d. Rural Centres

Policy SS1 sets out a settlement hierarchy, although there is no clear explanation of the difference between the various tiers. For example, the settlement profile for the Rural Centre of Fleckney identifies that it has all of the key services as well as a range of additional services and facilities, a substantial amount of employment opportunities, a surplus capacity in the Primary School and a substantial amount of developable housing land, whilst the settlement profile for the Key Centre of Broughton Astley identifies that it has a limited range of additional services, facilities, shops and employment opportunities.

The designation of Fleckney in a tier below that of Broughton Astley does not appear to accord with the evidence, and further justification will be required to articulate the difference. Indeed, based on the available evidence, it would be necessary to promote Fleckney in the settlement hierarchy.

Fleckney is the fifth largest settlement in Harborough District, behind the Sub-Regional Centre of Market Harborough, the Key Centres of Lutterworth and Broughton Astley, and the Rural Centre of The Kibworths. It is also served by all 6 key services including food stores, a GP surgery, a library, a post office, a primary school and pubs. It is one of only three proposed Rural Centres to have all of the key services.

Fleckney has one of only three sports centres across the district (with the others being at Market Harborough and Lutterworth). This piece of strategic infrastructure serves large parts of the district. This would again demonstrate that Fleckney provides services (in excess of Broughton Astley) which would justify the designation of this settlement as a Key Centre.

Fleckney also provides a range of additional services including a range of shops, pharmacies, sports pitches, a skatepark, allotments, a range of take-aways, hairdressers. garages, a village hall, churches, a youth club and a cemetery, which more than meet the needs of Fleckney and provide the opportunity to support additional growth.

Fleckney has substantial employment provision according to the draft Local Plan and has a substantial amount of developable housing land according to the settlement profile. Indeed, based on the Council's own evidence, Fleckney forms one of the most sustainable settlements within the District.

Therefore, even if the designation of Fleckney as a Rural Centre is able to be justified through additional work on the evidence base, the settlement forms the most sustainable Rural Centre. The ability of the existing infrastructure to accommodate additional growth needs to be taken into account when developing policies.

It would be useful to look at facilities with more nuance. It is no good saying a village is a centre because there is a bus service (not a good one), that there is a doctors' surgery (when in fact it is full) etc. So, there need to be accessible facilities before it is decided to build there.

The Co-op supports the recognition of Houghton on the Hill as a Rural Centre in the Settlement Hierarchy under Policy SS1 (1d).

Policy SS1 identifies The Kibworths as a Rural Centre, which given the level of facilities and services within the settlement is considered appropriate. The supporting text notes that of the Rural Centres "The Kibworths and Great Glen are the largest with significant village centres offering a range of shops and services" and "The Kibworths benefit from a secondary school."

We support the identification of Ullesthorpe as a Rural Centre, bearing in mind the facilities and services available there.