FAQs

The approximately 22.7 hectare (ha) site is located on the north side of Meadow Lane, to the southwest of Leicester Road. The existing built-up area of Whitwick forms the southwestern boundary of the site, while Coalville Meadows woodland is located to the northwest.

The site has largely been in arable agricultural use, and as such is of relatively low biodiversity value. However there are higher value habitats such as existing hedgerows on the field boundaries, which will be retained as much as possible as part of the development proposals, and enhanced with significant additional new planting.

The site is located within a sustainable location, within walking and cycling distance of Whitwick town centre (approximately 1.6 miles) and Coalville town centre (2.2 miles). An existing bridleway crosses the site and provides onward connection to Whitwick town centre via Holly Hayes Wood. This will be retained as part of a new network of walking and cycling routes provided within the development.

Barratt Redrow is an exceptional UK homebuilder, leading the industry on quality, service and sustainability, building the homes the country needs.

We put the customer at the heart of everything we do, designing and building high quality homes and great places to live across England, Wales and Scotland.

We operate through our respected and recognisable brands – Barratt, David Wilson Homes and Redrow – with our customers rating us as a five-star housebuilder for an unrivalled 16 years in a row.

Our proposed new neighbourhood at Whitwick would include homes from our award-winning premium brand, Redrow. Redrow stands out with its distinctive Arts and Crafts architecture and commitment to quality. Designed for buyers seeking executive homes or looking to downsize without compromising on style or amenities, these homes offer a sense of timeless character and elevated design. Redrow combines elegance with personalisation, with a premium standard specification and bespoke extras that reflect individual tastes.

Informed by ongoing site and context analysis, Barratt Redrow is preparing outline proposals for a landscape-led development to the north of Meadow Lane, Whitwick.

The emerging proposals include:

The delivery of up to 400 beautifully crafted new homes in a range of housing types, sizes and tenures;
Including homes from the company’s premium Redrow brand, featuring high-quality designs inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement;
The provision of affordable housing in line with local policy, in a mix including shared ownership homes that would appeal to first time buyers;
An access strategy designed to alleviate congestion at the Leicester Road/Warren Hills Road junction;
The potential for the creation of a new drop-off point for Castle Rock School;
The retention of the existing bridleway across the site to create a pedestrian route through to Holly Hayes Wood and wider Whitwick town centre. This forms part of an extensive new network of walking and cycling routes within the development;
A landscape-led design approach which respects the setting of Coalville Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI);
Provision of sustainable drainage measures (SUDS) to manage surface water flows from the proposed development;
The retention of existing hedgerows and field boundaries across the site in addition to further landscaping and planting to deliver biodiversity net gain benefits; and
A package of financial contributions to support local services and community infrastructure.

The proposed development site is located outside of the green belt and occupies a highly sustainable location adjacent to the existing built-up area of Whitwick. The site has been assessed by North West Leicestershire District Council as being a deliverable, available and suitable site for residential development to address housing needs in the district.

Local planning authorities must prepare a Local Plan which sets out planning policies to guide future land use and development in their authority area. Local planning authorities are legally required by the Government to update their Local Plans every five years.

North West Leicestershire District Council’s Local Plan was adopted more than five years ago so therefore requires updating in accordance with national policy. As the Plan is currently out of date, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies whereby planning permission may be granted should the benefits of the proposal outweigh any adverse impacts.

The recently adopted 2026 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) introduces a permanent presumption in favour of sustainability located development when this falls either within or outside of settlements. Policy S5 would apply to development that lies outside of but adjoins settlement boundaries (such is the case with Meadow Lane, Whitwick). This decision-making policy details the principle of development outside settlements should apply the presumption in favour of sustainable development, where the development would address an evidenced unmet housing need, so long as the development is of an appropriate scale and is physically well related to an existing settlement (S5(j)(i)).

The Council is in the process of updating its Local Plan, with the final Regulation 19 Consultation currently open for responses. It is targeted the New Local Plan will be adopted in Autumn/Winter 2027. As part of the evidence base to support the Local Plan preparation, this site was identified as a deliverable, available and suitable site for residential development to support housing growth.

