Retired district council architect David Oliver has criticised his former employers over plans for thousands of homes north of Dorchester.

Mr Oliver, who worked for many years on the Poundbury project with Prince Charles and his team, says the proposals would be bad for Dorchester.

“I was horrified. It's a disaster for Dorchester,” he told town councillors on Tuesday evening.

And he said that while the district council was claiming the scheme would be controlled by a 'masterplan' he said that, in reality, it would be dictated by the developers.

“It is clear that this development is being prepared by the 'Westminster bubble' and the opinions of local people now appear not to matter to anyone,” he said.

He has produced his own sketch plan for the area which he says should put the development out of sight of the county town as far as possible with a 'heritage buffer' and a new link road protecting the sight lines.

Mr Oliver said that in talks with former colleagues he had also discovered that the county council highways team now believed that the town did not need a northern bypass, linking the A35 and A37, across the Dorchester north site.

“For some reason Dorset County Council seem to be working away to produce the figures that show we don't need the road,” he claimed.

He said that he had produced his drawings to show that the development, if it went ahead, could be softened and disguised: “I do hope we can avoid a scar on our landscape.” he said.

Cllr Alistair Chisholm welcomed the alternative proposals, although he said he would prefer no development north of the county town.

“It's an abomination. Any development allowed beyond the water meadows will threaten our cultural heritage and despoil the area forever,” he said.

Cllr Gerald Duke also welcomed Mr Oliver's proposals: “I hope the planners at West Dorset District Council will listen to him, as they could learn a lot from him,” he said.

He went on to claim that some councillors at West Dorset seemed to have taken the view that Dorchester would have to put up with having the bulk of the development for the area to save building elsewhere.

“They have no interest in Dorchester and we will have to fight them,” he said.

Dorchester Town Council voted earlier in the year to formally oppose the plans for Dorchester North outlined in the review of the Local Plan.

West Dorset District Council has claimed that the development is needed to cater for predicted future housing need and that the site, their preferred option, would bring economic benefits to the county town.