Isley Woodhouse

Project Overview 

Pegasus Group has submitted a multidisciplinary outline planning application for the new Isley Woodhouse settlement of up to 4,250 new homes south of East Midlands Airport, within North West Leicestershire.   

The vision for this project is to deliver a new settlement that focuses on sustainability, providing housing close to local employment, with beautiful architecture, and public spaces that foster a healthy and connected community.  

The land was jointly promoted by Pegasus Group and Oxalis Planning, who guided the site from the initial draft allocation through to the submission of the outline planning application. In addition to the new homes, the application also included office spaces, a large local community centre and two neighbourhood centres, a new secondary school, two new primary schools, residential institutions, and hotels.  The plans incorporated strategic highway improvements, drainage, ground modelling, landscaping, open space, sports facilities with changing and parking, and new access routes, including the realignment of the A453.   

Due to the site’s scale and regional importance, a thorough and rigorous pre-application process has been undertaken with the North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC), the wider statutory consultees, and stakeholders. 

Project Detail

The Isley Woodhouse vision, is underpinned by the key principle to be Accessible, Affordable and Beautiful.  

Accessible: The location of this project enables it to play a crucial role in delivering new housing in proximity to existing and planned employment hubs. To ensure genuine accessibility, active travel has been a central consideration in all decisions, thereby minimising reliance on private vehicles.   

Affordable: affordable means delivering a mix of housing that will cater for a wide range of users and will be genuinely affordable to the workers who are presently employed nearby but travel in considerable distances to their work.  

Beautiful: In essence, creating beautiful new settlements is about creating places where people want to live, work, and thrive. Beautiful is about building communities that are not only functional but also inspiring and uplifting.   

Testimonials 

The consultation that has taken place for Isley Woodhouse has enabled a greater understanding of local concerns and issues, helping to frame the proposal and deliver on the aspirations of the site.    

Part of this consultation, included an independent design review with Design: Midlands, where the panel stated: “The work undertaken to date is commendable. The approach undertaken with the landowners working in collaboration and the ambition to create an exemplary development which is accessible, affordable and beautiful is recognised and appreciated.”  

The Panel acknowledged the Design team’s work in developing a robust set of design principles, including the ambitions for active travel, connecting people to jobs. The site is considered to have considerable potential, its location close to existing employment centers adding to its appeal as a sustainable settlement.  

James Fairweather, Director of Design at Pegasus Group, commented: “Opportunities to shape developments of this scale and regional importance are rare, and we are incredibly proud of the proposals we’ve delivered for the new settlement at Isley Woodhouse. This project is the result of a truly collaborative process—drawing on the extensive and multi-disciplinary expertise within Pegasus Group, close cooperation with wider consultant teams, and meaningful engagement with key stakeholders. 

The expertise offered by the team at Pegasus has been instrumental in supporting the client from the initial vision through to the draft allocation and now the planning application stage. The design approach embraces cutting-edge principles for large, mixed-use strategic developments. It places particular emphasis on a mix of uses, bespoke housing typologies, diverse residential densities, and prioritising sustainable, active travel solutions. 

This marks the first step in establishing the new community at Isley Woodhouse. The ambition demonstrated by our clients sets a strong precedent for what is poised to become an exceptional and enduring project—one that we, and the wider team, will take immense pride in for years to come.”