Annex 122
Extract from the Report of the Director
of Environment and Development to the Environment and Development
Committee, Leicester City Council, 7 June 1998
4. REPORT
4.1 Members will be aware of the history
of the process of allocating the sites for places of worship at
Manor Farm Hamilton. This can be summarised as follows:
The approval of the Council's Policy "Places
of Worship in Leicester" (1987) was an attempt to cater for
the needs of different religious groups in the City. In order
to make the appropriate provision, the policy document set out
a number of proactive measures including a policy seeking the
allocation of land for places of worship in housing or industrial
developments over 10 Ha. Following on from this, sites for places
of worship at Manor Farm were allocated to various religious groups
in January 1990. The allocation was included in the first draft
of the City of Leicester Local Plan (CLLP) which was published
for consultation purposes in October 1990, with the consultation
period ending in December 1990. The allocations were carried over
to the deposit draft for which formal consultation was undertaken
during March and April 1992. The process culminated in the Public
Inquiry to the Plan from January to March 1993. The Inspector's
report on the Plan (December 1993) considered and endorsed the
proposals at Manor Farm.
Further consultations will take place in accordance
with standard procedures regarding future planning applications.
I have set out below the latest position in relation to the Places
of Worship, established at the Policy and Resources Committee
of 23 February 1998, in particular regarding progress by the groups
in meeting the Council's requirements, along with a brief history
of the process which led to the current position.
In January 1994 following a detailed and lengthy
re-appraisal of the allocations, the Planning and Property Services
Committees resolved to allocate 7.5 acres of the land to three
religious groups. These are—The Swaminarayan Hindu Mission,
The Ramgarhia Board, and the Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat. The allocations
were subject to a detailed financial appraisal of the groups'
abilities to purchase and develop the sites.
Following the confirmation of the allocations,
the January and March 1994 Council meetings received petitions
against the allocations. The petitions asked that the places of
worship at Hamilton should be restricted to groups predominately
from the Hamilton, Humberstone and Netherall areas, and that if
there was no local demand the land should be allocated for other
local use.
The Planning and Property Services Committees
in March and May 1994 reaffirmed the allocations and the Council's
places of worship policies. Council in May 1984 agreed to endorse
the decisions made by the Committees. Since January 1994 numerous
meetings and discussions have taken place between the three groups
and representatives of the Council regarding the disposal and
development of the land.
More recently, I presented a report to the Property
Sub Committee (11 February 1998) which was referred to the Policy
and Resources Committee (P&R) on February 23 1998 highlighting
the progress on disposal and the development of the sites. The
P&R Committee resolved that it would receive a report in August
which details the progress made by the groups, and that the report
should include a clear exit strategy if the Council's requirements
are not met. This report will include details of any planning
applications should these be forthcoming. The applications will
be subjected to public consultation.
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