Plan for 470 homes and primary school approved

Plans for 470 homes on the edge of a village in Leicestershire have been given the go-ahead.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council's planning committee approved a planning application on Tuesday from Lagan Homes Ltd for a housing development and a primary school on land off Burroughs Road Recreation Ground in Ratby.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the application would be subject to a Section 106 legal agreement in which the developer will pay £10m towards services in the area.

Sarah Marsh, representing the applicant Lagan Homes, said the proposals would go towards the "considerable shortfall" of homes within the borough and would provide "wider benefits" to the area.

The LDRS said the plan received more than 1,000 objections from Ratby with concerns raised that the village would be overwhelmed with traffic.

Phil Tenwick, representing Ratby Parish Council, told the committee the village's infrastructure was "already struggling to cope".

However, a report prepared by council officers states the local highway authority considered the impacts of the proposed development could be "suitably mitigated" by planning conditions and contributions.

Council leader Stuart Bray said "people clearly cared" about the site, but the government "was very clear" that the council had to hit housing targets.

The Liberal Democrat councillor added: "I wish we had vast amounts of sites that we could leave where people clearly care. But we don't.

"The situation we're in is that this government, previous governments, have said we must build more and more houses.

"If we refuse this today, we just know where it's going to go. It'll go down to appeal and it'll be a ruling against us."

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.