Harborough District Council is proposing a massive new town between Oadby and Great Glen, as part of its Local Plan — and we are now in the official public consultation period.
What happens right now will shape the future of our area for generations.
Many people are against the idea of this massive development.
STNT prepared a comprehensive representation submission which we submitted in the public consultation.
We had 2370 signatories - including county councillors and local councillors - attached to our submission, showing overwhelming opposition to these proposals.
You can read our submission document here.
You
Our representation demonstrates that the plan fails to meet the four legal tests required for the plan to be approved by the planning inspectorate.
That it is:
a) positively prepared,
b) justified,
c) effective and
d) consistent with national policy.
And we have suggested reasonable alternatives.
Now that the consultation period is over, Harborough council will look at all the representation submissions it has received. It will then send the results and the plan to the Independent Planning Inspectorate. We have requested to speak at this stage. It is the Planning Inspectorate who decide whether the plan can go ahead, or whether it has failed to meet the necessary criteria. This process will take several months.
✅ Sign up to our mailing list to receive updates on what is happening.
✅ Spread the word — encourage others to join our list and add their voice to our comprehensive objections.
✅ Please donate if you can — we will need to hire a planning professional to prepare the case to speak at the planning inspectorate. If we are to be able to do this, we need funding.
This is the one chance to influence the future of our rural community. Let’s make sure our objections count — legally, clearly, and together.
This is just the first step. Moving forwards it is essential that we maintain our opposition. Please join our campaign and add your voice to ours.
Harborough Council's local plan documentation is extensive - well over 1000 pages.
You can download all the details here:
HDC Local Plan Documents
Kibworth
Great Glen, Stretton Hall & Newton Harcourt
You might think Harborough’s Local Plan doesn’t affect you — but if you live in Oadby, the proposed development at Stretton Hall will have direct consequences for your community.
Here’s why you should submit an objection to Harborough District Council’s consultation:
1) It Will Worsen Traffic Across Oadby
Thousands of new homes on the Stretton Hall site would bring a massive increase in vehicles using:
These are roads you use every day — and they’re already under pressure. Congestion, air pollution, and road safety issues will all increase if this plan goes ahead.
Much of the proposed development lies within or near the Washbrook floodplain.
Your home, your insurance, and your safety could be affected — even if you're not next to the site.
Oadby & Wigston Borough Council has increased housing targets and must now build 382 homes per year, up from 240.
Oadby doesn’t have space to meet this — and when it can’t, the ‘overflow’ will be passed to Harborough, making large-scale developments like Stretton Hall even more likely.
If we don’t stop this now, even more greenfield sites around Oadby could be next.
Even though you live in Oadby, you can still submit an objection in the Harborough consultation.
Why? Because this plan has clear cross-border impacts — on your roads, your flood risk, your environment, and your quality of life.
Harborough must take your concerns into account — but only if you submit them formally.
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.
Our representation was a comprehensive objection to the Local Plan — written in the language the Planning Inspectorate understands.
✅ It showed clearly show how the plan fails key legal tests.
✅ It explained why building at Great Glen and Stretton Hall is strategically flawed.
✅ It included realistic, better alternatives the council can adopt.
Our best chance to change this plan is when it goes to the Independent Planning Inspectorate.
To give our case real weight, we need as many people as possible to support it by submitting the same arguments.
Moving forwards, we need to stay strong and show that the community is against this development being imposed on us. Please join our list and we will keep you informed as the situation develops.
The more people support our objections, the harder it is to ignore.
300 people attended a public meeting organised by the local campaign group ‘Stop The New Town’ in the evening of 10 April 2025 at the Leicester Grammar School. Members of the public from Great Glen, Oadby, Stretton Hall and surrounding villages attended to debate the local hot topic of the extensive proposed housing development which, if given the go ahead, will completely fill the green wedge between Oadby and Great Glen in the area between the A6 and the Gartree Road with a development of 6000 new homes.
The meeting was addressed by David Atkinson, Director of Planning who gave the case for Harborough District Council (HDC) who have adopted the proposal as the major component of their new local plan 2020 – 2041, currently out for public consultation.
