I welcome the exclusion of University of Leicester land in Oadby from the Borough Council’s latest Local Plan – but pressure for development remains intense.
Two University-owned sites had been put forward as potential locations for major housing developments comprising thousands of homes: land at the former Manor Road athletics track and the Stoughton Road playing fields.
Both have now been excluded from the Local Plan.
The Manor Road site has been designated as a conservation area, while the playing fields have been classified as green wedge. The sites had been a major concern for local residents, who feared large-scale development and the loss of valued open space.
This is a welcome victory and a real relief for many residents who were rightly concerned about these proposals. These are areas of open space that are valued by the community.
But we shouldn’t kid ourselves – the Labour Government has doubled the housing target for Oadby & Wigston. That means other areas in the borough are now in line for major development and there is no guarantee these sites won’t be considered in the future.
Unsurprisingly, there isn’t enough space to accommodate these extra houses. The Council will now have to offload those onto other areas in the county. It’s not clear where they will go yet.
These top-down targets are forcing huge levels of development onto areas like ours. The Council is still ploughing ahead with the Government backed New Town on the edge of Oadby, without clear answers on how the roads and infrastructure will cope.
I’ll keep pushing to make sure development is sensible, properly planned, and that infrastructure comes first.
