Major 80-home development in Broadmayne approved

The parish council asked the Minister for housing and levelling up to intervene, but the request was refused.

Dorset Council has now voted in favour of the Broadmead site housing application and an associated 'country park.'

Village residents and some councillors warned that the decision could open the floodgates to other developers, claiming the 6-3 approval vote ignores many key planning policies and rides roughshod over the principal of not building on sites outside defined development boundaries.

A map shows where the proposed development would be in Broadmayne (Image: Abri Housing)

The proposed development in Broadmayne (Image: Abri housing)

There has been widespread opposition in the village to the scheme, to be built by the Abri housing association, claiming it will lead to a loss of good quality agricultural land, will cause traffic problems and result in almost everyone living there needing to use a car - making the development unsustainable.

Chickerell councillor John Worth told the area planning committee that while he favoured the promise of 100per cent ‘affordable’ housing on the site, he questioned whether it would be a good place to live – in a rural area with few facilities, a poor bus service, no GP and an over-prescribed school.

“I don’t think we will be doing young people any favours by putting them in this location,” he said.

The planning committee had, at its July meeting, made a ‘minded to’ decision to give outline consent to the controversial scheme, but had deferred the final decision, to hear further information about proposed planning and legal agreements to be negotiated with the developer.

Cllr Karen Ellis said only village residents would understand the traffic problems (Image: Dorset Council)

Parish councillor Karen Ellis told the September planning meeting that only village residents would understand the problems the extra traffic to and from the site was likely to bring.

She said the parish council maintained its objection to the density of the development which was, she said, in an unsuitable location, on high quality agricultural land and outside the defined development boundary. The parish council had asked the Secretary of State and local MP, Chris Loder, to intervene and take the decision out of Dorset Council’s hands, but had lost that argument.

She warned that the Dorset Council decision to allow the scheme to go ahead could set a precedent for other developers to ignore Dorset Local Plan policies.

Ward councillor Roland Tarr took a similar view – saying that to ignore policy which had taken years to evolve would also undermine confidence in the future Local Plan, currently being developed.

An artist's impression shows how the layout of the development may look (Image: Abri Housing)

Portland councillor and Dorset Council’s only Labour councillor, Paul Kimber moved accepting the scheme, telling the committee the need for affordable homes was “desperate” with more than 5,000 on the official local waiting list.

Several resident spoke about the unwelcome changes the scheme was likely to bring – one arguing that while a new pavement in parts of Rectory Road and Chalky Road might be seen as a benefit it would actually restrict the width of the road and lead to the loss of resident parking spaces, adding to congestion.

Said resident Mark Caddy: “ I am not against affordable homes but it needs the right houses in the right place.

“This is setting a dangerous precedent for any future developments. It will give the green light to build anywhere and undermine the plan-making process,” he said.

Phillipa Yates, an Abri director, said the housing association intended that 100per cent of the homes would be affordable with the help of Homes England funding – the scheme putting £26million into the local economy.

She said Abri were keen to work in partnership with the community and would employ as much local labour as it could during construction.

The planning application had been lodged by Southern Strategic Land LLP but it will be the housing association, Abri, which will bring the scheme forward. Their proposals include a mix of mainly two and three-bed homes.

The site itself is an area of open farmland with housing on three side to the south of the A352 on the western edge of the village – the field closest to the village will be used for the housing scheme with the further field maintained as an open area.

Access to the housing site will be off Broadmead to the eastern side of the development field with a temporary road into the site for construction traffic through the northern field, part of which is within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

In a separate decision a ‘country park’ north of the site was also approved, provided informal leisure space, a pond and other facilities, together with its own car park. The site will provide initial access to the building site once work gets underway and will be subject to a series of agreements to be concluded before the development begins.

Cllr Nick Ireland proposed voting against the car park for the open space site – claiming it should be sited just off the main road, rather than encouraging more car journeys through the village. His motion was lost on a 5-4 vote.