Step forward for homes at former ice cream factory

A plan to build 100 new homes on the site of an old ice cream factory has taken a step forward.

Councillors gave preliminarily approval for the Standard Hill scheme in Hugglescote, Leicestershire, in June, despite road safety concerns.

Now, the scheme has received its final sign off after a Section 106 agreement was signed this week, outlining contributions by the developer to mitigate the impact of the scheme.

Developer EMH Group agreed to financial contribution towards local education and public services and money towards off-site National Forest planting and local open spaces.

The new homes will be a mix of bungalows and two-storey properties, with small green spaces and a pond also included in the plan.

According to the plan, there will be a single point of access, close to the brow of Standard Hill.

Previously, opponents of the scheme labelled access to the site, from the brow of the hill, as "dangerous" and said speeding cars would pose a risk to pedestrians, the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Some on North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC) echoed these concerns, saying they did not believe the proposed mitigation was "sufficient", and called for a reintroduction of a 30mph speed limit along the entire Standard Hill stretch.

But planning officers disagreed with them, branding tighter speed restrictions "not appropriate".

Ultimately, councillors overwhelmingly backed the scheme.

This is not the only development on the cards for Standard Hill.

Building work has started on a scheme of 400 homes, which was approved in 2018.

More recently, a new application was submitted to the council to erect a 66-bed care home on "vacant grassland" on the land which would be accessed from a new spine road to the south of the wider site.

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