Campaigners say there is still time to rethink controversial plans to build 760 new homes at Vearse Farm near Bridport.
Former town mayor David Tett, speaking on behalf of pressure group Advearse, says the planning application for the proposed ‘Foundry Lea’ development has been rushed and will not meet the housing needs of local people.
Mr Tett said: “The land lies in an Area of Outstanding Beauty. This should only be built on if there are exceptional circumstances. These do not exist other than the need for Dorset to meet the nationally imposed housing target. Bridport needs genuinely affordable social housing; it does not need properties which will be snapped up as second homes.
“The massive development does not fit the character of a small market town and the scheme may increase the threat of catastrophic flooding. It is just two miles from the sea and there is too little land to absorb run off from a site that is itself prone to regular flooding.
“The scheme has failed to address the pressures which the additional car movements will create in the town. The town infrastructure, its medical and dental services, will not cope with the additional pressures of a 15% increase in population. In 2013 Taylor Wimpey concluded that the site was not viable for large scale development because of the complexity of the development.”
Dorset Council has already given outline planning permission for the Foundry Lea development, which includes plans to build 760 homes, a football pitch, an orchard, open spaces, and pedestrian routes. Dorset Council has yet to approve more detailed plans concerning the development’s layout and design. Despite a raft of public objections to the plan, Advearse lost a judicial review into the plans in 2020 but are continuing their fight against the proposal.
Mr Tett added: “It is shameful the way in which housing policy and planning in this country is in favour of developers.
“Given the relevance of the continuing strong and valid objections to the scheme, Dorset Council must be robust on behalf of the community it serves in ensuring that the scheme as a whole addresses issues of concern. We call for the scheme to be redrawn so that it does not impact negatively on the town which it has been sited next to.”