We continue to stand up for residents at Blaby District Council and champion everything that makes Fosse Highcross a great place to live, work and visit.

With the ever-increasing pressures on planning, it is so important we protect our villages from unsustainable growth. The identity and community of each of the Fosse Villages is so special and we will work together with key partners to keep it that way.

If you are interested in receiving our monthly reports via email, please get in touch using the details below.

Storm Henk

Following Storm Henk in early January which resulted in flooding of multiple properties across the County, a series of resident public drop-in sessions have been arranged by Leicestershire County Council’s Flood Team.

Two of the drop-in sessions will be hosted at Blaby District Council offices on Wednesday 6 March and on Thursday 21 March. The drop-in sessions will be open from 2-7pm in the civic area. The purpose of the sessions is for residents affected by the flooding to share their experiences including any footage from the incident with the appropriate agencies and to learn more about what is being done to help the community recover.

Several agencies will be in attendance including LCC Highways Team, Leicester City Council Highways Team, LCC Flood Team (Lead Local Flood Authority), Environment Agency, and Severn Trent Water so it is an excellent opportunity for residents to share their feedback and get advice on how to obtain grants.

Budget Setting & Corporate Action Plan

The corporate action plan has been approved, which gives us a clear direction in terms of the Council’s direction over the next 12 months.  We will report back at the six month point on progress and there will be an opportunity at this point to review the plan and how well we are progressing.

The budget for 2024/25 has been agreed and Blaby District Council is set to increase its element of Council Tax by 2.99%, this amounts to around 11p extra each week or an extra £5.49 a year for a band D property.

While we are responsible for collecting all the Council Tax, you can see from the chart below, we keep just 9p from every £1 in Council Tax taken.

With a predicted budget gap of £1.2m in 2025-26 rising to £4.9m in 2028-29, our District Plan priorities will guide our decision-making. We accept we will need to make difficult decisions as we look to close this gap.

Rest assured we have plans in place and are committed to serving our residents and communities.

Around the District

We also held the annual Youth Conference this week - it was great to see so many young people in the chamber and engaging around green issues, hate and what they would like to improve in their local areas.  Thank you to Cllrs who gave up their time to come and support the event, it was really appreciated.

The council have just agreed a short-term loan to one of our parish/town councils to support them due to cashflow issues.  We ensured this met our Treasury Policy requirements and have asked the parish concerned to put plans in place to ensure robust financial management arrangements are in place going forwards.

You may also be aware that from April 2026 the Government require us to have a food waste collection service in place. We have received an indication of the capital funding they would give us to support the introduction and it is significantly less than we estimate our costs to be.  We have challenged this with evidence and will keep you informed as to any further feedback we receive regarding this.

High Sheriff of Leicestershire Visit to Blaby District

Chair of Blaby District Council, Cllr Cheryl Cashmore, welcomed the High Sheriff of Leicestershire, Mrs Henrietta Chubb JP, to Leicester Animal Aid, who came along to find out more about the work they do to support cats and dogs in need. We were also able to showcase Blaby District and some of the great work we do, including A Place to Grow

Leicester Animal Aid is Cllr Cashmore’s chosen charity during her term of office.

It was the perfect opportunity to hear about the latest fundraising event Cheryl has planned.

Councillor Activities   

During February 2024 there have been many training events and meetings attended by one or both of your councillors: 

• Training- Planning Committee hosted by Planning Advisory Service – 1st.
• Sapcote Parish Council – 1st.
• Training – Audit & Governance Committee – 5th.
• Planning Committee 8th.
• Audit & Governance Committee – 12th.
• Hinckley & Bosworth Planning Committee – 13th.
• Training – Code of Conduct – 15th.
• Sharnford Parish Council – 15th.
• District Council Meeting – 27th.
• Blaby Youth Conference – 29th.
   

