Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council has opened consultation on its Draft Local Plan (Regulation 18) for only six weeks – from 17 October to 28 November 2025.

This is not a routine consultation. The draft plan introduces several major development sites, including a new strategic settlement of around 10,000 homes at Norton Juxta Twycross, alongside large allocations across other parts of the borough. These proposals appeared without prior public notice or supporting evidence-based consultation. The scale, location, and impact of these developments demand proper scrutiny, not a rushed six-week consultation launched in the middle of school half-term.

This request is not vague or political. It is a formal, evidence-based call supported by residents and parish councils across the borough and grounded in legal precedent. Case law (including R v Brent LBC ex p Gunning [1985] and R (Moseley) v Haringey LBC [2014]) confirms that public consultations must be fair, transparent, and allow “intelligent consideration and response.”

Six weeks does not meet that test.

Other councils facing large-scale developments have recognised this:
• Guildford and Ealing allowed 12 weeks.
• Bromsgrove extended to 16 weeks for a smaller 9,000-home plan.

HBBC should do the same.

A 16-week consultation would:
• allow residents to review the extensive evidence base properly
• ensure meaningful participation from working families and older residents
• give parishes time to collaborate on informed, evidence-based responses
• meet the fairness and transparency standards required by law

This petition follows the formal letter submitted on 27 October 2025 by the residents of Norton Juxta Twycross. It represents a borough-wide call for fairness and transparency in how HBBC consults on developments of this scale.

We call on Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council to extend the Regulation 18 consultation to 16 weeks and show that public consultation in this borough still means genuine participation, not a box-ticking exercise.