CPRE responds to Blaby Local Plan

CPRE Leicestershire has submitted a neutral response to the Blaby Local Plan Regulation 19 consultation, calling for stronger protection of greenfield land, landscapes, hedgerows and biodiversity.

Blaby District Council's Local Plan has reached Regulation 19, an important stage in establishing how development across the district will be managed in the years ahead. The council's consultation materials include proposals affecting communities across the district, including Leicester Forest East and Sharnford.

CPRE Leicestershire has submitted a formal response.

Our overall position is neutral. We support the plan's overarching vision and welcome several of its ambitions, but believe a number of policies need to be strengthened if the natural environment and open countryside are to receive the protection they need.

Brownfield before greenfield

We welcome the council's commitment to climate resilience and the protection of Green Wedges.

However, one of the key issues raised in our response is how future housing is distributed.

CPRE has long advocated making the best possible use of previously developed land, and we believe the Local Plan should more explicitly prioritise brownfield land before greenfield sites.

Where development needs can be accommodated on previously developed land, we should avoid unnecessarily losing open countryside.

This becomes particularly important as housing and other development pressures increase across Leicestershire.

Development should respond to the landscape

Our response also argues that stronger safeguards are needed for the intrinsic beauty and character of the countryside.

Where new development does take place, the landscape should influence how sites are planned from the outset rather than being treated as something to consider later.

This includes proposals affecting areas such as Leicester Forest East and Sharnford.

We want to see a genuinely landscape-led approach to development, accompanied by robust protection for existing hedgerows, trees, habitats and biodiversity.

Existing local planning documents already recognise the importance of ecological corridors, hedgerows, treelines and locally significant natural features within parts of the district.

The new Local Plan provides an opportunity to ensure those principles are carried forward as the district grows.

Planning for growth without losing what matters

CPRE Leicestershire is not opposed to development. New homes and infrastructure are needed, but growth should be planned carefully and make the best possible use of the land already available.

For Blaby, that means giving greater priority to previously developed land, protecting important landscapes and ensuring nature is properly considered when new sites are designed.

Our Regulation 19 response asks for modifications that would strengthen these protections and help ensure the district's growth does not come at the unnecessary expense of its countryside and natural environment.

We will continue to engage with the Local Plan process as it progresses.

Help give Leicestershire’s countryside a stronger voice

Our planning work is one of the ways CPRE Leicestershire speaks up for the countryside and the communities that value it. By becoming a member, you can help strengthen that voice.