Historic watermill featured in Domesday Book to shut for good

The owners of a historic watermill have said their open days are now numbered after losing their battle against a new link road. The privately-owned and restored Shepshed Watermill dates back to at least the year 1080 when it was featured in the Domesday Book, and was once part of the old Garendon Estate.

But the new Garendon housing estate is set to force it to shut to the public for good. The site hosts a number of open days each year,.

But its owners have now said these will end this year after Charnwood Borough Council ^[1] approved a new link road to the huge Garendon Park development. Access to the new road will be via a junction on Harthern Road - opposite the driveway of the mill.

Councillors ^[3] voted last Thursday, July 27, 10 to two, with one abstention, to green light the scheme which had already been approved in principle when outline permission was granted for the wider estate. The existing junction, which provides access to the Shepshed Recycling and Household Waste site, will be remodelled and the access road extended to meet the housing estate.

Neil McHugh, owner of the historic building, had warned prior to the meeting that if the scheme goes ahead in its current form it “will close the watermill for good”^[4] as the increased traffic at the junction would make it too dangerous for people arriving at the mill. He posted again on Facebook following the meeting to say: “Sorry folks we lost the battle. So [this is the] last year of Shepshed Watermill open days.”

Mr McHugh had submitted a number of objections ^[5] to the borough council prior to last week’s meeting, as well as an alternate plan for the new link road that would have curved the existing Hathern Road away from the farm to meet at a new three-way roundabout off of which the new link road would be built.

A green area would have be created between the newly diverted road and the farm if the alternate proposal had been adopted to screen the heritage site from view. However, planning officers advised members that this suggestion was not part of the application and they could only judge the scheme based on the original T-junction plan.

He also spoke at last week’s meeting, saying he “strongly opposed” the application. There was no heritage statement, he said, no assessment of the light impact on the farm and no ecology assessment.

The current access to the waste site is used three days a week in line with the tips opening times, he said, whereas the new road would be used 24/7. It would also be impossible to ensure there were no lorry movements at night – a mitigation included in the plan to reduce noise impact.

“Our open days and private tours educate local people on local history, but this will be lost should you grant this application,” he said, adding that the alternative scheme was “supported by local MP Jane Hunt, borough and county councillors and residents of Shepshed and would “overcome all our concerns”.

Inside Shepshed Watermill

However, officers for the borough council added no objections had been raised to the plans from official bodies, including the highways team ^[6] at Leicestershire County Council and the borough’s heritage team. They had recommended it for approval.

Officers also said, while they were aware of the livery use of the yard and the open days, there was no official permission for these and, as such, the house needed to be considered as just a private residence for the sake of this application. They also said there would be no physical changes to the Watermill and any visual impact would be outweighed by the benefits of the link road to the new estate. Mr McHugh told LeicestershireLive ^[7] he has a temporary events license issued by Charnwood Borough Council for the open days and the livery is a registered business.

Concerns were also raised over the impact on wildlife ^[8] by councillors at the meeting. Councillor for Shepshed Jane Lennie said: “I’m concerned because there is a lot of ecology, a lot of wildlife here that is on the red list. We have otter, hares and badgers and I don’t feel the mitigation against wildlife and ecology [harm] is strong enough on this.”

Planning officers assured councillors mitigation had been included throughout the entire estate development to ensure there was no net loss of habitats. The new access road was always intended as part of the 3,200 home Garendon Park development and was granted outline permission – where something is approved in principle with the specifics to be ironed out later – at the same time as the rest of the scheme. A school and a registered park and garden are also included in the wider plans for the area.

References

^{^} Charnwood Borough Council (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} Resident who installed LED banner on house forced to remove offensive message about Leicester MP (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} Councillors (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} warned prior to the meeting that if the scheme goes ahead in its current form it “will close the watermill for good” (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} submitted a number of objections (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} highways team (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} LeicestershireLive (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} wildlife (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)