Future of new garden village hangs in balance as councillors reject government cash

Plans to redevelop an army barracks into a new garden village have suffered a setback after councillors voted against accepting almost £30m of government cash to help fund infrastructure at the scheme.

Rutland county councillors have chosen not to back the cash injection from Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) that was earmarked to help bring foward the development St. George’s Barracks in North Luffenham.

HIF is a national programme managed by Homes England that has made £5bn available to support the building of new homes by making sure important infrastructure, such as improvements to roads and public transport, can be put in place at the right stage. Only local authorities were eligible to apply for HIF.

Full Council met earlier this week to consider the HIF grant and after a sometimes heated debate, councillors voted to not accept the Government grant and will not receive the additional central government funding to support the St George’s development. In the vote, 13 members voted against accepting the HIF grant, 12 voted for and two abstained.

Council Leader, councillor Oliver Hemsley, said: “The decision on whether to accept HIF was extremely important and Full Council has now had their say. The Council will now be looking to work through the implications of this decision.”

St George’s Barracks, which is owned by the Ministry of Defence, is due to close in 2021/22, prompting proposals for a new Garden Community that would include up to 2,215 new houses, together with a further 30 possible houses on the site of the current Edith Weston School.