Promoters of a new garden village for South Leicestershire at Whetstone Pastures have set a date for a public webinar event on the draft vision for the site. Members of the public are invited to register for the event, which will be held on Thursday 28th January at 7:00pm by e-mailing contact@whetstonepastures.co.uk
The public consultation on the draft vision for a 21st century Garden Village at Whetstone Pastures in South Leicestershire, launched at the beginning of December will run until the beginning of February and is just the first stage of what will be an extensive consultation and engagement programme on the plans.
The draft vision for the site is made up of seven core themes, – including creating a unique place; community; health; natural environment; sustainable movement, economy and climate mitigation. All themes are explained in detail on the consultation website – www.whetstonepastures.co.uk which also enables people to review the vision and give detailed feedback. There is also an ideas board where people can quickly leave their thoughts. A series of workshops have been held with elected members and local parish councils and people can provide feedback through the online survey, social media channels, project e-mail and a dedicated telephone line and Freepost address.
Comments received will be considered by the design team and where appropriate will feed into a final vision document which will form the shared blueprint for Whetstone Pastures between the project partners and local community.
All feedback received will be considered by the design team with a view to incorporating into a final vision document which will form the shared blueprint for Whetstone Pastures between the project partners and local community.
The 931-acre site, adjacent to the M1 is being promoted by local landowners and supported by development partner Tritax Symmetry. As well as new homes, the proposed vision also include schools, healthcare and community facilities alongside a new logistics park and other employment opportunities.
Commenting on the response to date Sinead Turnbull Planning Director at Tritax Symmetry said: “We’ve already had a good level of interest in the draft vision since the launch and thank everyone who has taken part to date. We want to encourage as many people as possible to review the documents and provide feedback over the remaining weeks, especially young people whose views are all important to future development.
She continued: “Whetstone Pastures is an opportunity to create something ‘unique’ and ‘special’ in South Leicestershire. A distinct ‘standalone’ new community for the future that as well as delivering new homes, employment, schools, healthcare facilities, parks and infrastructure can also provide benefits to existing villages, especially through its connectivity with them. Whetstone Pastures provides an opportunity to plan for sustainable and deliverable long-term growth for the district instead of piecemeal development in existing villages and settlements throughout South Leicestershire.”
The initiative follows Whetstone Pastures being awarded Garden Village status by the Government, although the project currently has no status within Blaby District Council’s Local Plan.