4.13.5 to 4.13.7 Explanation

The current scale of the Scraptoft North plans are unsound.The reduction of green wedges would essentially make Scraptoft a suburb of Leicester and no longer a village .The doubling of the number of houses in the area would be beyond the current roads to cope with traffic.The majority of roads out of Scraptoft are have speed bumps or road narrowing.The A47 Station Lane junction is already at capacity and leads to mile long queues .Any additional roads would destroy more of what should be kept.

Building on the Keyham Lane fields will mean that Scraptoft will no longer exist as a village but be part of Leicester City - a continuation of Netherhall..

I support the idea of the Green Wedge and if Harbourgh is taking this seriously then one would
expect to see more areas being identified as green wedge not existing ones being reduced.

As recently as 2015, the HDC Green Wedge Review recommended that "the extent and scale of the Green Wedge is appripriate and should be protected in the consideration of scale of development to be directed towards Scraptoft.. The proposed plans will result in a drastic reduction in the size of the Green Wedge and I feel will not prevent "the coalescence and maintain the physical identity of adjacent settlements". Our property is located within the Wedge and we will be surrounded by a housing estate that in effect links to Netherhall and Hamilton.

This proposal is contrary to the Neighbourhood Plan of 2016 and would swallow up most of the Green Wedge (see attached sheet for map).

Objections re: Green Wedge Reduction

4.13.4 The Scraptoft Neighbourhood Plan map 2016 which was agreed by Harborough Council clearly shows the golf course and nature reserve as essential Green Wedge.

4.13.1 clearly states that "Green Wedges are strategic areas of land" and "are aimed not just at preventing the merging of settlements but also guiding development providing a "green lung" into urban areas and facilitating recreational opportunities." Scraptoft Golf Course provides both of these things already - including a footpath for walkers and ramblers linking people from Leicester (along Keyham Lane West and Hamilton Lane) directly to the countryside. The nature reserve provides a peaceful and open space for both residents and wildlife to enjoy - essential for good mental wellbeing. Building on both of these key parts to the Green Wedge would therefore be highly detrimental to both Scraptoft and Leicester residents. The Leicester residents in question do not even seem to have been informed about this potential destruction of their "green lung"!

4.13.3 NPPF says that open land should be incorporated within it but the concentration of 1200 houses plus a primary school, G.P. surgery, retail premises and the road layouts proposed does not seem to leave any space available (except the narrow strip of Nature Reserve being retained). Therefore the plan is not fit for purpose as contrary to benefitting residents by allowing open space for sport/recreational and health and wellbeing aspects the plan takes these things away! The footpath will be made into a road, the wildlife will be forced out and away from our village and it will become a concrete jungle!

This Green Wedge is also essential to prevent flooding as already the new developments have increased the water running off into the brook as well as flooding on areas of Scraptoft's roads.

Scraptoft is an important village with a rural history and a conservation status. Harborough should be fighting to retain this for us or else we might as well be ceded over to Leicester City Council.

4.13.9 states that "the only types of land use that will normally be considered appropriate for these areas are those were the predominantly open and undeveloped nature of the land is retained." Which clearly does not fit with the building of 1200 houses plus primary school, G.P. surgery, retail premises and roads.

The building of such a concentration on this area also leads me to believe that developers will either insist that more of the Green Wedge land be given over to them for housing or they cannot build the necessary infrastructure half way through - as has happened before in Scraptoft with developers not held to account by Harborough Council.

Surely the importance of the Green Wedge and areas of separation surrounding Scraptoft outweigh the need for housing to be built on it during the next 15 years by Harborough? Other areas VERY nearby such as Hamilton and Barkby Thorpe are already in the process of being developed or have had plans passed for such development to help Leicester fulfil its quota. Harborough need to be standing up and fighting for us as a village.

Residents of Scraptoft will see their living environment deteriorate due to:

Increased cars travelling through our village due to the road/travel plan NOT being fit for purpose - increased noise, air pollution, accidents

Overload on all services - health and education - MUST come first BEFORE housing

Loss of green wedge and the wildlife it provides a home for - essential part of VILLAGE life

Rural aspect decreased which is important for mental health/well-being

Building work continues as it has over the past seven years with ALL of the disruption, noise, anti-social behaviour/loss of amenities it brings