If you can't find something, enter keywords in the search facility to find articles.
Last month Hinckley and Bosworth Council approved the next stage in the development of a local plan for the period up to 2045. The draft plan has to go through a further stage of consultation because of changes to the national planning system published in December 2024, and as a result to address an increase in the borough wide housing target and propose potential employment land for allocation to meet identified need once quantified.
The Local Plan needs to allocate land to meet an estimated overall plan period housing requirement of 15,603 (743 dwellings per annum (dpa) x 21 years). This consultation proposes additional housing allocations to meet an identified shortfall of around 3,700 additional dwellings to contribute towards this need to 2045.
As a result some new sites have to be put forward for consultation and these fall into one of 3 categories -
Strategic Sites: sites of 500 new homes or more, including mixed-use new settlements;
Non-strategic major development sites: sites of between 101–499 homes;
and small non-strategic development sites: sites of between 11-100 homes.
Groby has a site which falls into the second of those categories - land south of Sacheverell Way forming part of the M1/A46/Sacheverell Way triangle. The site has the potential to deliver up to 170 dwellings.
The site is considered to be in two parts with the dwellings built within the land edged in red. The land edged in blue would provide an area of naturalistic parkland to the west of the site and could also accommodate SUDS, biodiversity enhancements and recreation benefits.
The possibility of this development within the next 20 years may generate mixed reactions from residents, as many will feel it is an inevitable infilling of the space. Others will see it as a further development separated from the original village by a village bypass, and one which will only add to the daily congestion of local roads.
Comments on the draft Local Plan should be made during the consultation period of: Friday, 17October 2025 to 5pm Friday, 28 November 2025. Further details of the consultation, including the online response form, can be found at:
https://www.hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk/2025reg18
Written comments can be sent via Email: plannningpolicy@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk;
or Post: FAO Planning Policy, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Hinckley Hub, Rugby Road, Hinckley, LE10 0FR
June 2023 The Spotlight has previously reported on the problems faced not only by the planning department at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, but also planning teams across the country. Earlier this year the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England, published its 2022 Workforce Survey.
It said significant staff shortages in local government risk having a serious impact on councils’ capacity to deliver services across the board, and almost 6 in 10 councils (58 per cent) were struggling to recruit planning officers. In addition to recruitment problems there have been retention issues as well, with 62% of respondents saying they feel underpaid for their position/responsibility, compared with only 33% of private sector respondents.
The planning industry has been widely affected by cuts, with local authorities spending far less on planning since 2009. According to the Institute for Government, between 2009/10 and 2019/20 central government grants were cut 37% in real-terms.
The Government is aware of the problems and housing & planning minister Rachel Maclean has announced that over 50 students are to receive a £5,000 planning bursary to cover up to 50% of their university fees, encouraging more young people into a career in planning. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities will offer the bursary through the Royal Town Planning Institute, giving young people the opportunity to study a master’s degree in planning. This builds on an existing £2,000 bursary run by the department.
The controversy over the Borough Council’s performance flared up again recently with the Leicester Mercury reporting that the rights of residents to have planning applications determined initially by their elected councillors might be subordinated by the right of applicants to have timely decisions. This might infuriate some residents, particularly those who have experienced similar delays by services the Government is directly responsible for.
Writing to the council, Michael Gove said: “I have significant concerns about the performance of a handful of local authorities including your council. A performance by your council of 46.5 per cent between October 2020 and September 2022 is far below the expected threshold of 70 per cent.”
He added that is not good enough, despite some more encouraging recent data, and he was considering“designating” the Borough Council.
A difference of opinion
“Currently, applications are submitted to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council,” said Hinckley MP Dr Luke Evans. “Major or contentious developments may then be considered by the planning committee, which is made up of your elected councillors. This would all be at risk if designation goes ahead.” He added that a major development for hundreds of houses could bypass the borough council and any local involvement, to go straight to the planning inspectorate.
Whether major or contentious applications would be affected is disputed by Stuart Bray, Leader of the Council “The threat of designation is not for the whole planning service, it is for minor applications only, and then only if the applicant chooses that route for their application, it would not be compulsory.”
