local connection criteria’ to ensure affordable housing is available to those with a local connection. We also supported the recent application for additional housing development on the ‘Sedgemere Site’ as this fitted well with all the NP criteria and will provide a good housing mix with up to 40% affordable housing to meet a variety of needs. We are balancing the need for more housing as required by legislation, whilst being careful to retain the character and rural feel of town, heritage and rural landscape. The NP, which can be downloaded from www.bosworthvision.org.uk, provides the context and policies to do this.
If you wish to support our NP and object to the Shenton Lane proposal please submit your comments to the LPA before 20th May 2020 ideally with a copy to ourselves. You can view the proposal (ref 20/00345/OUT) online at the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council website. The application contains 42 separate documents and upwards of 400 pages. Many documents are not easy to view on screen so you may wish to request a hard copy by phoning the planning department at Hinckley and Bosworth Council on 01455 238141, or email to planning@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk
It would be very helpful if any comments you do submit to the LPA (email: planning@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk) can be copied to Market Bosworth Parish Council (email: clerk@marketbosworth-pc.gov.uk) or dropped into our post box at the Parish Hall on Park Street.
We believe this application should be declined as; it is outside the settlement boundary, in conflict with the context and most policies in the Neighbourhood Plan and contrary to the essence of the Neighbourhood Plan which embodies the views of the vast majority of you – our community. There are many other grounds for objection such as narrow and congested access and proximity to the cemetery. We welcome your support and urge you object to this proposal.