Permission granted for test track on part of Bosworth Battlefield

This evening the planning committee of Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council approved a planning application from the Japanese engineering firm Horiba Mira Ltd to build a test track for driverless vehicles on part of Bosworth Battlefield.

The decision was deferred from last month's meeting after heritage organisations began to express their concern.

I am finding it hard to feel happy about this decision.

It seems to arise from a small council's natural anxiety to please a major local employer and from the lack of an initial outcry from the heritage lobby.

The conclusion seems to be that sites of national importance should be protected at a national level.