As many of you will be aware, Harborough District Councillors are intending to vote to agree to increase house building in our Harborough communities to make up for the house building shortfall of the City of Leicester.
On the night of the scheduled vote, following significant public pressure given the lack of public engagement, the Council Leader decided under pressure to defer the Council vote and decision until 6th November.
This is a promising first step, but it is disheartening that they have yet to heed the voices of our communities and rule out agreeing to build the City of Leicester’s unmet housing need, on top of our own housing needs which we need to meet.
Surrounding areas of the City are being asked to build homes in our areas instead of the City meeting that need within it and expected of it.
The current proposals would increase our share of house building by a quarter, which is above our current housing need. This would see possibly 2,000 additional homes built in our district over the next 13 years.
Leicester City accounts for more than a third of the population of the County (34.1%), but is only planning to build just over a fifth of new houses (22.6%), and instead is pushing for surrounding districts like ours in Harborough to take on its housing need.
The City is not taking its fair share. There is no legal requirement for Harborough or the Harborough Villages to agree to this increase. With neighbouring MPs Neil O’Brien and Alberto Costa we received assurances on this from Ministers.
If you would like to add your name to my petition, please provide your name, address and email below.
Thank you to everyone who wrote in opposition -
