VILLAGERS are objecting to a proposed housing development they claim is a 'cynical attempt to bypass the will of local people' on conservation land.

Residents of Upwey have complained about plans for an eight-property scheme near Miles Gardens.

They argue that although there is a need for housing, the type proposed – bungalows of two or three bedrooms- will not be snapped up by local people, but by retirees coming in to the area.

They also say that there are insufficient amenities and the development could tap in to an 'already overloaded' sewer network.

Former councillor Mike Goodman has penned a letter on behalf of the Upwey Society in which he states: 'I feel that this application represents a cynical attempt to bypass the expressed will of local people and the council and to take advantage of the delays in the adoption of the local plan.'

In an application form submitted by developers Morrish, which owns the site, it is stated that the site is in an area at risk of flooding and that there are protected and priority species on the land and nearby.

So far there have been 58 letters of objection from local residents.

One, Dr Paul Kelly, said: "Of particular note is that the site is outside of the Development Boundary, is a designated Important Open Gap, and is inside the Upwey Conservation Area because of the importance of the open space.

"In addition, this area was explicitly excluded from the possibility of development in the joint West Dorset and Weymouth and Portland Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment as recently as July 2014, with reasons given including that it would be “significantly harmful to the rural setting of the Conservation Area” and that it would have “unacceptable landscape and townscape impacts”.

"Upwey residents are justifiably bemused as to why they have to fight a planning application for development at a site that is officially protected from development at four different levels.

"If this application were to be successful the precedent thereby set would mean that very few areas across the borough would be safe from development. The site also harbours a large badger sett and a good population of slow worms, both protected species.

"Although residents cannot survey the site directly as it is owned by Morrish, bats and a barn owl are also heard or observed, and moths that are rare in Dorset are recorded near the border.

"There are also significant concerns in the village over sewage removal and loss of visual amenity."

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