A PROPOSAL for a lawful development certificate for a mobile home on a riverside plot at Briantspuddle has been refused.

The site, close to the River Piddle, is currently used by Mr Guy Little from Bournemouth to maintain trees in the area.

The parish council say the application is only being made to justify siting a static mobile home in an unsuitable area and have strongly opposed it.

Access to the triangular site is on a track known as The Hollow, between Hanhope Cottage and Bridge House.

Mr Little’s planning agent argued that his use of the building should be regarded as permitted development, without the need for full planning consent, because it is defined as a ‘forestry’ use with the structure to be used for storage, propagating and growing trees and shrubs, and for shelter.

The agent argued that the building proposed, which looks like a mobile home, roughly 10 by 4 metres, is technically a caravan as defined by the planning legislation and would be fixed to ground screws, making it moveable.

Affpuddle and Turnerspuddle parish council said it strongly objected to the proposal which would be harmful to the Piddle Valley Conservation Area with a listed bridge nearby and extensive views of the river and village to and from the site.

Said the parish council over the forestry argument for the site: “Claims that the land has a forestry use are unjustified and not credible. Since the applicant purchased it, some work has been carried out at the site, which can be best described as gardening, not forestry… The small site extends to 0.6 acres. This fact alone indicates that the use of the land cannot be described as forestry. In addition, apart from a small narrow section of riverbank, the entire site floods each year for an extended period. Anecdotally, this flooding has increased over the last 30 years and makes the land inherently unsuitable for forestry. It would appear that the claim that the site has or could have a forestry use is a construct to justify the siting of static mobile home in an unsuitable location.”

Dorset Council’s decision to refuse the certificate of lawfulness means that Mr Little will now have to go through the formal planning process if he wishes to continue with the proposal for the mobile home.