During March there are the following training events and meetings that will be attended by one or both of your councillors:

• Storm Henk Drop-in – 6th
• Planning Committee – 7th
• Sapcote Parish Council – 7th
• Storm Henk Drop-in – 21st
• Resilience Partnership – 21st
• Sharnford Parish Council – 21st
• Elmesthorpe Parish Council – 26th
• Blaby Parish Councils Group – 27th

Blaby District Council News Releases

• Help offered to families affected by Storm Henk.
• Changes to bin collection days.
• From Council depot to police constable.
• Rogue taxi driver used unlicensed car for customer trips.
• Residents’ Survey and Budget Consultation 2024.
• Taste the Place Launch
• Deadline looms for final round of Community Grants Scheme

HNRFI Update – Examination

The Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange will remain in our monthly reports until the final decision is made by the Secretary of State 

The examination is now entering its final week with 1 Deadline left. During this final week the Council is preparing its final submission for Deadline 8. This final deadline will consist of comments on documents submitted by the Applicant at Deadline 7 and a statement from BDC detailing the Council’s final and overall position as at the closing of examination.

 The Examining Authority will then prepare a report for the Secretary of State over 3 months from when the examination closes on 12 March 2024. This report will recommend whether the application should be approved or refused.

It is expected that from the close of examination a final decision on the application will take 6 months to be issued.

Stages where the Council is involved:

September – October 2023:

• Local Impact Report (technical report of the likely impacts of the development).
• Written Representations (the Council’s views on the development).
• Draft Statements of Common Ground (points of agreement and disagreement with the Applicant).

 October 2023 – March 2024:

• Attend and participate at hearings and accompanied site visits. Seven hearings were held during the week commencing 30 October 2023 and one on 24 January 2024
• Respond to written questions and requests for further information, and comment on other parties’ representations and submissions.
• Submit further revised versions of the Statements of Common Ground
• Enter into a Section 106 agreement with the Applicant, securing mitigation measures through planning obligations.

2024 and beyond:

 If the Development Consent Order is granted, the Council will be required to discharge and monitor the formal requirements and provide an enforcement function accordingly. Further information Applicant’s website here

Elmesthorpe HNRFI Letter Update

We spoke to residents in Elmesthorpe and distributed a letter with the latest work we and Blaby District Council have been doing. Thank you to our MP, Alberto Costa for his support now and throughout the process. We will continue to fight to stop the HNRFI proposals as we move forward through the examination and beyond.   

Major Blaby District Planning Applications 

24/0090/FUL – The Gables, Chapel Lane, Sharnford

Erection of 6 four or 5 bedroom detached houses including demolition of existing structures.

Called-in to Planning Committee

20/1461/FUL – Land West of Bumble Bee Lane, Sharnford

Change of use of agricultural land to residential to accommodate the construction of a detached dwelling.

To be determined at Planning Committee on 7th March 2024Local Planning Applications

Local Planning Applications

24/0085/FUL – 8 Station Road, Elmesthorpe

Erection of replacement dwelling and formation of associated ancillary parking and incidental land.

23/0920/HH – The Barn, Cooks Lane, Sapcote

Removal of an overgrown Leylandii hedge and 2m chainlink fence and replaced with native evergreen hedgerow consisting of Wild Privet, English Yew and English Holly in front of a 1.8m timber panel fence.

24/0164/OUT – 25 Billington Road East, Elmesthorpe

Outline application for residential development of one dwelling (access only).

Local Planning Enforcement Notices

No new Enforcement Notice

Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council Planning Application – Update

Hinckley & Bosworth Planning Application 22/01037/OUT - Erection of 343 homes, Jelson Homes, Aston Flamville Road, Burbage

This application was refused by H&BBC and a new application submitted in August 2023. Jelson Homes have now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate for the first application.
In tandem with this application, a new proposal was presented to H&BBC Planning Committee (23/00673/OUT) on 13th February, where Cllr Mike Shirley spoke in objection. Unfortunately, the planning committee voted in favour of officer’s recommendation to approve the application, 8 members voted to approve, none voted against, and 9 voted to abstain.
The map shows the development marked in yellow, either side of Aston Flamville Road and new housing development on Lychgate Lane, adjacent to the proposed solar panel farm either side of Lychgate Lane marked in blue.

PDF version of this newsletter can be downloaded from the link below.