AN outline application for 15 homes off School Hill, Chickerell has been refused for the second time.

It lies next to a larger site where more than 500 homes and a new primary school is being proposed.

The smaller School Hill site had been the home of the Weymouth Riding School with some buildings from that use still on the 0.5 hectare plot.

The ‘in principle’ planning application for the corner site close to the junction of the hill and Coldharbour has been turned down because planners considered it piecemeal and premature in the light of wider housing proposals for the area.

Planning officers said the fragmented approach could jeopardise proposals for a link road from School Hill to the larger housing site which is still under consideration.

Dorset Council officers also commented on the absence of any agreement to secure affordable housing and wanted more information about a drainage strategy and how the development would impact on protected species, including bats and great crested newts.

A previous application which had been rejected went to appeal with a planning inspector agreeing with the council’s refusal, commenting on the importance of a connecting road between the site allocated for housing to the east and School Hill.

An agent for the School Hill site owners, Mr and Mrs Wiltshire, said the application took into account the comments of planning officers on the previous refusal with the new plan showing access points off School Hill, another leading to the northern boundary and an internal route to the southern boundary, adjacent to Woodland Way.

Dorset Echo: How the new houses might have lookedHow the new houses might have looked

The site is currently occupied by a three-bedroom bungalow with a self-contained annexe, outbuildings and a stable block, adjacent to the Chick2 east site which Persimmon Homes want to build.

Two, three and four-bedroom properties were proposed for the site together with a bin storage area and parking.

The planning application said the development would have significantly improved with the run down site offering a mix of homes.

Chickerell town council has recommended approval of the application.