Plan for 345 homes in Blaby ‘green wedge’ tipped for go-ahead
Hybrid proposals from Bonnel Homes for a large Leicestershire housing development have been recommended for approval ahead of a planning meeting this week.
The scheme includes detailed plans for 77 homes and 3,500 sq ft of commercial space, alongside outline proposals for a further 268 homes and a 20-acre country park at Keepers Farm near Blaby, which would be demolished as part of the development.
The application will go before Blaby council’s planning committee on Thursday, 1 October.
If approved, the wider scheme would link Blaby with nearby Countesthorpe to the south, with five farm fields which currently separate the two villages – part of a “green wedge” designed to prevent urban sprawl and maintain separation between settlements – set to be developed.
Concerns over pressures on public services and increased traffic on Winchester Road were also raised by residents opposed to the proposals, which were first put forward in September 2025.
However, the site has been allocated for up to 350 homes under Blaby’s emerging local plan, and planning officers with the district council say the development would help meet urban housing targets for nearby Leicester.
The urban area has a predicted shortfall of around 1,500 homes between now and 2029, although Blaby’s allocation has already been exceeded by 107 homes.
“Whilst the Council achieved a score of 86% in the latest Housing Delivery Test, it can currently demonstrate only a 2.78-year supply of deliverable housing sites, substantially below the five-year requirement. The proposal would therefore contribute towards addressing an identified housing supply shortfall,” said the planning officer’s report.
The council report says there are “clear similarities” between the application site and nearby Blaby Golf Course, which saw an appeal against the refusal of 200 homes upheld in July.
During the appeal, government planning inspectors concluded that the harm to the “green wedge” was decisively outweighed by the acute area’s housing land supply shortfall, and the site’s sustainable location.
“Whilst development within the Green Wedge would inevitably result in some harm to its openness and spatial function, and this is a negative factor in the planning balance, the provision of extensive areas of open space within the scheme would help to maintain key Green Wedge characteristics and mitigate the overall impact,” the report added.
Woods Hardwick provided designs and planning services to support the application.
- Plans and documents relating to the application can be found on Blaby’s planning portal using reference: 25/0818/HYB