In December 2024, the Government published a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) which introduced a new method to calculate housing requirement figures. This new method to calculate housing requirement figures has been carried forward from the 2024 NPPF to the new NPPF (published 17th August 2026). As a result of needing to apply this new method, North West Leicestershire’s housing requirement figure has significantly increased, from 481 to 635 dwellings per year. As well as meeting its own housing needs, North West Leicestershire District is also required to take on a proportion of Leicester City’s unmet housing need, as agreed via the Statement of Common Ground signed by all Leicestershire Authorities. Therefore, this brings their overall housing requirement to 690 dwellings per year.

To help address this increased requirement in North West Leicestershire’s housing delivery target, Barratt Redrow proposes the delivery of up to 400 dwellings at Meadow Lane, Whitwick.

The planning application will be supported by a range of technical reports which will demonstrate that any potential impacts of the proposed development can be appropriately mitigated and addressed in line with local and national planning policy.

An outline planning application establishes the broad principles of development, such as access arrangements, illustrative masterplan, number of homes, community facilities, and general extent of development.

If outline planning permission is granted, a detailed planning application called reserved matters would then be prepared for the development. This would include further detail such as architecture, materials, detailed layout and landscaping. Both outline planning application and reserved matters are subject to statutory consultation carried out by the Local Planning Authority (North West Leicestershire District Council).

In line with local policies, a proportion of the new homes would be provided as affordable housing. It is envisaged this would include a mix of social rented and shared ownership properties. The final mix will be determined in liaison with North West Leicestershire District council’s housing team.

Barratt Redrow aims to be the UK’s leading national sustainable housebuilder.

Their new houses across their brands use highly thermally efficient insulation and argon-filled double-glazing as standard, which allows the heat from the sun in whilst minimising heat loss. All homes will be zero carbon by 2030.

In line with Barratt Redrow’s commitment to sustainable building, the proposed development at Whitwick would be gas-free, with all homes built to the very latest standards of energy efficiency. All homes would be equipped with air source heat pumps, EV charging infrastructure and uprated insulation as standard.

The proposed planning application will be for outline planning permission which will establish the broad principles of development, such as maximum number of homes, an illustrative layout and site access arrangements.

Should the outline planning application be approved, finer details such as specific house types, detailed layout, architecture etc would be subject to a subsequent further application (called reserved matters). This would involve further consultation with the community and statutory bodies.

While house types would be determined at the reserved matters planning stage, it is anticipated that the proposed development will feature high-quality, energy-efficient homes in a range of sizes and styles, including those delivered by Barratt Redrow’s award-winning premium brand, Redrow. This will include beautifully crafted homes inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement.

The outline proposals are being informed by an assessment of flood risk constraints from fluvial sources, such as the Grace Dieu Brook (with the aim of refining the incorrect extent currently represented on the Environment Agency’s Flood map for Planning), but also from the drainage ditches crossing the site and potential external sources such as surface water runoff which may interact with the proposed development site.

A carefully integrated Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) will be incorporated throughout the development, reflecting best practice in environmental design. Permeable paving, landscaped swales, rain gardens, and a series of attenuation basins would work together to capture, clean, and naturally manage rainfall across the site. Surface water would be released to local watercourses at the equivalent natural greenfield runoff rate, ensuring the development does not increase flood risk downstream. Beyond providing resilient drainage, these features create attractive landscaped spaces, support wildlife habitats, and contribute to a greener, healthier place to live.

Access will be taken from Meadow Lane via a number of new priority accesses from two parcels.

The proposed development will include the realignment of Meadow Lane and the creation of a new junction onto Leicester Road. The new highway link along Meadow Lane to Leicester Road will have the priority and a new junction will be provided to maintain access towards the existing school and offices. This will encourage traffic to use the new road avoiding the existing crossroads, alleviating existing congestion at that location.

The site benefits from being located within a highly sustainable location, with good access to local amenities and facilities by walking, cycling and public transport.

