The Local Plan Committee for North West Leicestershire Council met on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, to discuss the progress of the new Local Plan. The committee was scheduled to consider consultation responses to proposed policies, proposed housing and employment allocations, and the outcomes from a call for general needs employment sites. The meeting was to be held in the Forest Room at Stenson House in Coalville.

New Local Plan

The committee was scheduled to discuss several aspects of the new Local Plan for North West Leicestershire.

Consultation Responses to Policies

The committee was to review comments and suggested changes to a further 16 development management-style policies that had not been previously reported. According to the New Local Plan consideration of the consultation responses to policies document, these policies included:

• Creating Attractive Places
  • Policy AP2 - Amenity
  • Policy AP3 – Renewable Energy
  • Policy AP4 – Reducing Carbon Emissions
  • Policy AP5 – Health and Wellbeing
  • Policy AP6 – Health Impact Assessments
  • Policy AP8 – Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
  • Policy AP9 – Water Efficiency
• Housing
  • Policy H2 – Housing Commitments
  • Policy H8 – Houses in Multiple Occupation in Kegworth
• The Economy
  • Policy Ec2 – Employment Commitments
• Infrastructure and Facilities
  • Policy IF1 – Development and Infrastructure
  • Policy IF3 - Green and Blue infrastructure
  • Policy IF5 – Transport Infrastructure and New Development
• Environment
  • Policy En1 – Nature Conservation/Biodiversity Net Gain
  • Policy En3 – National Forest
  • Policy En5 – Area of Separation

The New Local Plan consideration of the consultation responses to policies report included summaries of the representations received for each of these policies, alongside officer assessments and suggested changes. Revised versions of the policies, resulting from this consideration, were included in Appendix F.

Proposed Housing and Employment Allocations

The committee was also scheduled to discuss responses to the consultation on additional housing and employment sites. According to the New Local plan consideration of the consultation responses to proposed housing and employment allo report, these responses related to sites that had been consulted upon previously, but were not part of the latest consultation. The report summarised the additional comments received, with officer responses included in Appendix A.

Outcomes from the Call for General Employment Sites 2025

The New Local Plan outcomes from the call for sites for general employment sites 2025 Local Plan Commi report noted that the council had made considerable progress in identifying general needs¹ employment sites for inclusion in the new Local Plan. The report stated that the combined supply from previously agreed sites, plus vacant land within established industrial estates, was insufficient to meet the evidenced employment needs. As such, the committee was scheduled to consider additional general needs employment sites for inclusion in the Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan.

The report noted that a call for sites for general needs employment had been undertaken, and listed the employment sites which were submitted in response:

• EMP99 - Land north of rail line, Hemington
• EMP100 - Land at Fields Farm, Measham
• EMP101 - Land north of Wood Road, Ellistown/Battram
• EMP63 (part) - Carnival Way (Option 1), Castle Donington
• EMP63 - Carnival Way (Option 2), Castle Donington
• EMP90 (part) - MAG site, south of East Midlands Airport
• EMP66 - Ex-Measham Mine site, Measham

The report included detailed site assessments and sustainability appraisals for the new sites, and updated assessments for the resubmitted sites. The report recommended that the committee agree that Land east of Carnival Way (EMP63 (part)) and the Ex-Measham Mine site (EMP66) be proposed for allocation in the Regulation 19 version of the Local Plan, subject to further work and no opportunity to include the sites in a Regulation 18 stage consultation.

The report also included draft policy wording for the proposed allocations in Appendix A Draft site allocation policies.

For Land east of Carnival Way (EMP63 part), the draft policy stated that the site is allocated for around 6,750sqm of industry/smaller scale warehousing, and that development will be subject to requirements including:

• Provision of a safe and suitable access from Carnival Way
• Retention and enhancement of natural landscape buffers
• A comprehensive landscaping scheme
• Addressing potential impacts on residential amenity
• Provision of a Mineral Assessment for sand and gravel
• Commitment to prepare and implement an Employment and Skills Plan

For the Ex-Measham Mine site (EMP66), the draft policy stated that the site is allocated for around 14400sqm of industry/smaller scale warehousing, and that development will be subject to requirements including:

• Provision of a safe and suitable access from Swepstone Road
• The design and density of the scheme should reflect and respect its countryside setting
• Provision of a pedestrian connection from Swepstone Road through the site to Public Right of Way P89/1
• Demonstration through further ecological surveys that the site no longer meets the criteria for a Local Wildlife Site
• Retention and enhancement of natural landscape buffers
• A comprehensive landscaping scheme
• Provision of a Minerals Assessment for at or near surface coal
• Commitment to prepare and implement an Employment and Skills Plan

The report noted that if the committee agreed with the recommendations, the residual requirement for industrial/smaller warehousing would reduce, but that the shortfall in office floorspace would remain considerable. The report also noted that the government's December 2026 submission deadline for Local Plans to be examined under the current system meant that there was not time to include the two sites in an informal Regulation 18 consultation beforehand.

Please note that as an AI, I am unable to determine whether any decisions were made at the meeting, or whether the recommendations were followed. This summary is based solely on the information provided in the meeting agenda and associated documents.