An application for up to 100 homes at Beaminster is recommended for approval at a West Dorset planning committee this week.

The scheme, north of Broadwindsor Road, at the west end of the town, is being proposed by the Bugler Trust with around 35 homes being classed as 'affordable'.

West Dorset planning committee, which meets in Dorchester tomorrow, is being recommended to approve an outline application for the site, delegating the detail to the head of planning.

Access to the site would be from a new roundabout opposite the entrance to Buglers, agricultural equipment suppliers, with a new footpath linking into the existing one adjacent to St James.

Details submitted include an informal green space and an attenuation pond to the east end of the site and a 'village green' further west.

A mix of detached and terraced properties are planned for the site.

Beaminster Town Council has welcomed the idea of developing the site but says it will reserve its position until further design details are submitted. Its councillors have raised concerns about possible parking problems claiming that off-street car parking, as proposed, is inadequate. They are also worried about the attenuation pond being close to a play area.

The Beaminster Society has also welcomed the proposal to develop the site but would like to see a higher proportion of affordable homes as well as some properties where people can work from home.

It has also said it would like to see a mixture of traditional and vernacular styles and for the housing to be eco-friendly. It has also welcomed proposals for a new belt of woodland to the north and west of the site.

Statutory consultees including Historic England, Natural England, the highways authority and Wessex Water have raised no objections to the proposals – although Wessex Water says there will have to be a 'robust' strategy for dealing with surface water.

Concerns about the density of the development have been raised by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team with a suggestion that some of the concerns about the effect on the AoNB could be mitigated by a reduction in the housing numbers and/or redesigning some elements of the scheme.

There may also have to be an archaeological investigation as the field is thought to have been occupied in the Iron Age.

Planning officers will tell councillors in their report: “This scheme represents an opportunity to secure a significant number of dwellings on an allocated site in a sustainable location. The details of the scale, appearance and landscaping would be addressed in the reserved matters application...the scheme would provide jobs during construction and residents would be likely to spend in the local shops helping to sustain the town businesses.”