A DORSET MP has called for an urgent review of controversial plans to build thousands of new homes north of Dorchester.

West Dorset MP Chris Loder says he urged Housing Secretary Michael Gove to instigate an urgent review of the Dorset Local Plan in order to discontinue the proposed 4,000-home north of Dorchester development proposal at a meeting in the town last week.

Conservatives on Dorset Council have backed the proposals for more the new homes in the next Local Plan – despite widespread local opposition including from West Dorset MP Chris Loder, Dorchester councillors and Dorchester Town Council.

Having invited the Housing Secretary to Dorchester earlier this year, the MP said he met with the Housing Secretary on Friday, May 6, where Mr Loder expressed the concerns of Dorchester residents over the proposals for Persimmon Homes to be building thousands of houses on the outskirts of the town.

Mr Loder also spoke of the need to ensure the Local Plan focuses more on delivering for the needs of West Dorset communities rather than just a few enormous developments, to avoid it 'hoovering economic life out of small villages'.

The West Dorset MP also took the opportunity to press the need for more community housing and or community land trust initiatives to ensure local housing for local people.

Mr Loder said: "The Local Plan needs to provide local housing for local people first, not just enormous developments that hoover life out of local villages.

"We need the right housing in the right areas enabling housing for families and working people to live here and to deliver services for the community, as well as supporting the rural economy. My intervention with the Minister has highlighted the need to change the way in which the local plan is constructed that will better match the supply of housing with the demand."

Dorset Council’s draft local plan says 39,000 new houses need to be built across the county to meet the government's housing target by 2038.

The government argues that more homes need to be built across the UK to meet demand and provide more people with the chance to afford to rent or buy a property.

Consultation on the draft Dorset Local Plan ended in March 2021. The Local Plan received 9,000 responses, many objecting to building on Dorset’s open countryside.

According to Dorset Council it is due to publish a revised draft Local Plan, incorporating the views of residents, this month.