Minutes:
Oadby & Wigston Local Plan
The government, just before Christmas, changed the housing targets for the Borough which meant new build properties grew from 249 (including LCC overspill) up to 388 properties to be built per year. These 388 are just for OWBC and do not include any LCC properties. If the difference between the two numbers was less than 100 properties the current Local Plan could continue, as the difference is greater for OWBC a new Local Plan is required. The government noted that although the Council was in the advanced stages of the Local Plan for 249 hours per year, specifically infrastructure requirements, a new Local Plan assessing requirements for the 288 properties needed to be created. This will be open to public consultation as per the previous plan. There is a concern that the Borough will run out of the space required to keep up with this building rate, and may need to declare its own unmet housing need for other neighbouring Councils to pick up. Residents were encouraged to engage with all public consultation on the Local Plan as and when the opportunity to do so arises.
Residents queried if there will be any pressure put on developers of new properties under the Local Plan to be ecofriendly and last at least 50 years. National Planning Policy is the main guidance for this that the Planning Team can insist upon in terms of ecofriendly / sustainable developments. There is a risk that if the instance of the Planning Team is too great a development may be considered unviable, and not built which would mean the housing target may be missed.
A resident queried if the Local Plan on the Council’s website is current given the above information as residents are still be consulted on it. Feedback gathered on the plan contained on the website still stands and will be taken into account in the development of the new Local Plan. Consultation on the new Local Plan is likely to not be as extensive as the previous plan given the 18-month deadline set by the government.
Residents requested an update be provided on the Council’s website featuring key milestones around the development of a new Local Plan. Frequent updates, in the form of ‘short and sharp’ statements, regarding the Local Plan would also enable greater residents involvement.
A request was made for the key dates in relation to the consultation over the Local Plan to be shared. These can be shared via the Forum mailing list once available but should also be included in wider Comms work by the Council. The Planning Team are thought by residents to keep a database of residents who have expressed an interest in receiving planning update via email.
Some residents from the Stoughton Road area note that they feel that they are more affected by the Harborough Local Plan, and asked if there is a mechanism in place that allowed Harborough to consult Oadby & Wigston residents on their plan. It is unclear if a mechanism exists but Harborough do run public consultations which our residents can participate in. Oadby and Wigston’s Planning Team will be asked to publish any Harborough consultation dates they become aware of via the cross-boundary working.
Potential Restructure of Local Government
The Government announced devolution proposals prior to Christmas in a white paper. The government wants to see the creation of huge mayoral authority covering LLR. The government expects these authorities to cover populations of 1.5 million each; under which will sit unitary authorities which would see district and borough councils abolished. The proposals for these authorities in LLR is unclear at present. Leicester City and Rutland are already unitary authorities. There is a minimum size of a population of 500,000 people for unitary authorities. Devolution is intended to remove the current two-tier local government system.
There are concerns that unitary authorities would result in less contact with elected representatives and that Council offices would be further away from some communities.
Current proposals are that these authorities are realised by April 2028. Local councillors are working proactively to ensure that Oadby & Wigston gets the best possible outcome from this, including greater representation for our residents, local services, and maintaining our identity.
There is a noted fear that Oadby & Wigston will be absorbed into Leicester City as part of a suspected deal between them and County Hall. It is speculated that large chunks of the suburbs will be handed over to the City Council in turn for their support in becoming a unitary authority. What is proposed to be a better option is the formation of two unitary authorities in Leicestershire, with OWBC joining Harborough, Blaby and Hinckley. It was stressed that there is still no certainties around this workstream anywhere in LLR.
The County Council has wanted to create a unitary authority for some time but this was blocked by the City Council.
Residents noted concerns that it is not clear currently if they will have a say in the development of unitary authorities. The government noted that there will be no vote on this, but that proposals need to be made by November to them. The government will then run its own consultation based on the proposals it receives.
Elections will still go ahead for County Council in May 2025 as LCC was not successful in their application to the government to cancel the elections as part of fast-tracking devolution.
It is expected that a caretaker authority will be in place by 2027 as this is when the next local elections are scheduled to take place.
Councillors have queried already if the Local Plan will be affected by devolution. No answer was available at this time so the development of Local Plans will continue as business as usual. Expanding on this a query was raised as to how Harborough’s published local plan will interact with Oadby & Wigston’s; it was confirmed that as the site for development is cross-boundary there are close working links with the Planning Teams for each authority over this matter.
In 1973 there was one unitary authority with local authorities sat below them, these split which cost a significant amount of money and now further money is going to be spent undoing this under devolution.
Councillors have tried to point out to Leicester City that taking over Oadby & Wigston will not solve their housing issues, and will not provide them with any opportunities for retail developments, due to land constraints in the Borough.
Queries were raised about which authority would collect Council Tax for developments along the Oadby & Wigston and Harborough border. Council Tax will be paid to whichever authority is responsible for the land on which the property is built, which that authority providing Council services to those residents.
Health and Education authorities are consulted in respect of new developments, and needs assessed in respect of funding contributions by the developer to local schools.