The existing public rights of way routes through and nearby the site will be maintained and improved where appropriate. Improved infrastructure will also be provided in the direction of key local destinations where practical, including to Castle Rock School.

There is also the potential for the development to provide a new drop-off point for Castle Rock School, if this is something that the school requires.

The Planning Application will be supported by a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan. These will include assessment off off-site junctions cumulatively with other development and wider traffic growth using the Local Highway Authorities modelling data. This will inform any improvement/mitigation measures that may be required in liaison with the Highway Authority. The Travel Plan will consider the sustainable measures and options to reduce car dependency and promote sustainable travel to/from the site.

A key consideration with a planning proposal such as this is to ensure that local services receive the investment they need to serve the additional demand arising from the development.

The proposed development includes the provision of a new road link to alleviate existing pressures on the Leicester Road/Warren Hills Road junction. There is also scope to include a new drop-off area for neighbouring Castle Rock School if required by the school.

In addition to these potential community benefits that will be provided directly by the proposed development, significant investment into local infrastructure such as healthcare and education will also be generated by the plans.

The scope of financial contributions will be informed by consultation carried out by North Weest Leicestershire District Council with statutory bodies such as the local NHS Integrated Care Board, highways authorities and the local education team on their requirements.

Agreed financial contributions will be secured via a legally-binding agreement (called a Section 106 agreement) between Barratt Redrow and the council.

The masterplan for the proposed development has been designed with landscape at its heart and aims to preserve, improve, and celebrate the area’s best natural features.

The strong, tree-lined hedgerows that give the area its unique local character are being retained wherever possible, recognising their historic and ecological importance, as well as the site’s location in the National Forest area. Parts of the landscape have fragmented over the years, with historic field boundaries making way for larger agricultural fields resulting in broken wildlife corridors. The scheme will aim to improve this by reinstating lost historic hedgerows and allow the site’s vegetation to connect with Coalfield Meadows once again.

Ivanhoe Way will remain an important route and users of this will benefit from new recreational paths connecting each open green space within the site which will include an expansive grassland, areas of woodland and a number of play areas. The play areas will be tailored for children of different ages and abilities, whilst natural play features such as fallen logs and gentle grass mounds will be scattered along recreational routes.

Key landscape features include:

Ivanhoe Way providing a key linear connection through the site.
New footpaths connecting to a series of public open green spaces and providing a looped route throughout the site for activities such as dog walking, running and cycling.
Strong mature tree-lined hedgerows largely retained and strengthened with native tree and hedgerow planting.
Landscape restoration in the north where historic field boundaries have been lost to agriculture, historic field patterns to be reinstated providing improved connections for wildlife passing through the site to Coalfield Meadows.
Woodland block planting to the edges of the site to support transition to adjacent countryside and to mitigate visual impacts.
Play areas offering a range of play experiences for children of varying ages and abilities, located close to development encouraging natural surveillance.
Informal play located along active travel routes with a variety of potential playful features such as earth mounding, fallen logs and social seating.
Ecologically designed drainage to the lowest area of the site planted with natural grassland and meadow.

The outline proposals are at an early stage, and we want to ensure that the outline proposals for Whitwick align as much as possible with the aspirations and priorities of the community.

Following our outline consultation, we will review all feedback we receive during the consultation period. Alongside this, technical studies and site analysis will be ongoing, alongside collaborative work with statutory bodies. This will help to inform the process of finalising and submitting an outline planning application to North West Leicestershire District Council later in 2026.

Once the outline planning application has been submitted, this consultation website will be updated with information about the submitted plans and email notifications will be sent to all who have opted-in to receive them advising of the outline planning submission.

Once the outline planning application has been submitted and registered by North West Leicestershire District Council, the council will carry out Statutory

Consultation on the plans, seeking feedback from statutory bodies such as the local NHS Integrated Care Board, education providers and highways authorities, Whitwick Parish Council, as well as members of the public.

The council will then make a decision on our outline planning application.