Residents help inform neighbourhood plan ambitions

The Harborough Town Hub, which is working towards creating a neighbourhood plan for Market Harborough, had a stall at the Arts and Crafts Fair in The Square on Saturday 30 April giving residents the opportunity to say what they liked about Market Harborough, and what they would change.

People liked that Market Harborough was a market town with a vibrant high street, with a wide range of local traders and interesting independent shops. They also loved the parks and flowers displays and talked about the sense of community and the fact that residents were so friendly.

The two issues of greatest concern were traffic congestion in the town, and infrastructure, like roads, schools and GPs, to support new housing developments. People were also concerned about the environment and sustainability, asking for more EV charging points, better designed and safer cycle routes, more tree planting, and to address flood risk.

The Hub will be using the information collected to direct further consultations with the community and to assist the new Neighbourhood Planning Engagement Officer for Market Harborough that is being funded with a grant from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities.

Neighbourhood planning is a way for communities to help decide the future of the places where they live and work.

The next formal steps in the Neighbourhood Plan process will be to set up the Neighbourhood Forums – 21 people that live and work in the community – and seek to designate the Neighbourhood Areas for Market Harborough. There will be a six-week formal consultation prior to designation of Neighbourhood Forums and Areas by the District Council.

Neighbourhood planning is a way for communities to help decide the future of the places where they live and work. Communities can use a neighbourhood plan to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built,