PUBLIC MEETING
10 APRIL, 6.30pm
Leicester Grammar School, LE8 9FL
We are holding a public meeting for local residents to hear both sides of the proposals, and ask their questions.
Our local MP, Neil O'Brien, and key councillors have been invited.
This is your chance to understand exactly what the consequences will be to our community, and how to respond in the consultation.
Entry is by TICKET, as space is limited.
If you wish to attend, please RSVP to info@stopthenewtown.org
giving your name
and the number of tickets you would like.
First come, first served.
We will be recording the meeting for those who are unable to attend in person.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
MARCH 10 - MAY 6
Stop the 'New Town'
at Great Glen, Stretton Hall & Oadby
We must take action now to prevent Harborough Council and Oadby & Wigston Council from rushing through a deeply flawed decision that will cause enormous damage to our environment and communities.
Dear Residents
Harborough council has sent its controversial "new town” local plan of 4000 houses around Stretton Hall and Great Glen for public consultation.
Oadby and Wigston proposed approx 2000 houses on adjacent land.
This will obliterate the countryside between Oadby and Great Glen.
Currently Great Glen has about 1000 homes. Imagine what it will be like with another 6000 houses at urban density? This will destroy our rural landscape.
Shockingly, only around one in a thousand local residents currently know about this proposal.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
MARCH 10th - MAY 6th
Public consultation runs for 8 weeks. During this time we must submit our objections.
'Stop The New Town' is preparing a detailed and comprehensive case against the proposals which we will submit on behalf of all the residents.
HOW TO OBJECT
If you want to get this plan changed, you must object in the most effective way. Simply saying we don't want it will not cut it with the planning expectorate.
So, we are currently creating a strategic document which will give the precise reasons why this plan does not fulfil the required legal criteria, and suggest alternatives, in the language the planning inspectorate will understand.
We will be going through these things at the public meeting on April 10th.
When our comprehensive response document is complete, we will contact everyone on our mailing list, and show you exactly how you can use this, and how to submit it with your objections.
Until all this is finalised, please wait. We will share everything you need to know when our objections document is ready.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?
Join our mailing list, tell your friends and neighbours about the proposals and send them to our website.
We will let you know when and how to make your opinion known in the most effective way.
The Full Harborough
Proposals
Harborough Council have now published their local plan, February 2025.
You can download all the details here:
HDC Local Plan Documents
Great Glen, Stretton Hall & Newton Harcourt
Thurnby & Houghton on the Hill
Kibworth
Oadby & Wigston
THE OADBY PLAN
The proposed strategic site at Stretton Hall is a joint proposal between Harborough Council and Oadby & Wigston Council.
The massive increase in traffic on the A6, Gartree Road, Wigston Road, and the whole area would be huge - since the existing road system is already at breaking point.
Building on the Stretton Hall site would undoubtedly have a severe detrimental effect on flooding in the Oadby Washbrook, with no guaranteed funds to provide the level of drainage required to protect residents' homes.
Not only that, the map below shows that building within Oadby would be right over the Washbrook area, meaning these homes would be very susceptible to flooding.
The planning process in for O&W now has to be restarted. The number of houses per year to be built in O&W has increased from 240 to 382. Oadby has only a finite amount of space, and, very significantly, if the housing targets in Oadby cannot be met, the 'unmet need' will be passed on to Harborough and surrounding districts.
Read O&W Council's explanation for why they are restarting the planning process.
Read O&W Council's position following the decision to restart the planning process.
O&W Council's most recent local development documentation.
Why should Oadby and Wigston residents submit objections in the Harborough public consultation?
If the Harborough plan is approved, this would mean 6000+ extra cars on the roads. There is no local employment in the area of Stretton Hall and Great Glen for such numbers of new residents, so they would be forced to travel either into Leicester city, to Market Harborough or west to Lutterworth. Similarly, all these residents would require medical services and schools, and the current proposals fail to specify where this funding is coming from. Our calculations suggest that the site is financially unviable.
So, if the Harborough plan is approved, this would put great strain on the infrastructure in Oadby.
Please sign up to our newsletter, and submit objections in the public consultation. We will advise you on the best way to do this when our own objections document is complete.
Harborough Council Drop-In Sessions
PUBLIC CONSULTATION HAS NOW STARTED
It's really important that you find out about the Draft Local Plan and ask your questions.
