Council's 3,750 homes plan 'would ruin countryside'

The Dorset Local Plan will determine housing and infrastructure development for the next 15 years

A council's plans for more housing could wipe out novelist and poet Thomas Hardy's landscape, campaigners have said.

Dorset Council has a launched a public consultation into its Local Plan, which includes proposals to build up to 3,750 homes to meet the government's new housing targets.

The developer's proposal shows 850 homes in the first phase, with work starting in 2028, to be completed by 2034, and the whole site built out by 2048.

The Thomas Hardy Society, Save The Area North of Dorchester (STAND), and Dorchester Town Council said they strongly objected.

They told the council there was "no need for the homes and to develop 950 acres of land" that would "ruin the open countryside around the county town".

Campaigners said the countryside north of Dorchester and west of Stinsford had "heritage and cultural significance and important links to Thomas Hardy".

They also raised concerns about building on meadowland that floods, as well as the impact on the environment of creating new roads.

A series of drop-in events are planned for September and October to explain the local plan process.

Once completed it will guide development in the county for both housing, employment and for wind and solar power sites, along with suitable traveller sites and transport plans, for at least 15 years.

Comments on all of the proposals are open to the public from now until 13 October.

Dorset Council said it hoped the majority of people would engage online.

Although residents can also request a paper response form, or email, or write in with their views.

Paper copies of the consultation documents are available to view in Dorset libraries or at County Hall in Dorchester.