Note – the Charnwood Borough Council planning application search tool can be found here: https://portal.charnwood.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/GeneralSearch.aspx
Due the number of queries and concerns over the three proposed building developments in the village Wymeswold Parish Council felt it may be helpful to outline the background, current situation and how parishioners can register their comments.
The first application is for the erection of 32 dwellings on land north of Rempstone Road, each side of Storkit Lane. This site was subject to an outline planning application two years ago and the Parish Council objected to this development as it was outside the planning guidelines of Charnwood’s emerging Core Strategy. This identifies Wymeswold as an unsustainable ‘Other Settlement’ and therefore limits new development to small-scale, within the limits to development of the village.
The application was refused by Charnwood Borough Council, but the applicant chose to appeal the decision to the Planning Inspectorate. Whilst the Inspector recognised that Wymeswold did not have the sufficient infrastructure or services to be considered ‘sustainable’, he upheld the appeal as Charnwood did not have a five-year housing supply identified at the time. He therefore felt that the need for new housing outweighed the sustainability issues of the village.
The current full application by Barwood Homes is therefore the next step in this process and as outline approval has already been granted it is highly likely that this application will be granted full permission. Should parishioners have views about this application then they should be forwarded to the planning department at Charnwood, quoting reference P/15/0217/2. Responses can be submitted online.
Following the appeal inspector’s decision regarding the land either side of Storkit Lane it was inevitable that other parcels of land on the edge of the village would be put forward for development in the period up to the adoption of Charnwood’s Core Strategy, which may not happen until later in 2015. The village remains vulnerable to such applications until the formal adoption of the Core Strategy.
The second proposal under current consideration is therefore the outline application by Davidson’s Developments to develop up to 45 dwellings on land to the north of East Road. The developer has already held a public consultation event in the Memorial Hall at the end of last year and the closing dates for comments about this outline application is 15th April. Should parishioners have views about this application then they should be forwarded to the planning department at Charnwood, quoting reference P/15/0328/2. Again, response can be submitted online.
The third application is by Avant Homes for up to 65 properties on land south of Swifts Close and Hoton Road. A public consultation event was held by the developer in Wymeswold Memorial Hall on 24th March. It should be noted that this is not a formal planning application as it has not yet been submitted to Charnwood Borough Council in either outline form or for full permission. The developer indicated at the consultation event that an outline application would be submitted within the next month. Only at that stage will the Parish Council and parishioners be invited to comment to Charnwood Borough Council.
Wymeswold Parish Council will keep its parishioners updated with the progress of these applications and will be happy to address any concerns residents may have. The next meeting of the Parish Council is in the Jubilee Room of Wymeswold Memorial Hall on Monday 13th April at 7.15pm.
Nick Shaw
Chairman, Wymeswold Parish Council
2nd April 2015