Council to discuss a future vision for the north of Melton

Members of the cabinet will be asked to approve an amended Masterplan for the Melton North Sustainable Neighbourhood, which sets out requirements and standards for future development in that part of town.

Borough council officials have worked with developers and landowners to come up with the document, which covers land stretching from Nottingham Road across to Melton Spinney Road.

The area covered is bordered by the approved north and east sections of the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (MMDR), which are expected to be built by 2024, and the Masterplan is aimed at providing detailed proposals which will give Leicestershire County Council confidence that it can recoup from developers the multi-million-pound forward funding it is putting up for infrastructure for the relief road and new housing.

The borough council agreed to put together a more comprehensive document earlier this year after County Hall said it was not happy with the initial version.

It is hoped this new Masterplan will encourage the county council to accept vital government funding to trigger the go-ahead for the southern link to the MMDR, which also requires forward funding and which still needs planning approval.

The Melton North Sustainable Neighbourhood area is divided into east and west sections in the new Masterplan with a route called Spine Street running through the middle.

Land on the west is owned by Bloor Homes and the county council, with 690 new properties planned and a new 210-pupil primary school, which would be on a site west of John Ferneley College.

Around 1,230 homes are planned on the east area of the neighbourhood by developers including William Davis, Barwood Land and Taylor Wimpey UK, and there is now provision for a new primary school here too, with 420 places, although this will only be built if the county council feels it is justified.

A report to go before tomorrow’s meeting states: “The Masterplan has been developed as a result of close collaboration between the council and the landowners and developers, and represents a strong, positive and coherent approach to the continued development of the North Sustainable Neighbourhood.

“The adopted Masterplan will provide the assurance as required by Leicestershire County Council to ensure the delivery of housing and associated infrastructure, giving them the confidence to proceed with and ‘forward fund’ the education requirements for the borough and the MMDR project.”

The document gives an insight into when the various elements of the plan are due to be built, with both schools scheduled for the period between 2023 and 2028.

A community hall and changing pavilion together with a new playing field, planned north of Melton Country Park on the east side of the neighbourhood, will not be provided until 2030 at the earliest.

Houses across the area will be built in phases up to 2036 in line with the Local Plan provision.

County councillors will still need to approve the Masterplan if the borough council gives it the thumbs up.