Loughborough Building Society
Paul and Deborah were very pleased to attend the ‘official’ opening of the Loughborough Building Society in The Nook on Wednesday 20th July. Local businesses and individuals were invited in for a tour of the branch and refreshments in the Nook Corner Café next door. The team handed out some small gifts to those attending outside the branch to celebrate their opening and help spread the word. The branch had a soft launch on 1st June to ensure everything was in place and working properly.
In June the branch had 153 visitors which has allowed the team there to start to get to know and understand our Anstey community. They are now able to promote their services locally. The branch has advised Paul and Deborah that they have already had some lovely customers who have expressed how much they’ve benefited from their personal service, being able to call in and spend time talking to a friendly face.
Please support your new local building society and much more information is available on their website: https://www.theloughborough.co.uk/
Post Office
The new Post Office successfully opened on 7th July at Londis in The Nook. Balu and his team are working hard to learn the ropes quickly so please do pop in and use the service to make sure it is sustainable for the long term. The opening hours are:
- Monday - Friday; 08:00am - 20:00pm
- Saturday; 09:00am - 13:00pm
Charnwood Local Plan
Deborah and Paul reported last month that Charnwood’s Local Plan was due to be considered by the Government’s Inspector to ensure the Local Plan is ‘sound’. The Hearing Sessions commenced at 10am on Tuesday 28th of June 2022 within the Victoria Room of Loughborough Town Hall. On day one of the hearings, Charnwood Borough Council (CBC) Planners advised that they wanted to include the allocation of Leicester City’s unmet housing numbers within the public examination. They advised that they would be able to accommodate the additional housing (1,170 houses over 15 years) within the current sites already in the Local Plan. The Planning Inspector disagreed and indicated as this was a ‘significant change’ to the Local Plan, the Public Examination couldn’t continue, and the Inspector adjourned the Public Examination after three days.
The statement can be found here: : https://www.bradgateconservatives.org.uk/news/further-update-charnwood-local-plan-examination on CBC’s website. At the time this report was sent to print, a letter had just been received from the Inspector. This outlines the work CBC need to do and the plan going forward to resume the hearings.
We now await further information from CBC about how they plan to progress the instructions received in the letter from the Inspector.
Universities Partnership
Universities and councils across Leicestershire have signed an historic agreement to work together to drive economic growth and tackle social challenges across the region.
The University of Leicester (UoL), De Montfort University (DMU) and Loughborough University have agreed to combine skills, experience and resources to deliver joint projects supporting the local economy, arts and culture, sports and more.
In working with local authorities across the region in this way, the agreement constitutes a unique collaborative approach to help direct work carried out into projects which will provide the most benefit to the area.
Between them, the three universities generate a big impact locally, contributing a total of £1 billion to the Leicester and Leicestershire economy, supporting nearly 17,000 jobs.
Individually, they have carried out many projects and initiatives which have brought benefits to the region.
But for the first time, with the Universities Partnership, the universities will work together on projects in five key areas:
- Education
- The Economy
- Sport, Health and Wellbeing
- Environmental sustainability
- Arts, Culture and Heritage.
The full agreement is available online here: www.universitiespartnership.org
Polling Districts
A consultation has been launched proposing changes to polling districts, places, and stations in Charnwood. All 92 polling districts have been reviewed following changes to the borough’s ward boundaries which will come into effect for the local elections in May 2023.
Next year the current 28 ward boundaries in Charnwood will reduce to 24. The number of borough councillors will remain at 52 but it means most ward boundaries will change, except for two wards, Anstey, and Quorn & Mountsorrel. The boundary changes are the result of an independent review by the Boundary Commission.
All polling districts, places and polling stations have been reviewed by officers at Charnwood Borough Council and views are now being sought.
Proposed changes include the creation of some new polling districts, places and stations and the removal of others. Some larger polling districts are being proposed to be split into two to comply with Electoral Commission recommendations.
Residents can find out more by reading the Council’s Polling Districts, Polling Places and Polling Stations Review 2022 document on the website. Visit: www.charnwood.gov.uk/pollingdistrictreview.
The website also gives information on how to give your views. The deadline to submit representations is Monday 3rd October 2022.