Harborough Council are having six public drop-in events.
These drop-in events are designed to provide interested parties with information on the consultation document, how to respond and what happens next.
Venues, dates and times are as follows:
____
Scraptoft
Wednesday 19th March
4pm-7pm
Scraptoft Community Hub (Lounge),
Malsbury Avenue, Scraptoft LE7 9FQ
____
Lutterworth
Tuesday 25th March
3pm-7pm
The Wycliffe Rooms (Community Room),
George Street, Lutterworth LE17 4ED
____
Great Glen
Tuesday 1st April
3pm-7pm
Great Glen Village Hall,
Main Street, Great Glen LE8 9GG
____
Market Harborough
Wednesday 2nd April
2pm-7pm
Harborough District Council (Council Chamber),
The Symington Building, Adam & Eve Street, Market Harborough LE16 7AG
____
Broughton Astley
Monday 7th April
4pm-8pm
Broughton Astley Village Hall (Alan Talbott Room),
Station Road, Broughton Astley LE9 6PT
____
Kibworth
Wednesday 9th April
3pm-7pm
The Old Grammer School (Main Hall),
School Road, Kibworth LE8 0JE
You can also contact the Harborough planning team for more information on
Tel: 01858 821160 or
email: planningpolicy@harborough.gov.uk
This is not the solution
Alternatives do exist in more appropriate areas. Brownfield sites across England, including underused commercial spaces, can be developed to meet housing needs without sacrificing the greenbelt. Many such areas exist in Leicester city, where the need for social housing is acute. This approach would also revitalise urban areas, reduce energy consumption, and align with sustainability goals.
Approving this development is not the right decision. It would disregard the overwhelming opposition of local residents, prioritise short-term convenience over long-term sustainability and community welfare, and go against simple common sense.
Please use your voice and urge the council to reject this proposal, forcing the council to instead champion sustainable development that actually serves the community, protects our green spaces, respects our shared future, and provides housing where it is actually needed.
Why This Plan Is Flawed
Traffic
It would take traffic congestion on the A6 past breaking point, being a single carriageway road.
Infrastructure
Local NHS services, sewage systems and other infrastructure are already stretched to the limit and cannot support a development on this scale.
Environmental Commitments
It would undermine environmental commitments (supposedly championed by Harborough council) by increasing carbon emissions and reliance on cars.
Ecology
It would damage wildlife and destroy ecosystems. This area is known to contain a number of badger sets, other diverse wildlife, vibrant hedgerows and mature trees.
Farmland
It would destroy valuable and irreplaceable farmland, essential for UK food independence
No local industry
The local area is not appropriate for social housing required by the government, with poor transport and no local jobs, forcing such residents into expensive travel to find work in the city.
Flooding
Building on this land will drastically affect land drainage, and hence have a direct impact on flooding both in Oadby, and Great Glen, areas where this is already a serious problem.
Great Glen is a category 3 flood risk area.
Pollution
Pollution through Kibworth is already at the limit and being monitored. Increase in the already heavy traffic on the A6 will take this beyond permitted levels.
The Case Against
We are compiling a comprehensive case against the plan which we will be submitting. This will show why to consider building on this land is strategically flawed. It will also provide logical alternatives that give better options to the council.
Our best hope of getting this plan changed is at the independent planning executive stage. To give our proposal the most weight, we need lots of people to sign to support it. Please add your name to our mailing list.
This is our current case against. We will be creating a more up-to-date case which we will submit in due course.
PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN
We need to print flyers and print signs, pay for website and mailing list hosting.
We also hope to fund drone photography to prove just how severe the traffic problem on the A6 is already, and demonstrate that this is true greenbelt countryside.
We can't fund everything needed as individuals, and we need your support to keep this campaign going.
If you feel you can make a donation, you can do so through our 'GoFundMe' page. Every little helps.
Thank you so much!
Public Opposition Meeting
Over 200 people attended the public meeting in Nov 2024 hosted by Neil O'Brien MP and Alicia Kearns MP to oppose government plans for this new town in our area. Here is the full recording of the meeting for those who couldn’t make it, or were unaware that this proposal is in danger of being imposed on us.
Join our list and receive updates on the campaign
Gallery
This is a very small sample of what we would lose.
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