Langton Homes have put in a planning application to reduce the buffer zone between the new housing development and Ranksborough from the agreed 20m to a reduced 10m. This is not acceptable to Langham Parish Council and you can see our response included in the minutes of The Parish Council meeting held on 27 June 2023 here.

Langton Homes on Cold Overton Road.

Despite three county councillors of the RCC Planning Committee fighting for Langham, permission was GRANTED for 50 houses to be built beside the 18 houses that already have permission. As you know, with no Rutland Local Plan, we are exposed to Presumption in Favour of Development which means Rutland County Council has no legal argument to fight such an application.

We hoped that the Langham Neighbourhood Plan would be used to inform their ultimate decision but it was decided that, despite all Langham's efforts to get the LNP made quickly, it was not far enough along to carry any weight in law.

A condition of this permission was that there would be a 20m buffer zone between Ranksborough and the new development, and new homes closest to Ranksborough would be single storey. The development will share vehicular and pedestrian access with the 18-house development next door and will also provide a footpath from the vehicular entrance of the development to join with the existing footpath on the north side of Cold Overton Rd - necessitating the narrowing of the road  to single lane traffic across the bridge at the entrance to the two developments

Langton Homes has already agreed to establish a Zebra Crossing over the A606 near the Well St Junction to enable pedestrians exiting via The Range to cross the A606 safely. In light of this addition footfall, it would be sensible to insist that this crossing should be a Pelican Crossing (light controlled).

Our job now is to work with the developers to ensure the very best for Langham from these developments.

Bridleway through Ranksborough

There are plans by RCC to create a new bridleway linking the E153 (that joins Cold Overton Rd from the south) and the D85 (which crosses Ranksborough Hill). This plan requires the opening up of an ancient footpath which runs from the vehicular entrance to the two Langton Homes Developments on Cold Overton Rd., along the main road of The Park in Ranksborough, passes in front of Ranksborough Hall and then out at the entrance to Lonsborough Gardens into open countryside. There, a new path will be cut to join the D85 (the latter being a footpath at present and so needing to be upgraded to a bridlewway).

We, as a Parish Council representing the community of Langham, are in favour of circular bridleways - as stated in the 2017 Langham Neighbourhood Plan. However, we have objected strongly to this proposal because it is dangerous for horses (200m of the route is along Cold Overton Rd, and into the newly planned junction and road narrowing for Langton Homes), it invades the privacy and threatens the security of residents of The Park, it is a potential hazard to residents of Ranksbourough  where there are no pavements and horse manure will litter the main roads, and the new D85 seems to cut right through the planned Solar Farm (which received permission based on the D85 being re-routed). A final concern is that whilst, in law, an ancient footpath can be re-opened, even if not used for decades, there is no law that says this footpath can then be upgraded to a bridleway.

We have proposed an alternative to RCC where the E153 south of Cold Overton Road is diverted slightly to come out opposite the entrance to Ranksborough Farm, and then use the existing route running up the eastern edge of the proposed Solar Farm, that is used by horses already. This will also require RCC to discuss with Elgin (the developers of the Solar Farm) the precise route to Ranksborough Hill from there.

50 house Development Cold Overton Rd.

As you know Langton Homes applied for planning permission for a 50 home development in the field next door to the 18-house development. It was refused by the Planning Committee, despite a recommendation from the Planning Officer that it be approved, by a very narrow margin, 5:4 , on March 15th.

Subsequently Langton Homes has appealed, saying the decision was unlawful. The Planning Committee has convened a special meeting on April 28th to review their decision in light of that appeal.

With the Langham Neighbourhood Plan, our only weapon to fight developers right now, being caught up in the endless red tape and bureaucracy, any consideration that the Planning Committee gives to this document in reaching their decision on the 28th is likely to be minimal.

Langham Parish Council can play no part in the proceedings on the 28th

LPC PLanning Committee

Langton Homes' 18-home Development on Cold Overton Road.

Following the outline planning application submitted earlier this year (2020/0380/OUT), Langton Homes has now submitted an update to that application (2021/1334/RES). The development is on a site approved in the 2017 Langham Neighbourhood Plan (LNP) and is in line with the growth anticipated for Langham in that Plan. Langton Homes engaged with Langham Parish Council (LPC) at a very early stage and throughout, and made modifications in line with the points made by the LPC Planning Team with reference to the 2017 LNP.

As is usual with any planning application, LPC has responded to both applications with recommendations to RCC - ultimately RCC is the decision-maker and has, to date, approved application 0380/OUT.

Should you wish to read more about these applications, LPC's responses and RCC's decisions, please go to the RCC website under Planning Applications and search for 1334/RES.

Langham Community Park update 14^th July 2021

The refurbishment is complete, the new equipment sits proudly beside what was there before, and the gates were unlocked on Saturday July 10^th. People of all ages came to try out the new equipment or relax in the sunshine at one of the new picnic tables.

As with all such community ventures we will have a formal Grand Opening, to which everyone is invited – it is on Saturday 24^th July at 12.30.  Please bring your own picnic and let’s have a wonderful day in the fresh air, meeting and chatting with friends and neighbours and testing the new equipment.

Traffic Reporting on the A606

It is now 5 weeks since we asked you all to start reporting near misses and dangerous driving on the A606 – especially near the school.

We have received 11 reports – 7 of near misses, 3 of dangerous driving and one expression of concern. These we have sent to Inspector Danvers of Leicestershire Police (copy our PC Laurie Appleton) and to Cllr Lucy Stephenson (Traffic and Highways, RCC), copy our County Councillor, Oliver Hemsley.

We plan to send a similar summary every 4-5 weeks – or more frequently we get a lot more reports.

Our hope is that with robust and significant formal evidence of the risk to people crossing the A606 we may stand a chance, in the future, of a meaningful investment, by RCC, in a safe crossing point. Please keep reporting all incidents on the website.

Abstraction of water from Langham Brook

The brook running through Langham is owned by each riparian property and we thank each of you for fulfilling your responsibiites with regard to the maintenance of the bank and water course.

The recent warm, dry spell has left the water level very low and we felt it was important to remind riparian owners that, whilst the abstraction of water up 20cubic metres per day or less does not require a licence from the Environment Agency, amounts in excess of this may do so and should be referred to them.

A reminder of riparian duties:

• Pass on the flow of water without obstruction, pollution or diversion affecting the rights of others.
• Maintain the bed and banks of the watercourse and to clear any debris, whether natural or artificial, to keep any culverts, rubbish screens, weirs and mill gates clear of debris.
• Be responsible for protection of land from flooding and cause no obstructions, temporary or permanent, preventing the free passage of fish.
• Accept flood flows even if caused by inadequate capacity downstream, but there is no duty to improve the drainage capacity of a watercourse.

The volunteers of Munday's Close Working Group (MCWG) will be planting an Oak Tree in the Munday's Close wildlife area around 10:30am on Saturday 30th November as part of the Woodland Trust Big Climate Fightback. All Langham residents are invited to come along and show their support.
The Big Climate Fightback is a campaign to get one million people to join the fight against climate change by pledging to plant a tree by Saturday 30 November 2019. https://campaigns.woodlandtrust.org.uk/page/46713/data/1

The Refernce Guide to Planning Applications produced by the Langham Parish Council Planning Committee and distributed to all households in Langham in August 2019 is now available to download as a PDF document.

Reference Guide to Planning Applications PDF Download

Dog Waste Bins

Did you know....if you are walking your dog you can put bags of dog waste in the normal litter bins! Current RCC policy is not to provide dedicated dog waste bins