BEAMINSTER residents are breathing a sigh of relief now that plans for 70 homes in Hollymoor Lane have been knocked out of the new local plan.

West Dorset District Councillors agreed final changes to the plan at West Dorset District Council's Executive Committee on Tuesday.

After strong public feedback, sites at the south east of Dorchester and Hollymoor Lane in Beaminster were removed from the plans.

The local plan will now go to full council on May 21 - if approved then it will be submitted to the planning inspector for independent examination, before it can be formally adopted.

Residents were asked to comment on the draft plan published in June 2012 and again at the beginning of this year.

There were around 2,100 responses from individuals and organisations in the 2013 consultation, and more than 900 from the consultation in June and July 2012.

The plan includes 760 homes at Vearse Farm, Bridport and 120 at the land north of Broadwindsor Road in Beaminster – but not the 70 in Hollymoor Lane.

Beaminster Town Council chairman Gilbert Berry said: “It is nice to think they have actually listened to genuine wishes of the community.

“That is proper democracy.”

He said the council and individuals put together very reasoned objections centred around difficult access and the dangers of building on a flood plain.

VEARSE FARM

If the Local Plan is ratified by the full council next Tuesday it will confirm that land at Vearse Farm to the west of Bridport will be the “urban extension” for Bridport, zoned for 760 homes, community facilities and employment land.

The homes would be phased over ten or more years and a new school is planned, replacing St Mary’s Primary, with a children’s centre and a replacement for the Sidney Gale residential care home.

The development would deliver highway improvements necessary for the development to go ahead, including improvements to the notorious Miles Cross junction of the A35 with the B3162 West Road.

The four hectares of employment land would include land set aside for ‘affordable’ community-led business development and land for a replacement Dorset County Council Highways depot.

The development will provide footway/cycleway links from the site into Bridport town centre and to the surrounding areas, including the countryside and coast.

The site development will be in accordance with a masterplan prepared by West Dorset District Council working with Symondsbury Parish Council, Bridport Town Council, Dorset County Council and the local community.