Planning Context

Blaby District Council acknowledges that it cannot demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable housing sites.  The Council has identified a shortfall of 548 dwellings over the current five year period or a supply of 3.69 years against its annual housing requirement. In addition, Blaby District Council has an acute need for affordable homes and a persistent shortfall in delivery in this regard against its annual need figure. Taken together, the benefit of approximately 30 dwellings is a significant one and should attract considerable weight in support of our proposals.

Blaby’s Core Strategy which sets out the amount of housing needed and a strategy for distributing it across the local authority area was adopted in 2013 and is therefore in need of updating. Nonetheless, the Core Strategy identifies the areas of the District well-related to Leicester such as Glen Parva as a priority location for new housing growth as this location is where such growth can be accommodated most sustainably, given the wide variety of services, facilities and infrastructure within walking and cycling distance.

The Site is designated as part of a Green Wedge.  The purpose of Green Wedges are to prevent coalescence (settlements joining together) and to preserve important land for recreation purposes. As set out in the proposed plans, only part of the site would be developed for housing. The remainder would be set aside as green infrastructure and new public open space which would be retained as such in perpetuity via legal agreement or similar. As such, the existing gap between Blaby Town and Glen Parva would not be materially eroded and the proposal would not undermine the underlying purposes of the Green Wedge.

Similarly, it is important to note that the site is presently not publically accessible save for a public right of way which runs along its eastern boundary. Accordingly, development of the site provides opportunities to create substantial new green spaces for recreation, which would enhance the beneficial use of the Green Wedge.

Given the five year housing land supply position in Blaby, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) indicates that there should be a presumption in favour of sustainable development, which means that proposed development should be approved unless the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.

Clarendon Land and Development alongside is consultant team have undertaken significant work in understanding the site and its context. The proposals have been informed by a full suite of technical evidence, which demonstrate they can be brought forward acceptably. Given this and the matters discussed above, we consider that planning permission should be granted.