FPCR were appointed by Leicestershire County Council as part of the planning application for the Lutterworth East Strategic Development Area.
An allocated 70ha site in the adopted Harborough Local Plan, the project comprises some 2,750 homes, B1, B2 and B8 employment land, primary schools and community hubs, open space, woodland and community parks, and a new road link and bridge over the M1 motorway.
Utilising all of FPCRs disciplines (masterplanning, urban design, landscape, ecology, arboricultural and architecture) specific challenges have included the protection of Misterton Marshes SSSI, the River Swift associated watercourses; enhancing connectivity with Lutterworth – which lies beyond the motorway – and maintaining intervisibility between the local churches of Lutterworth and Misterton. The practice has provided a number of services to include:
- Local Plan EiP attendance and planning support as part of the allocation;
- Production of stakeholder engagement workshops and public consultation events, to include presentation to stakeholders and councillors;
- Masterplanning and urban design strategies to include preparing EIA parameters plans, an illustrative masterplan, design codes, plot layouts, 3D modelling, street visualisations and detailed landscape design;
- Project managers of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process to include preparation of the Environmental Statement (ES);
- Preparing a Landscape & Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) to include photowire visualisations;
- The carrying out of extensive protected species surveys, together with the production of ecological assessments and SSSI management plans, which has included close liaison with Natural England; and
- Arboricultural surveys and reporting.
