Government halts Oadby & Wigston’s Local Plan with demand for even higher housing numbers
Published: Friday, 17 January 2025
After years of work and expense to prepare its new Local Plan, Oadby & Wigston Borough Council has been forced to pause its progress due to a new Government requirement to deliver 382 new homes per year, rather than the 240 per year previously required.
The Government’s newly published National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has moved the goalposts on how many houses Oadby & Wigston need to plan for, increasing the figure by 142 per year.
The current draft of the new Local Plan sets out plans for 240 new homes per year, which includes 52 additional houses per year that cannot be accommodated in Leicester city.
Guidelines set out in 2024 before the anticipated new NPPF made clear that advanced local plans, such as Oadby & Wigston’s, should continue due to the time, effort and expense already invested into them, as long as the number of homes to be built was within 200 of the likely new figure.
This tolerance level of 200 has now been altered by Government, leaving the council’s members little choice but to announce the pause, while the council considers whether it is possible to accommodate the 382 homes per year in the Borough. This will set the plan back around 18 months.
This will involve re-assessing if there is sufficient land and infrastructure (such as roads, transport, schools and medical facilities) to enable the borough to accommodate 382 new homes each year up to at least 2041.
What was expected to be the final consultation on the new Oadby & Wigston Local Plan launched just last week will remain open, as comments gathered will still provide valuable insights from the public.
Planning Policy and Development Manager, Jamie Carr, said: “While we are forced to pause and re-assess if we can accommodate the new demand, the public’s comments on the work done so far and how we would potentially accommodate 240 homes a year are still important to us.
“I’d strongly encourage local people to still have a say, as this version of the plan will clearly still be relevant and provides the base to start from as we look to see if we can possibly accommodate even more homes.”
Councillor Samia Haq, Leader of Oadby & Wigston Borough Council said: “This is a real kick in the teeth for us at what we expected to be the end of a long and detailed Local Plan process.
“We’ve followed the Government’s guidance to the letter throughout and to have the goalposts moved at the final stage is incredibly disappointing.
“We understand the Government is making a pot of money available to compensate the councils who have been forced to backtrack on their plan through no fault of their own, and we will certainly be applying for that.
“In the meantime, I encourage residents to still engage and comment on the work done so far, as these views can help inform what we do next. Once we have assessed the higher figure we will ensure that there will be further opportunities for residents to comment on the Plan.”
The current public consultation closes on Friday 21 February. There will be further opportunities to comment on the plan once the council has had the opportunity to assess whether it is possible to accommodate the Government’s higher housing requirement.
The council is due to formally approve a revised timetable for preparing the plan at a committee meeting on 4 February, which will aim to see the revisions made within 18 months.