Farm plan set for approval despite village objections

PART OF SITE FALLS WITHIN AREA OF IRON AGE AND ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS

- By TESS RUSHIN

AN APPLICATION for an “unauthorised development” on a site of historical and archaeological interest will be debated next week.

The application, which has had 19 objections raised against it, as well as an objection from the parish council, concerns what is said to be “one of the most significant Iron Age discoveries in Britain”.

Despite the objections, the plans have been earmarked for approval when Harborough District Council planning committee meets on Tuesday.

Simon Laird has put forward the plans, which are partly retrospective, to build an agricultural shed plus a farm track and yard at Monument Farm, Cranoe Road, in Hallaton.

Planning documents note that part of the site falls within a designated scheduled monument, which is described as an Iron Age and Roman ritual site.

To the north of this is a further scheduled monument described as Hallaton motte-and-bailey.

A motte-and-bailey “castle” was a medieval fortification consisting of a raised earth mound (motte) topped by a wooden or stone tower and an adjoining fortified courtyard (bailey).

The plans were initially lodged in October last year, with amended ones submitted since then.