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A DORSET MP has called for an urgent review of controversial plans to build thousands of new homes north of Dorchester.
West Dorset MP Chris Loder said he had urged Housing Secretary Michael Gove to launch an urgent review of Dorset’s local plan to halt the proposed 4,000 home development north of Dorchester during a a meeting in town last week.
READ MORE: Protesters march in Dorchester against 4,000 home plan
Dorset Council Conservatives have backed the proposals for new homes in the next local plan – despite widespread local opposition, including from West Dorset MP Chris Loder, Dorchester councilors and Dorchester City Council.
After inviting the Housing Secretary to Dorchester earlier this year, the MP said he met the Housing Secretary on Friday May 6, where Mr Loder voiced Dorchester residents’ concerns over Persimmon Homes’ proposals to build homes thousands of houses on the outskirts. from the city.
Mr Loder also spoke of the need to ensure that the local plan focuses more on meeting the needs of West Dorset communities rather than a few huge developments, to avoid it ‘sucking the economic life out of small village”.
The MP for West Dorset also took the opportunity to stress the need for more community housing and/or community land trust initiatives to provide local housing for local people.
Mr Loder said: “The local plan must first provide local housing for local people, not just huge developments that suck the life out of local villages.
“We need good housing in the right neighborhoods to allow families and workers to live here and provide services to the community, as well as support the rural economy. My intervention with the Minister highlighted the need to change the way in which the local plan is constructed, which will make it possible to better match the supply of housing with demand. »
Dorset Council’s draft local plan says 39,000 new homes need to be built across the county to meet the government’s housing target by 2038.
The government argues that more homes need to be built across the UK to meet demand and provide more people with the opportunity to afford to rent or buy property.
Consultation on the draft Dorset Local Plan ended in March 2021. The Local Plan received 9,000 responses, many of which opposed building on Dorset’s open countryside.
According to Dorset Council, it is due to publish a revised draft local plan this month, incorporating residents’ views.
