Oakham Action have welcomed the delayed of the 500-home build proposed for land North of Barleythorpe, which has been 'postponed indefinitely' following support from the Secretary of State.

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).

However, a Direction issued on behalf of the Secretary of State on 16 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 on 28 February 2023 has been postponed.

Oakham Action is a community action group formed by the people of Rutland to "protect and improve our environment, services, communities, plans and strategies". The group relies upon volunteers, local donations, and a desire to drive change.

They volunteer and fundraise to prevent development without relevant infrastructure, and consult both planning and legal experts within their campaigns.

The group shared on social media: "The planning inquiry which was was due to start next Monday for the 500 house development North of Barleythorpe has been postponed indefinitely after a successful appeal by the community group 'Oakham Action'.

"We asked the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and communities to rule that the proposal would likely cause significant environmental impact and therefore require a full environmental impact assessment.

"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.

"In this situation, the planning inspector could not continue with the inquiry, and the developer now has 3 weeks to decide if they will undertake the necessary assessments and consultation... which could be months of work before scheduling another inquiry.

"It's not the end of the process, but Rutland now has more than 6 years of housing land supply, and a strong case against the development which the government has added weight to.

"Many thanks to all of you registered your objections and contributed your time and money to fight this poorly thought through development. We'll keep you updated with what happens next, but we are optimistic regarding the likely outcome."