Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council is preparing a New Local Plan. The council has identified the site in the Regulation 18 draft of the new Plan as a non-strategic major development site to contribute to meeting the Borough’s housing need.
In December 2024 the government published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This has increased Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s housing need figure and the number of homes that need to be delivered Borough from 432 homes per year to 649.
The NPPF also requires that local authorities like Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council are able demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. This is the amount of land that the Council must identify to ensure there are sufficient deliverable sites for residential development over the next five years. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council cannot currently demonstrate this requirement.
The new Local Plan is required to take account of recent changes to national planning policy, notably reflecting the Government’s clear policy objective to boost the delivery of housing in response to the national housing crisis, as set out above. In doing so, the Council has identified additional allocation sites, including the proposed development site in Groby, to meet its housing needs in full in line with national policy.
Alongside the ongoing process of preparing the Local Plan, Bloor Homes is preparing an outline planning application for the site, which will enable the delivery of new homes to contribute to addressing the council’s housing needs early in the plan period, at a site identified by the council to fulfil that purpose.
Bloor Homes’ consultation on emerging proposals for Groby are independent of the council’s Local Plan consultations, and residents are able to contribute to both processes.
The 10.5ha site is located to the south of Sacheverell Way, Groby. The northern boundary of the site is defined by the tree-lined hedgerow to Sacheverell Way, beyond which lies the established settlement edge of Groby. The site’s eastern boundary is defined by a public right of way (R116/2); beyond which lies an area of woodland and the A46. The site’s southern boundary is also defined by a public right of way (R51/3) and a tree group / individual trees, whilst its western boundary comprises a woodland block, and a dismantled railway (now used as a farm access track).
To the immediate west of the site is 3.6ha of additional land that is also under the control of Bloor Homes. It is an area of grassland with linear tree corridors and sporadic, informal tree clusters. That part of the site is served by public right of way R51/3 (which also runs through the main part of the site), though an informal route through the grassland area appears to have formed. This area of land is a candidate Local Wildlife Site with a very high value Biodiversity Net Gain baseline. It will be set aside as an area for biodiversity enhancement in recognition of its status as a potential LWS, with existing grassland and trees retained, alongside habitat enhancements where possible.
There is also a “blue line” area to the south-east of the site on the opposite side of the A46. This land has no access from the public highway and will not be subject to any development, with existing trees and grassland retained.
Bloor Homes is preparing an outline planning application for sensitive and sustainable residential development at the site south of Sacheverell Way, which would provide:
- Up to 180 high-quality homes in a range of sizes, type and tenures.
- Affordable housing providing opportunities for those on lower incomes to secure a home in Groby.
- The potential to provide accessible homes or bungalows as part of the housing mix.
- Safe and convenient vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access via two junctions with Sacheverell Way.
- Extensive green public open spaces, including green corridors and a network of walking routes connecting with existing public rights of way.
- Community orchard.
- Public common with play area.
- Sustainable Drainage scheme (SuDS) delivering habitat enhancements.
- Retention of existing mature trees and majority of hedgerows, with additional planting significantly increasing tree cover across the site.
- Significant financial contributions to invest in local infrastructure such as healthcare, education etc.
The Environment Agency’s Flood Map for Planning confirms that the whole site is located within flood zone 1 and is therefore at the lowest risk of flooding from rivers or streams. However, there are areas of surface water flooding within the site which will be taken into account as part of a drainage strategy for the site.
A sustainable drainage system (SuDS) will attenuate surface water runoff from the new neighbourhood, ensuring that surface water discharge rates do not exceed existing levels and where possible provide betterment over the existing surface water drainage on the site and in the surrounding area. That will include localised topographical changes to channel surface water towards a drainage basin at the south of the site. The proposed attenuation area will also deliver biodiversity benefits through the provision of additional wetland habitat.
Vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access will be provided via two new accesses from Sacheverell Way. The site access locations will ensure that residents can travel north to the facilities on Laundon Way (including existing bus stops) or travel west / north-west towards the centre of Groby / Ratby as required. The detailed access proposals that will be submitted alongside the application will take account of Leicestershire County Council guidance.
The proposed development will also provide links to the existing public rights of way / permissive routes close to the site. By delivering footpaths within the site, which would be publicly accessible post-development, residents of the site (and Groby more widely) would be able to access footpath R51/3 more directly, which provides access towards Ratby. Likewise, residents would be able to walk / cycle through the site to connect to R116/1, and then travel beneath the A46 using the Ivanhoe Trail; accessing the remainder of the Ivanhoe Trail, the employment area to the east of the A46, and Glenfield.
The planning application will be accompanied by a robust Transport Assessment that has been scoped with Leicestershire County Highways and will assess highway safety and capacity of the surrounding highway network to ensure that the development can be safely accommodated.
No, the existing public rights of way close to the site will be retained and new connections will be provided within the site.
Yes, affordable housing will be provided. The exact mix will be guided by consultation with the Housing Team at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. We are also happy to discuss the potential for local occupancy criteria to be applied, ensuring people with local connections are prioritised. However this is a decision for the council.
The neighbourhood will be gas-free, with all homes provided with air source heat pumps as standard. PV cells (solar panels) will also be incorporated, which along with the use of the latest materials and technique to maximise insultation, air tightness and heat recovery, will create an uplift in energy efficiency of 75-80%.
The new homes will incorporate sanitaryware and appliances that meet the highest water efficiency standards.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging points will be provided for all homes with on plot parking, together with access to communal EV charging points for the whole neighbourhood.
The site is currently largely comprised of improved agricultural land, which is of relatively low value in terms of biodiversity. The retention of existing trees and the majority of hedgerows, along with the planting of new trees and other plants and the use of sustainable drainage features to create new wetland features, will create new habitats. This will significantly boost the biodiversity value of the site, delivering a minimum of 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
In addition, Bloor Homes is a member of the Homes for Nature programme. This includes a commitment to see a bird-nesting brick or box installed for every new home built, as well as hedgehog highways as standard on every new development.
Existing mature trees and the majority of hedgerows will be retained as part of the open space proposals with development parcels shaped by existing field patterns, and these will be enhanced with extensive additional planting. This will significantly increase tree cover across the site.
We are preparing an outline planning application. This is the first stage in the planning process which sets out broad principles of the development. If the outline planning application is approved by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, we will then need to prepare a more detailed planning application called a Reserved Matters application, which looks at finer details such as architecture, layout, materials etc. Depending on the time taken in the planning process, we envisage that construction could start at some point in 2027, with development being delivered over circa three to four subsequent years.