PROPOSALS for three detached homes next to the Fernhill Hotel on the outskirts of Charmouth and Lyme Regis have been refused.

The application had attracted around twenty objections - many claiming the homes would have an impact on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and nearby properties.

The planning application for the half hectare site had been submitted to Dorset Council by Galliard Homes Ltd. The plot is between Langmoor Manor and the Fernhill Hotel entrance, just off the roundabout from the A35 on the A3052 Lyme Regis road.

The proposal was for the three-bedroom two storey homes with rear balconies to share the existing hotel site road access with each property having two parking spaces and a garage.

Charmouth parish council was among the objectors: It said the site is 600 metres outside the defined development boundary for the area with the site and 1.4km from the nearest shops. Parish councillors were also concerned about water supply and sewage disposal difficulties which they believed would need to be overcome if approval was given.

Residents writing to object claim that many on the Fernhill Heights estate were not consulted about the proposals either by the developer or Dorset Council. Several said there is little difference between the application, and one submitted in 2017 for three chalet-style houses, which was refused. Many of the objection letters endorse the concerns of the parish council.

Others questioned whether the site is sustainable or will benefit the local area: “What Charmouth needs as a higher priority are affordable homes for local people; the proposed properties do not appear to meet this criterion,” said one letter.

A Dorset Council planning office summary report on the case concluded that the development would be contrary to the authority’s spatial strategy with the limited benefits of three new homes being judged insufficient to outweigh the harm.

Said the report: “The proposed development, for new open market dwellings, by reason of its location outside of a Defined Development Boundary and distant from facilities and services in Lyme Regis and Charmouth, is considered to be unsustainable, with any future occupiers being reliant on a car to access services and facilities … The proposed development fails to meet the social, economic and environmental strands of sustainability as set out within the National Planning Policy Framework.”