A site in Rutland could become one of the Government's new towns. 

As part of its plan to build an extra £1.5m homes in the UK by 2030, the Labour Government is proposing to build a dozen new towns across the country and put a call out for sites. 

A report to be discussed by Rutland County Council's cabinet on Tuesday (April 8) reveals that the Woolfox site in the east of the county, that has been on the horizon for a number of years, has been put forward by its promoters for consideration.  

The government has said the new towns must be at least 10,000 homes, and a task force set up to consider the applications, will make its recommendations to the government about where the new towns should be located, later this summer. More than 100 sites have been put forward. 



Proposed site from document by Rutland County Council (Photo: Rutland County Council)

After the government more than doubled the number of homes that need to be built in Rutland each year from 123 to 266, the authority announced at the end of last year that the previously dismissed developments at Woolfox and St Georges Barracks near Edith Weston, would now become future opportunity areas – meaning that they are likely to become allocated for house building. 

At Tuesday's meeting, the Liberal Democrat administration will be asked to sign off a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the authority and Pikerace Ltd, which are the promoters of the 1200-acre Woolfox site. The MoU sets out how the two parties will work together, although it is not a legally binding agreement. 

It says: "The planning authority and the owners wish to work proactively together to investigate suitability of bringing forward the Woolfox future opportunity area in the emerging Rutland Local Plan. 

"The MoU is intended to set out how the parties will work together in good faith to understand the potential of the site and if appropriate deliver the Woolfox future opportunity area. The work undertaken through the MoU arrangement is intended to inform the preparation of future development plans in Rutland." 

The MoU goes on to say that Woolfox will be 'more than just a housing development and it will be underpinned by the core values of Garden City Principles but utilise the best and latest design guidance and be driven by sustainability.' 

The new town's news comes after Pikerace Ltd submitted plans to the county council last month to build new industrial and office space on 47 acres of the Woolfox site. The intention is that green energy firm Zeeco will use much of the space. 

At the end of February, the authority submitted its Local Plan, which sets out where housing and employment sites are located, to the government for examination. However, due to the huge increase in homes that now must be built in Rutland, even before this plan is approved, new national planning policy dictates the authority must begin a new plan. This is because the number of homes across the designated housing sites in the current plan are not enough to meet the new required housing number.  

The council report states that an additional 3,800 homes must be built in Rutland by 2046, on top of the 2,705 outlined in the local plan that has been lodged with the government. 

At the meeting the cabinet will be asked to commit to starting work on the new plan, which it is anticipated will not be fully signed off until 2028.