He was followed by Neil O’Brien MP who gave background and information on the impact of the Planning Bill going through Parliament.
Then Dr Henri Winand who leads the ‘Stop the new town’ campaign outlined the major flaws in the plan and the process by which members of the public could object to the proposal by the end of the public consultation period at 9am on 6 May. He drew attention to the lack of infrastructure to support the development in particular the insufficient road network of the A6 and Gartree Road, both single carriageways and already seriously congested. Also highlighted was the increased risk of flooding from run off into the Oadby Washbrook and the Sence river through Great Glen which, in January this year, suffered the worst effects of flooding since records began.
Critically, Henri described the ways in which the proposal does not meet the four National Planning Policy Framework criteria and its damning description as “premature” and ‘unsound’ by Leicestershire County Council and of “marginal” viability by HDC’s self-appointed consultants, Aspinall Verdi. Alternative strategic sites were examined and discussed.
A ‘Question Time’ was organised, chaired by Harpal Dhillon. Joining Neil and Henri on the panel was David Campbell-Kelly, formerly on the board of a major housing developer and currently Chair of the Willoughby Waterleys Residents’ Association. The panel answered pre-submitted questions from the audience.
The recording will be available shortly and will be posted here and on YouTube.
There Are Better Alternatives
This development isn’t necessary — and it isn’t right.
There are more appropriate options across the region. Brownfield sites, including vacant and underused commercial spaces, offer real potential to meet housing needs without destroying our countryside with yet more urban sprawl.
Many of these sites exist in Leicester city, where the demand for affordable and social housing is actually highest. Building there would:
✅ Revitalise neglected urban areas
✅ Cut down on car dependency and energy use
✅ Support sustainability goals and climate targets
It would:
We need the council to rethink this plan — and that only happens if the Planning Inspectorate sees strong, united objections based on facts and planning law.
Help us push for a Local Plan that:
✅ Protects green spaces and the unique rural character of our communities
✅ Builds houses where jobs and infrastructure already exist
✅ Supports real housing needs
✅ Is financially viable
✅ Puts sustainability first
👉 Join the Mailing List to receive our researched objections document and add your voice to ours in this public consultation.
The proposals for the strategic site south of Gartree Road does not fulfil the four legal criteria, of a) positively prepared, b) justified, c) effective and d) consistent with national policy.
It is only by showing that the Stretton Hall site fails these specific criteria that we have a chance of stopping the proposals at the Independent Planning Inspectorate stage.
It would take traffic congestion on the A6 past breaking point, being a single carriageway road. There is no money to provide the necessary upgrades, or a bypass around Kibworth. The promised expressway to the east of Leicester, upon which this plan hinged, was cancelled in 2020. Leicestershire County Council has already described the plan as 'premature' and 'unsound' because of these factors.
Most importantly, when you do the sums, it does not add up. When the profit for the developer and all expenses are taken from the sale price of the properties, there is nothing left to provide the infrastructure.
It would undermine environmental commitments (supposedly championed by Harborough council) by increasing carbon emissions and reliance on cars.
Two existing strategic sites (Lutterworth East and Scraptoft North) are not performing already. These should be fixed before launching into a third strategic site.
It would destroy valuable and irreplaceable farmland, essential for UK food independence
The local area is does not have available jobs on this scale. This would forcing residents into expensive travel to find work in the city, in Market Harborough, or cross country to Lutterworth Magna Park. The road system cannot accommodate this increase in traffic.
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.
Harborough council has provided a 16% buffer in their figures, but this is unnecessary. If the existing strategic sites are 'fixed' so they perform as they should, and the buffer is reduced, a new site is completely unnecessary.
Leicestershire County Council have flagged up the deep flaws in the Harborough Local Plan - citing transport and infrastructure - issues which residents can see all too clearly!
LCC Head of Planning & Development, Julie Thomas, stated that the HDC plan is "premature and unsound".
Check out this recording of their committee meeting of March 18th, between 54 minutes and 1 hour 12 minutes.
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!
This is a very small sample of what we would lose.
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