THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition against controversial plans for a 4,000-home development north of Dorchester.
The Dorchester North extension has been put forward as a 'preferred option' for housing in Dorset Council's Local Plan, which was previously out for consultation. Dorset Council is currently assessing if any changes need to be made.
Campaign group, Save the Area North of Dorchester (STAND), organised a petition to show the strength of feeling against the plans, and it has now closed with more than 5,000 signatures.
The petition will be presented by the group to a meeting of Dorset Council's full council on Thursday, July 15.
Members hope the number of signatures will spark a council debate on the issue - although they fear it may instead just be taken into consideration as part of wider comments submitted as part of the consultation.
A spokesman said: "According to the Dorset Council constitution petitions with over 5,000 signatures should lead to a council debate on the issue.
"However it looks like any consideration of this very well supported petition will not be debated openly, but will be taken as part of the comments submitted for the draft Local Plan Consultation and so will not be discussed until April 2022."
Alistair Chisholm from STAND said, “This will be a great disappointment for all those who signed the petition believing it would lead to a transparent, open debate on this particular site.
"We will still be formally presenting the petition to them on 15 July and will hold a demonstration outside County Hall from 6pm onwards to express our dissatisfaction at the way the Council are dealing with this, and our opposition to the destruction of the local environment such a huge development would cause."
He urged residents to join them to hand over the petition and 'make their voices heard'.
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STAND along with MP Chris Loder and other groups including the Thomas Hardy Society and the Dorchester Civic Society have opposed the proposed development on a number of grounds including a 'lack of traffic and transportation data to justify the proposals', and 'the likelihood of significant damaging impact on Dorchester and its setting'.
Previously, Mr Chisholm has said the area north of Dorchester has not changed since Roman times - and is rich in prehistory.
He said: "It's a very unique feature of the area and developing on it will see it lose inestimable value."
Previously, Dorset Council planning portfolio holder Cllr David Walsh has said: "We're required by central government to plan for the housing target calculated using their standard approach.
"If we don’t plan to meet these targets, we're required to demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
"We appreciate some groups by their very nature will question this need to build housing, but we must ensure that Dorset residents have places to live and work – especially young people – and our local economy is able to support those who already live here.
"This is a true consultation for the draft Local Plan and, because of the pandemic, we are doing more than we ever have before to publicise and support the consultation to ensure as many people as possible can have their say."
To participate in the Local Plan visit www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/Dorset-Council-Local-Plan
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