Can these different views be reconciled?
A regulatory change in 2016 prescribed applications for non-major development as a separate category of applications in respect of which a local planning authority can be designated, alongside applications for major development. That may be the answer, or it may be totally irrelevant.
Performance has improved
A spokesperson for the Borough Council said the planning department is now out-performing government targets after an influx of new staff arrived to work with the existing team. “The council has been performing consistently above the government’s performance thresholds for both minor and major applications from October 2022. As well as this, 80 per cent of all minor applications have been turned around within target times since January this year - well above the government’s target of 70 per cent.” Officers have invited officials from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to visit the council and specifically meet with the planning team. This invite has been accepted.
Check the impact on the street scene
July 2020 There's a shortage of homes in the UK, and amongst those that are available there are not enough bungalows to meet demand. When they come on to the market they are usually snapped up quickly, often by the older generation who recognise the advantages of bungalows and may be looking to downsize.
A survey a couple of years ago found that while 54% of over 65’s would consider moving to a single storey house, not enough are being built to meet demand. There have only ever been two million bungalows built in the UK and, one estimate suggests that by 2035 there will be a shortfall of 400,000 ‘specialist’ homes. The National House Building Council estimated that in 1987 over 26,000 bungalows were built, but just 2,210 in 2017. Another factor affecting the supply, albeit marginally, is the conversion, or demolition and replacement, of some existing bungalows into 2 storey homes.
Thinking of extending?
When considering the purchase of a bungalow it's important to consider whether at some time you may wish to add extra accommodation or an extra floor. With the gradual relaxation of planning rules in recent years it's easy to mistakenly believe that you can do what you wish with your home. The local planning authority will have a number of issues to consider when determining an application, but there is one which as occupiers it is easy to overlook.
We may sit inside our home considering alternatives such as extending at the back, the side, fitting dormers or a full first floor, but we may forget to stand outside and see how our home sits in the local street scene. And it's this aspect that has proved important in a number of local planning applications in Groby in the last few years, with at least four cases showing the importance of this judgement.
Application 1 : Demolition of bungalow and the erection of two three bedroom houses.
The immediate area has a mix of properties with the majority being bungalows, although there are two storey dwellings adjacent to the site. The new dwellings are set in a similar position to the bungalow and the design principles were considered to be generally acceptable within the context of the surrounding area. The application was approved.
Application 2 was for a replacement dwelling. The plot is substantial in size and although the proposed replacement dwelling is larger than average, it does not appear cramped within the site or overbearing in scale when viewed against the adjacent neighbouring dwellings. In addition the dwelling would not have a detrimental impact within its location by virtue of its design or materials. The application was approved.
Application 3 : Raising the roof to provide a two storey dwelling. The property is in a row of bungalows on the same side of the road, with two storey detached properties opposite. The planner thought that the significant increase in height would result in substantial alteration to the character of the surrounding area. Given the two storey nature of the proposal, it was considered that it would neither complement nor enhance the character of the surrounding area and would result in a dominant and prominent feature that would be uncharacteristic to the established street scene. Planning permission was refused.
Application 4 : The development proposed was originally described as the partial demolition of the bungalow and erection of rear single storey extensions with an additional storey added to the existing dwelling to create a double storey house. The proposal seeked to convert and extend the existing double garage into a quadruple garage and associated annex in the roof space. Planning permission was refused and the case was reconsidered on appeal by a Planning Inspector who upheld the decision. The Inspector considered that the remodelled dwelling would be seen as part of an enclosed and distinctive group of bungalows, within which it would appear starkly different and harmful in scale and form.
Planners have to take account of a whole range of issues which, taken together, lead them to a view about whether to grant planning permission. The system is designed to give home owners as much freedom as possible to alter and improve their properties, but what these comments 'cherry picked' from the four applications indicate is that importance is given to the environment in which a property sits.
Major alterations will be not necessarily be permitted if the result is considered to adversely affect the existing street scene, so perhaps anyone looking for a home that has the capacity to be extended should consider the context of the site before signing a contract. July 2020