AN APPLICATION for two homes on the site of the Broadwindsor Craft & Design Centre off Redlands Lane has been refused.

Its owners claimed in July when the plan was submitted that the development would help the centre survive after a struggle to remain viable.

But Dorset Council has refused the planning request for the semi-detached houses and included the demolition of part of the craft centre, to provide a parking area.

A planning agent’s letter to the council said that in 2015 consent was granted for seven houses on the site, which includes the current application area. Other permissions were later granted which allowed for two detached homes to the south of the site.

The letter says that in recent years the craft and design centre has struggled to remain viable, now made worse by the pandemic, which has left the owners looking to reduce the size of the retail business and raise capital to invest in the centre.

“The release of land for the two proposed dwellings and the demolition of one of the buildings will provide for the investment in the site whilst maintaining the level of car parking provided at present. This will ensure the continued provision of the community facility,” said the letter to the council.

Both houses were proposed to be three-bed over two storeys, built of natural stone with a slate roof to match other properties in Redlands Lane. They would have been built on the southern side of the entrance to the craft centre.

Broadwindsor parish council gave majority support to the application although there were concerns about the loss of employment land and a reduction in parking spaces and a query raised about the type of homes being proposed in the light of policies in the Broadwindsor Neighbourhood Plan.

The Dorset Council refusal cited both the loss of employment land and tradeable floorspace as reasons and said that no information had been submitted to show that the proposed development would not harm or prejudice the future use of the craft centre, or demonstrate  how it would secure its future use.

The refusal notice said that application would have also resulted in the partial loss of a stone wall within the conservation area.