APRIL 2024 GROBY SPOTLIGHT online
Groby Spotlight is the free, monthly village magazine for groby, Field Head & The Brantings areas of Leicestershire UK.
Groby Spotlight is the free, monthly village magazine for groby, Field Head & The Brantings areas of Leicestershire UK.
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8<br />
Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-<strong>APRIL</strong> <strong>2024</strong> • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk<br />
Approval of new<br />
homes in Ratby<br />
may mean more<br />
traffic in Groby<br />
WHEN BOROUGH Council members went against<br />
the advice of planning officers, and refused an<br />
outline planning application for a development of<br />
225 houses in Ratby, they hoped that any planning appeal<br />
would support their decision.<br />
But the Planning Inspector has reversed the decision, and the new<br />
homes can be built on Desford Lane, between the sports ground and the<br />
Stonecraft Paving site, despite the application being widely opposed. In<br />
addition to Ratby Parish Council and many residents, objections were<br />
received from Kirby Muxloe Parish Council and Blaby District Council.<br />
The development is likely to have an adverse impact on Groby, with<br />
increased traffic on Sacheverell Way. But worse will be the impact on<br />
homes in the Martinshaw Lane and Forest Rise area, as Ratby Primary<br />
School cannot be extended. Some or all of the additional pupils resulting<br />
from the new homes on Desford Lane may need to enrol at Martinshaw<br />
School in Groby.<br />
Ratby a Key Rural Centre<br />
Guy Davies, the Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State,<br />
considered all the issues raised and noted that Ratby is classed as a Key<br />
Rural Centre because it contains a primary school, other services and a 6<br />
day a week bus service. “This makes it a place where residents can fulfil<br />
their daily needs without having to travel long distances into urban areas,”<br />
he said.<br />
However, the projected shortfall in primary school places will increase<br />
traffic levels and impact adversely on Groby, as more parents travel from<br />
Ratby to drop children off in the morning and sit and wait in their cars at the<br />
end of the school day. Public transport links are inconvenient and walking<br />
from Ratby is not practical for many parents.<br />
“I heard evidence from interested parties that Ratby has expanded rapidly<br />
in recent decades and that has put strain on local facilities, in particular the<br />
primary school and increased traffic on the roads,” Guy Davies said in his<br />
decision notice. He went on to say that it is up to service providers such as<br />
the County Council to make appropriate provision, rather than restraints<br />
being put on new housing.<br />
No objection from County Council<br />
“In this case, no objection to the scheme has been raised by service<br />
providers, including the County Council in its roles as Highway Authority<br />
and Education Authority.” He also said that it is a matter for service<br />
providers to respond to new development “by providing improvements or<br />
additional capacity where necessary, rather than existing capacity being<br />
seen as a limiting factor on development, unless such improvements or<br />
additional capacity are not possible.”<br />
Developers wanting permission to build may be expected to make a<br />
contribution towards the financial impact on local infrastructure and in this<br />
case a very large sum will be payable towards education costs. However,<br />
no contribution is required from the developer for Ratby Primary School.<br />
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Fewer babies coming<br />
FOR THE FIRST<br />
time since the Black<br />
Death killed about<br />
50 million people in<br />
the mid-1300s, the<br />
world’s population is<br />
going to decline.<br />
According to experts,<br />
global fertility rates have<br />
hit an historic tipping<br />
point, and seem unlikely<br />
to recover. Millions of<br />
women are simply having less children.<br />
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The global population currently stands at just over eight billion. But in the<br />
coming decades, as the older people die and fewer babies are born, this<br />
figure will fall.<br />
Women need to have an average of 2.1 children each, for the population<br />
growth to remain static. Worldwide, in 1950 it was at 4.84. By 2021 it was<br />
at 2.23. It is predicted to fall to 1.83 by 2050. The UK, like other highincome<br />
countries, has a lower-than-average fertility rate, at just 1.49 in<br />
2021. It is expected to fall to 1.38 by 2050.<br />
This will mean that our population of about 67 million will become<br />
increasingly old. And this will have a huge impact on our national finances,<br />
as the old will put pressure on the health services, while there will be fewer<br />
young people in work, keeping the economy going.<br />
Having a dog is good for you<br />
RECENT scientific research has found evidence that having<br />
a dog is good for you.<br />
“Science is finally catching up with what humans have intuitively known for<br />
thousands of years.” So says Professor Emeritus Aubrey Fine of Cal Poly<br />
University, a paediatric clinical psychologist.<br />
A recent study at Konkuk University in Korea found that participants’<br />
alpha-band brain waves increased while playing and walking with dogs,<br />
while their beta-band brain waves increased while grooming, massaging,<br />
or playing with dogs. All participants were left feeling “less fatigued,<br />
depressed and stressed”.<br />
In one American academic journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality<br />
and Outcomes, a study found that, overall, dog owners have a 24 per cent<br />
decreased risk of all-cause mortality, and that that percentage rises to 31<br />
per cent for cardiovascular-related issues.<br />
According to Tommy Wood, assistant professor of paediatrics and<br />
neuroscience at the University of Washington School of Medicine, dogs<br />
“support our health and wellbeing in many ways.”<br />
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