New roundabouts and link road planned south of Melton

The scheme is part of the approved Melton South Sustainable Neighbourhood masterplan, drawn up as part of the local plan to provide for the building of hundreds of new homes to the south-west of the town.

If approved, the roundabouts would replace the existing Leicester Road and Kirby Lane junctions with the Great Dalby road (Kirby Road).

It would all be built ahead of the construction of homes to provide infrastructure serving them.

A planning statement sent to the council by Pegasus Group on behalf of Davidsons Developments, as part of the application, states: “The proposal seeks the formation of two new roundabouts: one on Kirby Lane (to the north of the site) and one on Leicester Road (to the south).

“The roundabouts are to be connected by a 7.3m wide single carriageway road.”

It adds: “The link road is to be delivered in advance of any development as a road safety improvement scheme.”

Comments submitted on the scheme by Leicestershire County Council, as the local highways authority, indicate the proposed roundabouts and link road could eventually form a small part of a southern link road, which has been currently shelved due to funding issues.

County Hall decided a year ago that a south relief road was no longer viable because the original £27million cost had soared to £70million due to rising construction costs and inflation and the authority could not afford to contribute to the cost due to its own extreme financial challenges.

A southern link, which would connect the A607 Leicester Road with the A606 Burton Road, is considered vital for the town to link with North East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (NEMMDR), which is well advanced now and due to open early in 2026.

It is hoped that the southern link might be able to be funded from the £238million transport funding – redistributed from the HS2 railway scheme – which was allocated by the previous government to the county council.

However, it has yet to be confirmed if this money would still be provided by the new government.