Pennbury was the working name given to a proposed eco-town of 15,000 to 20,000 new homes intended to be built on Leicester Airport, four miles from the centre of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. On 16 July 2009, Housing Minister

John Healey John Healey (born 13 February 1960) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parl ...

announced that the Pennbury project would not go ahead. The site is in the

Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Northamptonshire. The population was 24,779 at the 2021 census. It is the administrative headquarters of the Harborough dis ...

district council area and straddles the Harborough parliamentary constituency where the then-MP was

Edward Garnier Edward Henry Garnier, Baron Garnier, (born 26 October 1952) is a British barrister and former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. A former lawyer for ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Lord Garnier is on the socially liberal wing of ...

, and the Rutland and Melton parliamentary constituency where the then-MP was

Alan Duncan Sir Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957) is a British former politician who served as Minister of State for International Development from 2010 to 2014 and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from 2016 to 2019. A member of ...

. The proposal was submitted by the

Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...

and

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national urban renewal, regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agency, regional development agencies on a regions of England, region ...

and aroused local opposition on many grounds including destruction of the countryside and the traffic it would generate. On 29 January 2008 Edward Garnier spoke to the adjournment in parliament and was supported by other local MPs from both sides of the house in expression of their concerns about the secrecy evident in the process of shortlisting. On 3 April, 2008, it was announced that the Pennbury proposal was one of fifteen sites shortlisted by

Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

(CLG) for the next phase of public consultations. CLG's consultation paper on the shortlisted sites reported that the site would "create a largely freestanding community, but linked to Leicester" and accommodate 12,000 to 15,000 homes in a development of 750 hectares.CLG's consultation on the shortlisted sites; page 26

References

External links

{{coord, 52.604, -1.039, region:GB, display=title Geography of Leicestershire Eco-towns