The new Green Wedge designation covers a considerable extent of our Client's farm. This has been imposed by the Harborough Local Plan without any prior discussion, and in the knowledge that this land is suitable for further residential development as an extension of existing extant permissions.

The Green Wedge Review, Technical Update 2015 included no assessment of this land and no technical justification for the extension of the Green Wedge designation (formally the Area of Separation) onto an extensive tract of land curving to the south west.

The Leicester PUA Landscape Character Assessment and Landscape Capacity Study, Scraptoft Addendum, 2016 assesses the landscape quality surrounding Scraptoft. The study was a landscape capacity study and quantified the capacity of field parcels to accommodate development. It was not a technical assessment of the Green Wedge and does not provide justification for designating an extensive tract of private land as Green Wedge.

Considering the land parcels that the study assessed, it is evident that in each case the land was identified as being suitable for residential development. In many cases, particularly on the land further to the east, it was found that following the completion of the committed development south of Thurnby Brook, the landscape capacity of the field parcels to accept development was improved, making the land more suitable for residential development. This is completely at odds with the designation of this land as a Green Wedge, and does not provide the necessary technical justification to warrant such a restrictive designation akin to designating the land as Green Belt.

The designation as it is presently defined provides only limited protection to Scraptoft Village and the Conservation Area, focusing on the lower level land along Thurnby Brook, whilst leaving the upper slopes south of Covert Lane unprotected. These fields south of Covert Lane, if developed would have a far greater visual dominance on Scraptoft Village, and should the boundary of the Green Wedge should be reconsidered if that is the true purpose of the designation.

We argue that a smaller Green Wedge more tightly defined to the land south of Covert Lane would achieve the aims of protecting Scraptoft Village from further encroachment. The lower slopes of the valley along the Thurnby Brook should be considered as a suitable alternative for additional housing allocations.

The Harborough Local Plan fails to provide any technical justification for the designation of this land as Green Wedge. The Landscape Character Assessment relied upon to support this policy has been prepared to identify the capacity of the landscape for residential or other commercial development. Rather than support the case for a Green Wedge designation, it is evident from the detailed assessment that there is a medium capacity for residential development, a comparable situation to other land in the area not designated as Green Wedge. This medium capacity also improves to above medium capacity, following the development of extant planning permissions for residential development to the south of the designated Green Wedge.