Have your say on future housing development

Press Release – Have your say on future housing development, says Dorset CPRE

**** Updated 13th October: There is still time to respond to the Dorset Council consultations on the Local Plan and the Local Transport Plan. The Local Transport Plan consultation will now close on Monday 20th October and the Local Plan consultation will close on Friday 31st October. You can also email your responses to the teams: ltp@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for the Local Transport Plan – or – planningpolicyconsult@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for the Local Plan. Read Dorset CPRE’s responses to the consultation.

Dorset Council has launched a consultation on where new housing should be sited for the next 17 years. Local charity Dorset CPRE – committed to protecting the Dorset countryside from over development – calls on residents, town and parish councils, and local societies to “have your say” by responding to the Council before the 13th October deadline.

Spokesman Mike Allen says: “We all know that our communities need some development to support the economy and community – both market and truly affordable homes. Dorset CPRE supports communities in securing the right housing in the right numbers in the right places with the right infrastructure to meet local needs.”

“We want truly affordable new homes that meet local need in Dorset, but not over-development in the form of bland estates built only to fulfil excessive central government targets – with no recognition of Dorset’s beautiful landscapes, fragile eco-systems and precious countryside that have been enjoyed for generations and are not ours to squander.”

“Dorset Council has already said that the compulsory annual target of 3,246 houses a year for Dorset is unachievable. The target compares with long-standing delivery of around 1,300 houses a year, and the previous government’s target of 1,793 a year [which the former Dorset Council Leader said was at the upper end of what is realistic and deliverable].”

The current consultation is about the hundreds of sites proposed for all this building. Dorset CPRE doubts that enough of them will be in truly sustainable locations, close enough to essential services to offer the genuine alternatives to car travel that National Planning Policy requires. Also, we thought Green Belt land was established permanently to prevent urban sprawl for the benefit of all. But now swathes of it may be sacrificed around Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole, swallowing villages, swamping towns and closing green gaps.

In addition, Dorset Council is proposing to alter the boundaries of existing settlements under a new “Flexible Settlement Policy” to help local builders find smaller sites. This would allow development to take place outside current village and town boundaries. Dorset CPRE is concerned that this approach undermines long-established boundary protections for rural character, landscape, and heritage. We urge communities to examine carefully how these changes might affect their towns and villages for good or ill, and to respond robustly where they believe this policy risks inappropriate speculative development.

Act now and prepare to respond to the Council’s consultation by 13th October

The 2021 Local Plan consultation led to over 9,000 responses. People said that they wanted housing on a modest scale which respects and safeguards our countryside and heritage. This consultation is an opportunity to look again at proposed development sites and to comment on their suitability. Communities and local societies know better than the planners about their area’s landscape, nature, heritage and local economy, as well as infrastructure such as roads, schools and surgeries. Neighbourhood Plans summarise such information and can be drawn on for the consultation. Local evidence will be vital in establishing whether particular sites are sustainable and suitable for development, or not.

Dorset Council wants to hear your views! Make your own response on these sites and the policies proposed. And make sure your town or parish council and local societies are gearing up to respond to the Council’s consultation by 13th October. The eventual Local Plan will shape Dorset’s future for the next 17 years. Planning is part of local democracy. Don’t miss out on this chance to have your say.