Keith Harris

Borough Councillor for Hathern

T: 01509 557701

E: cllr.keith.harris@charnwood.gov.uk

I hope everybody is coping with the economic strains of the times. If anyone is in need of advice or support, I can refer them to the appropriate contacts in the council or other agencies.

Our little library is thriving again. We held our 7th birthday party in January. Many residents came in and we got some new members. The tombola and book sale raised £300 on the day for the Shepshed Foodbank. We kept the tombola open for the week after and I noticed that a lot more prizes had gone. So the final amount will be higher. Elwira has just published the stats for 2022. More people visited the library and more people were active borrowers compared to the previous year in every month except December. We are blaming the awful weather for that little blip. There were as many new joiners as in 2021 and a real surge of 23 in September. That is not an easy target to keep up as there are many members already. Please keep visiting and borrowing so that this wonderful facility can continue. Several volunteers have withdrawn after many years’ service and we are looking for new people to do some shifts. You can get some training and then learn on the job with another person always there to support you.

I have noticed in my staff sessions that some people are unaware of the hold facility operated by the County Library system. You can go on to the library catalogue on the county website. Search under Loughborough Library and choose the county one (the university library comes up ahead every time – ignore that one). Scroll down the left side and you will see you can renew and reserve. Click there and you get a search engine to find if the system has books you want. Put the author or the title in there. Look at the list. When you find one you want, click ‘select an action’ on the right and then click ‘place hold’. You put your card number and pin number in. Then choose Hathern Library as the pick-up point and click ‘place hold’. There will be a charge of £1 and the book will be delivered to our library for you to collect. So even if you have read all the books we have, you can get any book in the county sent to you. If you can’t be doing with all this clicking, just pop in and the staff will do it for you.

The woodland has been fully planted. Unfortunately, some stakes were not far enough into the ground and quite a number blew over in the wind. IdVerde have replanted them. Thank you to all the volunteers who gave time to plant on the four volunteer involvement days. There will be opportunities in the future to do some maintenance. The Parish Council will announce these in due course. The 14,000 trees will contribute to the council’s target of planting 100,000 trees.

There will be a jumble sale on February 5th from one to three at Hathern Club in aid of the Youth Club. Entry is £2 so bring some cash. Please pop by on the day to get some bargains and contribute to the excellent work done by volunteers to give the village youth somewhere to go and enjoy themselves. I still haven’t got round to playing a game on the pool table I got for them with my Member’s grant money. I am moving house and have just found my old cue, a relic of a misspent adolescence.

Don’t forget the seed swap at the library on February 18th. If you have any spare seeds, bring them along. If not, come anyway and get some new ideas for your garden and/or allotment.

The wonderful Hathern Village Association is having an AGM at the Club this month. Sharon Thorold is keeping tabs on numbers attending. If you are interested in going, get in touch and let them know. I have the impression that this is an important meeting with some big decisions to make.

I am hanging up my boots as a councillor in May. I have enjoyed working with and for residents and I will continue in my volunteer activities in the library and the HVA. Hathern is my adopted village and I want to remain involved in the vast range of events there.

Jane Hunt

Member of Parliament

T: 01509 262723

E: jane.hunt.mp@parliament.uk

Residents to consult on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy.

Since I was elected, it has been extremely important to me to ensure that the Loughborough constituency gets the best possible support from government funding. In fact, over the last three years, while I have been your Member of Parliament, Loughborough has received the most funding, from any government, to date. This is primarily due the success of the Loughborough Town Deal, which will be receiving £16.9 million as a result of the Levelling-up fund, including £2.6 million to go towards a new Digital Skills Hub which will help unemployed and semi-skilled adults from in Shepshed, Hathern and across the constituency to up-skill. So, I am pleased with the support we have had so far from the government with regards to levelling up, but what more can be done for our area?

I am aware that housing is a topic frequently brought to me as an area of concern by residents. Be it in Hathern, where there is concern around the village remaining a distinct settlement, or in Shepshed where many new houses are being built.

Currently, there is a consultation period on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill: reforms to national planning policy. The bill renews the government’s commitment to levelling up across the country. Balancing the need to build more homes to increase home ownership while empowering communities to make better places, restoring local pride and regenerating towns and cities.

To achieve this, the Bill will deliver much needed planning reform, including updates to the framework to ensure development delivers infrastructure - something that residents frequently highlight as a priority of theirs with regards to new housing developments.

Around 8 months ago, I asked the Secretary of State what his department was doing to address the problem of a lack of a 5 year land supply circumventing local planning decisions which has led to additional building taking place. In his response, he advised me that the issue would be addressed in this Bill. Moreover, it brings much needed reform to the 5-year housing land supply rule to incentivise local authorities to agree to local plans and give communities more of a say on development in their local area. Additionally, the Bill proposes to remove the Duty to Co-operate on housing numbers. An alignment policy will be implemented following further consultation, but this will assist our council area in allowing us to keep to our number of houses needed, without having to include houses from other areas. This is something I have spoken about in the past and I am keen is put in place. We need good, affordable housing for our local communities, without the additional build needed to make up numbers from other areas. Furthermore, I am a keen advocate for building on brownfield sites before greenfield sites. Although we do not have any green belt in Leicestershire, we have areas of separation which are designed to keep places like Hathern as distinct villages, and we also have a duty to preserve as much of our beautiful countryside that we have here in Leicestershire for future generations to enjoy.

I hope that you would agree that the reforms and measures set out in the bill are good news for residents of Shepshed, Hathern and indeed the rest of the constituency, which is why it is important that we have our voices heard by government. The Bill is currently open for consultation, which closes on the 2nd March 2023 at 11:45pm. It would be very helpful for residents to write in with your thoughts on the measures which the bill sets out and your priorities for the area. You can find all the details that you need to submit a response here: www.gov.uk/government/ consultations/levelling-upand-regeneration-bill-reformsto-national-planning-policy/ levelling-up-and-regenerationbill-reforms-to-national-planningpolicy

I will be submitting a response, and I would encourage you to do the same. If I can be of any assistance with this or another matter, please get in touch with me via post, telephone, email or drop in to the office anytime Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm at 18 Pinfold Gate, Loughborough LE11 1BE.