An appeal put in by De Merke Estates for a 500-house development in Barleythorpe has been withdrawn.

A planning application for a 500-home development in Barleythorpe was submitted by De Merke Estates in July 2022. This was met with frustration from Rutland residents, who shared their concern about the strain that a large development may place on infrastructure, roads and more across the county. Read more here.

The proposal, put forward by De Merke Estates, was not accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment, a decision that was deemed acceptable by Rutland County Council (RCC).

As such, a local group, Oakham Action, contacted the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and communities, arguing that the proposal would likely cause significant environmental impact and therefore required a full environmental impact assessment.

The group said: "After detailed analysis, the Secretary of State agreed with our request and overturned a previous decision by Rutland County Council that environmental issues could be addressed as part of the standard application process."

Find out more about Oakham Action and read their statement regarding the 'indefinite' postponement of the build here.

Subsequently, a Direction issued on behalf of the Secretary of State in February 2023 stated that the development proposed is classed as 'EIA development' within the meaning of The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017.

The Planning Inquiry originally scheduled to open proceedings in late February 2023 was postponed as a result of this.

De Merke Estates requested clarifications and a further explanation from the Secretary of State on the EIA direction, and subsequently appealed the decision to indefinitely postpone the build.

This appeal has been withdrawn.

Oakham Nub News has contacted RCC for comment.