Weymouth plans for nine homes refused

They argued that an important local landscape gap would be lost if the homes were allowed.

Several residents and the Weymouth Civic Society made the case not to build on horse paddock at the junction of Dorchester Road and Lorton Lane.

Dorset Council has now upheld the arguments and rejected the application for the homes on land west of the Old Rectory which had been made by developer Koori Ltd.

The application to Dorset Council asked for nine detached and semi-detached two storey homes with garaging, parking spaces and road access to the site.

Weymouth Civic Society, in a letter to the council, said its members ‘object strongly’ to the proposal which they argued is outside of the development boundary and in an area designated as an ‘Important Local Gap.’ They say the site is particularly necessary as part of the countryside separating the built up area of Redlands from the village of Broadwey.

The society also claimed that the proposed homes fronting Dorchester Road would be ‘overbearing’ given their height and the closeness to the road and within the Broadwey Conservation Area.

Other arguments for keeping the site as it is suggested that it is an important wildlife corridor.

Weymouth Town Council, which only has an advisory role, took the contrary view and supported the development.

It said it was pleased to see the housing designs in keeping with the area.

An agent’s letter for the developer said that the main issue to be considered is the effect of the housing on the landscape  – weighed against the area’s shortfall on the government’s minimum 5-year land supply.

In a report proposing the application be rejected a planning officer concluded: “It is considered that the proposed development will have an adverse visual impact on the essentially rural character of the site and its surroundings; and, the openness of these surroundings within Conservation Area and would erode the open gap which is essential to prevent the coalescence of the two settlements.”