CHARMOUTH has become the latest Dorset area to adopt its own Neighbourhood Plan.

The document sets out the aspirations of how the community wants the area to be into the future and is used to guide planning decisions.

Dorset Council’s Cabinet approved the plan at its meeting this week.

Said council leader Cllr Spencer Flower: “This is one of a long list of communities to have a Neighbourhood Plan and we should be proud so many have got involved in the process – mapping out their own future.”

The Charmouth plan, which has cost around £20,000 to produce, runs until 2035.

A Cabinet motion offered congratulations for the conclusion of the project, recognising: “the significant amount of work undertaken by the Parish Council and members of the Neighbourhood Plan Group in preparing the plan.”

The Plan had to go through an independent examination and then win the support of a public referendum.

The area for inclusion in the plan was first identified by the former West Dorset District Council in September 2014 with the Plan submitted to Dorset Council in May 2021, followed by a formal consultation which ended on July 30th 2021.

A referendum saw 289 people (90.9%) vote in favour of the plan, 29 against (9.1%)  on a turnout of 29 per cent.