Regulation 19 - Proposed Draft Local Plan Submission

The plan is fundamentally flawed, premature and unsound. No mention is made of a Kibworth bypass which has not even been considered. Nor has the support of the County Council Integrated Traffic Model been used despite the Duty to Cooperate.

See attachment for full representations/response.

Policies throughout the whole HDC Local Plan fail to adequately describe the current traffic congestion situation on the A6 corridor, so proposed mitigation measures fail to address the underlying problem which will be exacerbated by the lack of using the Duty to Cooperate with the
County Council.

The main issues that the parish council has with the new Local Plan are summarised in these bullet points, with more detail provided in the attachment:
• The parish council supports the conclusions of the Leicestershire County Council in the Cabinet report of 18th March that stated the HDC Local Plan is premature and unsound.
• With so much of the new housing being proposed on or near the A6, there is a distinct lack of detailed mitigation measures.
• Why is no Kibworth bypass mentioned when so much of the extra traffic will add to the existing congestion on the A6 especially if traffic lights are installed at New Road and Church Road?
• Why are there no measures to mitigate the increased pollution levels on the A6 from all the new proposed housing passing through the Kibworths Air Quality Measurement Area?
• There are no mitigations proposed to ease congestion from the 475 houses on Warwick Road, by improving the railway bridge crossing or the junction with Fleckney Road.
See attachment for the parish council’s representation / response to the HDC Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation.

Housing (K1) – 475 houses off Warwick Road opposite the Centurion Place estate. So together with commitments from 2020, this will make 730 overall for the Kibworths. There will be a Masterplan and start of building, if approved, is likely from 2030/31. There will be contributions for primary and secondary education but no details about improved health (GP and dental) facilities, improved retail facilities but, surprisingly, no details about actual improvements to the A6 corridor highways infrastructure which will require considerable capital funding to ensure that future congestion is not a daily occurrence.
Principal issues: the railway bridge on Warwick Road only allows 6 or 7 vehicles through on each traffic light change. No mitigation measures have been included in the HSTIA or draft Plan to resolve this major issue which would see lengthy traffic delays, especially at peak periods. Also, no measure is included forresolving safety issues for the Fleckney Road/Warwick Road junction. Detailed mitigation measures and costs are essential for resolving the limitations of the existing single lane, traffic-light controlled, bridge over the railway line and to improve safety of the Fleckney Road/Warwick Road junction. Modelling of the effect of the increased traffic levels on Wistow Road/A6 junction are needed. No mention is made regarding safe crossing for pedestrians across the Warwick Road from the new estate, especially young people needing to walk to the primary and secondary schools. Why is a pedestrian crossing not included?

Employment (K2) – extend the existing Priory Business Park by 3.1 hectares on Wistow Road. This will put further pressure on the A6/Wistow Road junction. Previous proposals have been raised for providing a new retail shop and gym facilities at this location. Are these being considered?

A6 corridor issues:
Some mitigation measures and estimated costs are proposed in an appendix (Harborough Strategic Transport Impact Assessment - HSTIA) to improve access from side roads onto the A6 but with very limited details.
New Road junction – 3-waytraffic lights (estimate £3m), Church Road/Marsh Drive - 4-way traffic lights (estimate £2.9m). Wistow Road roundabout - lane widening (estimate £300k).
As is well known locally any hold-up of traffic by roadworks on the A6 results in long congestion queues, so clearly the AECOM highways specialists for HDC did not actually observe the daily A6 congestion problems either nor ask questions of local councillors or residents! Their proposals would greatly increase lengthy weekday delays, especially at peak times.
Kibworth Beauchamp Parish Council purchased six real-time, continuous traffic data measurement sensors in 2024 from Telraam, a Belgian company. One of these is located overlooking the A6 in the Harcourt Estate area, which lies in the Kibworth AQMA. The sensor has been providing live data since September 2024 to the present day. Data for the month 16th March to 15th April 2025 shows a total of 501,469 cars and HGVs were recorded (65,096 at night). On one occasion in March when the A14 was closed to traffic heading to the M1, it was noted that HGV traffic for that day rose by 30% on the A6 through the Kibworths.
A Cumulative Development Traffic Impact Study by Jacobs (2017) was commissioned by Harborough District Council and Leicestershire County Council, so why has this not been referred to in the draft HDC Local Plan? And why is there no reference to further LLITM microsimulation modelling by LCC either?
Overall, the Local Plan’s Strategic Traffic Impact Assessment estimates that all of the road improvements for the whole district will cost some £65,675,000. Yet, there is no mention of a Kibworth bypass, average
speed cameras in the 30mph section or mitigation for the increased levels of pollution that will happen in the Kibworth Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).
• what effect will 85% more traffic have on the Kibworth AQMA? The last HDC Air Quality action plan was 2019. This should have been updated in time for consideration in the draft HDC Local Plan.

Housing (K1) – 475 houses off Warwick Road opposite the Centurion Place estate. So together with commitments from 2020, this will make 730 overall for the Kibworths. There will be a Masterplan and start of building, if approved, is likely from 2030/31. There will be contributions for primary and secondary education but no details about improved health (GP and dental) facilities, improved retail facilities but, surprisingly, no details about actual improvements to the A6 corridor highways infrastructure which will require considerable capital funding to ensure that future congestion is not a daily occurrence.
Principal issues – the railway bridge on Warwick Road only allows 6 or 7 vehicles through on each traffic light change. No mitigation measures have been included in the HSTIA or draft Plan to resolve this major issue which would see lengthy traffic delays, especially at peak periods. Also, no measure is included for resolving safety issues for the Fleckney Road/Warwick Road junction. Detailed mitigation measures and costs are essential for resolving the limitations of the existing single lane, traffic-light controlled, bridge over the railway line and to improve safety of the Fleckney Road/Warwick Road junction. Modelling of the effect of the increased traffic levels on Wistow Road/A6 junction are needed. No mention is made regarding safe crossing for pedestrians across the Warwick Road from the new estate, especially young people needing to walk to the primary and secondary schools. Why is no pedestrian crossing not included?

Traveller and Travelling Showpeople - 21/8060 - Land north east of Kibworth Harcourt by junction with West Langton Road. The Plan proposes for this site to be Allocated with an estimated capacity for 21 pitches. However, this land is not available because the larger surrounding area has not been allocated as a Strategic Development Area in this draft Plan.