The 2011 Localism Act has given communities a new right to draw up a Neighbourhood Plan.

This new right is aimed at giving local communities genuine opportunities to influence the future of the places where they live.

Decisions on planning applications must take account of neighbourhood plans.

Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan area comprises the following 10 Parishes which are situated in the south-west part of Blaby District, Leicestershire:

Parish Councils: Croft, Huncote, Sapcote, Sharnford, Stoney Stanton and Thurlaston
Parish Meetings: Aston Flamville, Leicester Forest West, Potters Marston and Wigston Parva.

Sapcote Parish Council was appointed as the qualifying body on behalf of the ten parishes known as the Fosse Villages.

The Fosse Villages area amounts to 5,311 hectares, representing 41% of the District of Blaby. In administrative terms, the area shares a common boundary with parts of both Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council and Harborough District Council in Leicestershire and with Rugby Borough Council in Warwickshire along a short length of its south-western boundary.

The Fosse Villages include lively, highly active communities which share common concerns which provide a cohesive basis for neighbourhood planning.

The 10 settlements within the area each have their own character, although they are generally small to medium scale communities, ranging from hamlets such as Potters Marston (population 30) to Stoney Stanton (population 3,460).

The total population of the area amounts to an estimated 11,930, giving an overall population density of 2.2 persons per hectare. It is, therefore, predominantly a rural area.

The Fosse Villages were designated as a Neighbourhood Area on 21 February 2013.

The Plan is being prepared by the parish councils and meetings through the Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan Joint Working Board.

The policies in the Fosse Village Neighbourhood Plan primarily seek to address the design of new development, protection and enhancement of green spaces, and protection of heritage assets and community services and facilities.

In accordance with Part 5 Regulation 15 of the Neighbourhood Planning General Regulations 2012 as amended by the Neighbourhood Planning (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (The Regulations), Sapcote Parish Council, as qualifying body, submitted the Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents to Blaby District Council on 12 March 2019.

Blaby District Council publicised the neighbourhood plan for a period of 6 weeks, invited representations, notified any consultation body referred to in the consultation statement and sent the draft neighbourhood plan to independent examination.

The Examination Report of the of the independent examiner, Jeremy Edge, was published on 28 November 2019. The report concluded that the FVNP policies, subject to recommended alterations, would meet the Basic Conditions as defined in the Localism Act 2011, Schedule 10 and Schedule 4B, 8 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which a neighbourhood plan is required to satisfy before proceeding to a referendum.

The Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan and the Examiner's Report was presented to Blaby District Council on 20 February 2020. Blaby District Council accepted all of the Examiner's suggested modifications and for the Plan to proceed to referendum. A referendum version of the Neighbourhood Plan has been prepared (please see link below).

In accordance with guidance to help combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), all neighbourhood planning referendums scheduled to take place, between 16 March 2020 and 5 May 2021 are postponed. However, Government advice states that Fosse Villages Neighbourhood Plan can be given significant weight in decision-making, so far as the plan is material to any planning application.