Holiday village plans receive more than 300 objections

Plans for dozens of holiday lodges on a farm in rural Leicestershire have received more than 300 objections.

The application if approved would see a holiday village, including up to 45 lodges, built on Langborrow Farm, on Launde Road, one-and-a-half miles to the east of Tilton on the Hill.

Plans also include a gatehouse, bike rental and shop building along with a cafe/restaurant as well as indoor and outdoor leisure facilities and a new access from and on to Oakham Road, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Applicant Brayden Cooper said the holiday village was "not a high-intensity events venue but a low-density eco-resort designed to connect with nature".

The area is adjacent to the Tilton Railway Cutting, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) where Sir David Attenborough first discovered his love for natural history, according to Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.

The wider area itself featured in the broadcaster's 2020 documentary, A Life on Our Planet.

Resident Kay Highfield, 68, told the LDRS she planned to speak against the development when it is considered by Harborough District Council's planning committee.

She claimed the application, which is on a former chicken farm site, "would be like Center Parcs on our doorstep".

"The reason why we live here is because it's totally rural, its tranquil," she said.

"All this will be gone. And there will be huge amounts of traffic.

"What [the application] doesn't address is the safety of all these people that are going to go on site, there's a cycle hire shop on site.

"So people will get on their bikes and they will come out onto the Oak Road and they will go up on the small rural lanes, and they are so dangerous."

The development has received 320 objections in total on the district council's planning portal with one resident writing: "The totally rural nature of the surrounding area means existing services cannot support a development of this scale.

"The local roads, including Oakham and Launde Road, are unsuitable for the increased traffic and would reduce tranquillity and increase safety risks.

"There are no bus services or cycle lanes, and slow-moving farm vehicles already share these roads, increasing potential conflict and safety risks.

"The area is also rich in protected wildlife but this development would disturb habitats and peace for the existing wildlife.

"Tilton Cutting is a protected geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserve which would be at greater risk of vandalism due to increased tourism to the cutting."

Several developments on the site have been put forward by Cooper over the years, including for 90 holiday lodges, 10 homes and 10 commercial units, in addition to the 45 holiday lodge home plans.

In the latest application, Cooper said the building layout of the plans "minimises noise breakout with operational measures (eg limited outdoor activity hours, no amplified music) and licensing controls available to protect amenity and wildlife".

He added the external lighting strategy "balances health and safety requirements with the need to protect dark skies and limit light spill".

Leicestershire County Council, acting as the Local Highways Authority, said impacts on highways safety "would not be unacceptable" and that the impacts on the road network "would not be severe" either.

A spokesperson for the district council said it could not confirm when the application would be considered by its planning committee.

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