We hope you all had a peaceful Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family and friends during the festive period.
We are now into the new year, and we have another busy year ahead. We will, of course, keep you updated through our monthly reports, our website, and our social media channels.
Charnwood Local Plan
Charnwood Draft Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in December 2021. The Local Plan Examination Hearing Sessions have involved three separate hearing sessions during June 2022, October 2022, and February 2023.
A letter was received from the Planning Inspectors on 23rd May 2023 asking Charnwood Borough Council to carry out further consultation with those who made representations on the submitted version of the plan on the following documents:
- The broad contents of the Transport Strategies for Loughborough Urban Centre, Shepshed Urban Area, North of Leicester, and Soar Valley
- Updates to the Viability Assessment
- The Sustainability Appraisal Addendum
- The proposed approach to increasing housing land supply as set out in Exam 56
- Updated completions/housing land supply monitoring data to 31st March 2023.
This further consultation took place from 27th September to 8th November 2023 and 74 representations were made which are now published on the Council’s Local Plan examination website: https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/examination_documents
We made our representation during this consultation.
Next steps
The inspectors examining the Local Plan have communicated the next steps of the Local Plan examination through the programme officer. It is considered that further public hearing sessions are needed to establish whether there are any implications for the soundness of the plan arising from the representations that have been made, and if any further main modifications will be necessary to make the plan sound.
These hearing sessions are due to be held between the 20th and 23rd February 2024 in the Victoria Room at Loughborough Town Hall. The hearing sessions will concentrate on each of the evidence base documents consulted on earlier this year with a focus on infrastructure, transport, and viability. We will be attending to speak at the examination.
It is expected that following the hearing sessions, the examination will move forwards to a formal consultation on the Main Modifications, which are required to make the Local Plan sound. It is now anticipated that the plan will be considered for adoption by the Council towards the end of 2024.
The Local Plan examination website pages will be updated with further information about the February 2024 hearing sessions once finalised by the Inspectors.
Draft Budget
The first draft budget by the Labour/Green Coalition has been brought to the Cabinet meeting in December 2023.
The Council’s lead member for finance, states that the draft budget delivers a strong financial plan that supports the wide range of vital services which the Council delivers for communities.
The draft budget includes the following:
- Use of General Fund Working Balance: no use of the Working Balance is projected within the draft budget; this would leave the Working Balance at £5.4m on 31 March 2025, well above the £2.5m minimum level currently assessed by the Section 151 officer
- Creation of a £100,000 grant pot to enable community groups working with residents struggling with the cost of living
- Freezing of the charge for the garden waste service
- General borough council tax increase is restricted to 3% (despite the Labour Group announcing they would freeze council tax)
- Loughborough Special Expenses Council tax increase is to be set at 1.99% (This is just for residents living in Loughborough).
For more information about the budget, please read the report to Cabinet: https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/news/2023/12/13/cabinet_to_consider_draft_budget
The Council is also consulting on the draft budget and people can have a say via this webpage: https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/budget_summary Comments must be received by midnight on Sunday 14th January 2024.
The Council is responsible for a wide range of services including; collecting recycling and refuse from more than 70,000 homes in the borough; supporting homeless people; managing open spaces including the Outwoods; emptying dog bins, litter bins, street cleaning; food safety inspections; licensing of pubs and clubs and taxis; operating Loughborough Markets, town centre events and the annual four-day Loughborough Fair; running Loughborough Town Hall; operating three leisure centres; running Charnwood Museum with the county council; handling planning applications and strategic planning; and operating a 24/7 CCTV system.
You can see the report of the Draft General Fund Budget 2024/25 here
UK Shared Prosperity Fund
You may have noticed the work going on at Jubilee Hall. The hall is undergoing a transformation thanks to the support of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, secured under the previous Conservative Administration.
Anstey Parish Council is extending the Jubilee Hall to provide a second larger community hall for the local scout group and to provide more facilities for groups in the area.
The project has received £524,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is one of ten projects chosen by Charnwood Borough Council. The Council has been allocated £4 million from the fund to invest in communities, support local businesses, and improve skills.
The project also includes a new meeting room facility available to hire as well as additional storage. New toilet facilities with outside access for sports users and spectators on the recreation ground are being provided and garage space for the Council’s grounds maintenance service is being created.
Work started in September 2023 and the hall remained open until Christmas. The building will then close until the summer of 2024 when building work is expected to be completed.
The total cost of the project is over £860,000 and is also being funded by parish council reserves and contributions from developments in the area under Section 106 agreements.
For more information, visit www.charnwood.gov.uk/UKSPF
Polling Station
This will create an issue for the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner elections in May 2024 as Jubilee Hall will still be closed.
The Electoral Services will be sharing polling station information for Anstey in the new year, and we will share that information as soon as possible.
In the meantime, it might be a good idea to consider a postal vote to make it easier for you to vote. There is information on our website on how to do this and if you require a form printing out, please get in touch.
https://www.bradgateconservatives.org.uk/how-register-postal-voting
If you have any issues or concerns, we are here to help.
