Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031, Proposed Submission

The spine road will be a single two lane district distributor road designed to serve the new development while also facilitating some relief to through traffic within Lutterworth town centre. It is currently proposed as a 7.3 carriageway width with a 30/40 mph speed limit. The spine road will be constructed in its entirety, including the bridge over the motorway before
the completion of 1,250 dwellings, projected to be in 2029, unless otherwise agreed by the Council in response to currently unforeseen circumstances. There is great concern that delaying the completion of the spine road will contradict Policy 11 Infrastructure as the infrastructure
will not be in place until 45% of the development is in place. It is also noted that previous support for the development was based upon the proposal of a Lutterworth Eastern By-pass, this has now been down-graded to a spine road with access from a traffic light controlled junction. Delaying the implementation of the spine road will also impact the Air Quality Management Area in Lutterworth town centre. Lutterworth town centre is one of just two Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) in the District, primarily as a consequence of the volume of traffic including HGV's using the A426.

Whilst the size of the allocation to 2031 is now reduced to 1,500 dwellings, the ultimate size of the development to 2036 remains 2,750. This is 750 more dwellings than was proposed in the original consultation documents. This is a massive development, much bigger than any other housing proposal in the plan, the impact on surrounding areas will be significant.

Affordable Housing: Is 40% affordable housing viable or deliverable? This amounts to 1,100
affordable housing units for the proposed Lutterworth East development.

Specialist Housing: Lutterworth is surrounded by a great number of villages who are all facing the same problem, there are not enough properties for elderly people wishing to downsize. There is a definite need for extra care provision. On the proposed Lutterworth East development implementation of this policywould allow for 275 properties of this nature, is this sufficient, particularly when considered against the 40% affordable housing requirement.