Plans have been lodged for up to 40 homes on a rural site at Mosterton.

An outline planning application to Dorset Council is for farm land east of The Paddocks and north of Chedington Lane. The site is around the size of two standard football pitches.

Hortons Estate Developments Ltd say the site would be accessed via a new road from The Paddocks, which itself has ten homes, just off the A3066 and Chedington Lane.

The ‘in principle’ application gives no details of the size of the proposed homes although a document with the application predicts that there could be 175 traffic movements to and from the site each day, peaking around 8am and again between 5-6pm. It claims that this number would have no significant impact on local roads.

It also says that because of the proximity to the village many trips to and from the development would be on foot, although a new dropped kerb would have to be installed on the A3066 to the south of The Paddocks.

A consultation evening was organised by the agents at the village hall in December and attended by about 40 people – with almost all of the comments received being negative. Concerns included that too many houses were being built, extra traffic, and that new homes would put additional pressure on the school. There were also worries about drainage with some saying that Chedington Lane is already prone to flooding and that, with climate change and additional houses, this could become worse. The developers say they would manage the surface water with the aid of a storage pond, with approximately 350m³ of storage volume, in the south-east corner of the site.

The decision on whether or not to grant outline permission is expected to be made by a planning officer without the need to go before a committee of councillors. The deadline for public comment is March 24th with the proposals available on the Dorset Council website or by using this direct link - https://tinyurl.com/wygv22q