A "heavily congested" 155-home estate has been granted planning permission.
The development, in Oak Road in Littlethorpe, was refused by Blaby District Council in February this year on the grounds that the density of development would represent an "unwarranted intrusion of urban development" and would cause "significant and demonstrable harm to the character and appearance of the local landscape".
The applicant, Gladman Developments, lodged an appeal against Blaby District Council's decision, saying the "alleged harms do not come anywhere close to significantly and demonstrably outweighing the benefits" and "the site is an obvious, sustainable choice with limited landscape harm".
When the council refused the plans back in February, they went against their own planning officers' advice. At the time, there was a huge wave of opposition to the development, with 369 online objections being submitted, including from the Cosby and Narborough parish councils.
Cosby Parish Council said that the area "experiences significant traffic congestion, particularly when passing through the village of Narborough and over the Narborough level crossing". It said the existing roads around the level crossing were "heavily congested with amenities, impeding the smooth flow and quick dispersal of traffic, especially during these peak times".
However, when the plans went to appeal, Blaby District Council said Gladman Developments provided "strong justification and evidence that contradicted the views of the council" during the hearing.
The council said it consulted its legal team and, on its advice, it was agreed a concession was in the best interests of the authority. However, despite the council's concession, the Planning Inspectorate still needed to make the final decision.
That decision was made earlier this month, with the Planning Inspector allowing the outline plan to go ahead. In giving the decision, the official said: "I do not consider that the appeal scheme would cause unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the area, including the local landscape."
The government official visited the site as part of the proceedings, and noted in terms of highways: "I observed the operation of the railway level crossing for freight trains, trains that stopped at the adjacent station and those that did not. On each occasion a short queue of traffic formed on either side of the barrier, at no stage did it appear excessive to the point of that it would be detrimental to highway safety."
In terms of flooding, the government official said: "I note that there is no objection to the appeal scheme from either the council, Environment Agency or the lead local flood authority and I am satisfied that the submitted flood risk assessment (FRA) demonstrates that the appeal site is not at risk of flooding and would not increase the risk of flooding elsewhere."
Noting that BDC accepted it could not overcome the application of the tilted balance, the Planning Inspector allowed the appeal. Tilted balance applies when planning permission is looked at favourably, unless the negative impacts of a development "significantly and demonstrably" outweigh the benefits.