‘NONSENSE’ – that is how the leader of Rugby Borough Council (RBC) described suggestions it wants to ‘concrete over the countryside’, after a new blueprint for the borough’s housing sparked a political row.
The council has launched a public consultation on its proposed new Local Plan, which includes options on where around 3,300 new homes could be located.
The council’s Conservative opposition group said proposals to develop around Wolvey, Brinklow and the Rainsbrook Valley were ‘ill-conceived’.
But the ruling Labour group said the Tories’ ‘attempts to rewrite history’ were ‘rooted in hypocrisy and misrepresentation’.
A council spokesperson said: “The council’s preferred option is to avoid large allocations such as the proposal for Lodge Farm between Dunchurch and Daventry, and the proposal for a large allocation in north Rugby.
“Instead, the consultation document proposes allocating housing to smaller sites immediately available and deliverable in the town centre, and in villages that already have services such as schools and local shops.”
Council leader Coun Michael Moran said: “By spreading development across a range of smaller sites, we can better manage infrastructure needs and environmental impact than by focusing on a single large new settlement.”
He said the current Local Plan, developed under the Conservatives, included the ‘hugely unpopular’ South West Rugby expansion, which comprises around 5,000 new homes around Bilton, Dunchurch and Cawston Woods.
He added: “Our suggested allocation is 3,338 homes. The last administration proposed planning for 5,795 extra homes.
“The previous administration invited developers to propose sites without first putting a proper town centre or brownfield strategy in place. As a result, the list of potential sites is heavily weighted towards greenfield and greenbelt locations.
“Rejecting these sites without evidence would leave Rugby exposed to legal challenge and uncontrolled development. Instead, we are working to identify more town centre and brownfield options.
“The Conservatives promoted Rugby as a ‘high growth town’. For them to now stand outside the Town Hall with protestors chanting ‘stop the houses’ and claiming to be champions of the countryside is beyond belief.”
The Conservative group said further work should be done to identify ‘realistically deliverable sites’ which should be ‘sympathetic to Rugby’s many rural communities’.
A spokesperson said: “Not enough information or evidence has been provided to justify the inclusion of these sites. No concerns over sites which were raised by members of the council’s Planning Services Working Party were taken into consideration by the council’s ruling group.”
Group leader Coun Derek Poole added: “Many communities in Rugby are rightly very concerned about these potential new housing sites.
“We will be scrutinising the evidence base and alternative sites carefully.”
Richard Allanach, convenor of the Rugby About Turn campaign group, said the chosen sites were ‘unsustainable’.
He added: “Eventually, the unsustainable sites will be thrown out. Before we get there, a lot of anxiety is being created and people are having to go to a lot of effort just to make RBC see sense.”
The Preferred Options Consultation Document also proposes the creation of three country parks, two new training centres and an allocated site for a new secondary school in the north of Rugby.
Visit www.rugby.gov.uk/localplan for more information and to take part in the consultation, which ends at 5pm on May 19.
