What is meant by ‘affordable homes’ and how many are proposed?

Housing is considered to be affordable where it is social rented, affordable rented, or intermediate housing, such as shared ownership or rent to buy.

The proposed development would deliver 30% affordable housing.

Is there a local housing need?

Yes. There is a need for sites such as the proposed to come forward in order to meet the needs of the district's growing population.

National planning policy stipulates that local authorities must be able to demonstrate a minimum five year housing land supply. The five year housing land supply is a calculation of whether there is a deliverable supply of homes to meet the planned housing requirement (or local housing need) over the next 5 years. Blaby District Council can only currently demonstrate a 3.69-year housing land supply.

The proposed site provides a logical, sustainable extension to the village, making it ideal for residential development.

Have you considered the adopted Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan?

Policy FV7 and FV8 of the Neighbourhood Plan both address development in relation to the ‘Limits to Built Development’ with the combined objective of restricting development outside those boundaries. It is acknowledged that the proposals conflict with policy FV7 and FV8 of the Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan, due to the site being outside of, albeit adjacent to, Stoney Stanton’s built-up area and not complying with the exceptions referred to within policy FV8.

However, as mentioned above, Blaby District Council is unable to demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply, which means the Plan should be treated as being out-of-date such that any policies which the proposals conflict with – including FV7 and FV8 – are to be attributed reduced weight in the determination of the application.

What type and size of homes are proposed?

A range of house types, sizes and tenures will be delivered to accommodate a variety of household types and meet local needs in line with policy requirements.

The final housing mix and detailed design of how the homes will look will be determined at the Reserved Matters Stage of the planning process subject to Outline planning approval.

How will proposals benefit local people?

The introduction of new modern and affordable homes will provide opportunities for the village to help to sustain and enhance the viability of existing services.

At this stage it is anticipated that a future section 106 agreement will cover affordable housing; community and sports facilities; and open space and recreation. Negotiations will take place during the determination of the application to agree the specific S106 requirements for the site.

Have you considered the impact on existing infrastructure, including schools and GP surgeries?

Response required

Will anything be done to mitigate any impacts on species and habitats?

An Ecological Assessment has been undertaken and submitted as part of the planning application. The woodland will largely be retained, with any small losses being replaced or enhanced on a like for like basis ensuring habitats are maintained. Whilst the majority of grassland is proposed to be lost, the proposals include the replanting of species rich grassland and wet meadow to help to mitigate the loss. Hedgerows will be retained where possible, additional planting and future management will also encourage the creation of mature, dense, species rich hedgerows and seek to contain sensitivity across the site.

The presence of Great Crested Newts were not found on the Site; the stream was considered unsuitable to support breeding Great Crested Newts. During the survey efforts no reptiles were recorded across all survey occasions, and it is considered this species group is absent from the site. The proposed wetland and enhancements on site are likely to increase the overall suitability of the site to support reptile species and allow any in the locality to expand their range into the site.

What will the impact on the local highway network be?

A Transport Assessment will be undertaken to assess the likely impact of the proposed development on the surrounding network and will be submitted as part of the planning application.

Pre-application discussions with Leicestershire County Council (LCC) advised that the trip rates used within Planning Application 23/0182/OUT for Land North of Croft Road for 200 dwellings were appropriate to use for this application due to the similar land use and quantum of development.

A development of 150 dwellings would generate 82 two-way vehicle trips in the morning peak hour and 80 two-way vehicle trips in the evening peak hour. It is noted that the development proposals could result in a proportion of vehicles currently using Sapcote Road and South Drive to be reassigned onto the new link road. However, in order to present a robust assessment no reassignment has been applied. On that basis, the assessment of the B581 Broughton Road / New Road / Long Street mini roundabout has been presented using a ‘worst case’ scenario. This was agreed during scoping with LCC.

Have you considered the impact of wider development in the area, such as the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange (HNRFI) should it come forward?

The assessment of impact has been carried out at the off site junctions and also the proposed site access junctions using Junctions 10 modelling programme. The scenarios assessed include the AM and PM Peak hour periods during 2024 (baseline) and future 2029 scenario. Committed developments and key developments planned for the area (as identified by LCC, during scoping) have been included within the junction analysis. The analysis results show that the development traffic will not have a severe impact on the existing junction and will result in minimal changes in the delays that occur. The proposed site accesses will operate well within its design capacity.

The application documents associated with the HNRFI been reviewed and it is noted that the traffic flows which were used to model the junctions in the Transport Assessment have been extracted from the LCC Pan-Regional Transport Model. As such, the ‘with’ and ‘without development’ traffic flows are variable due to redistribution of traffic as a result of planned infrastructure. A sensitivity scenario has been included within the B581 Broughton Road / New Road / Long Street roundabout using the ‘change in traffic flows’ between the with and without HNRFI.

Will you be making improvements to public transport provision?

At present, Stoney Stanton is served by an on demand bus service, run by Fox Connect, funded by the Government’s Rural Mobility Fund. Stoney Stanton does not currently benefit from any public transport provision however it is evident that until very recently there was a bus service serving the village, which may become viable again, given the additional population generated by the development and developer contributions that could be made towards public transport.

When will you be looking to start building? How long will building work take?

Subject to outline planning approval being granted, Reserved Matters application(s) would have to be submitted and approved prior to the construction process commencing.

How will construction vehicles and noise be managed?

A Construction Management Plan will be put in place to manage things such as this. This would be secured by condition on the application and will be implemented during the construction phase of development.