Targets for new housing

9:04am Tuesday 5th August 2008

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LAKESIDE Superbowl, car parks in Park Street and Fortuneswell and the old Westhaven School are among sites in Weymouth and Portland earmarked for new housing.

A list of potential sites has been drawn up by planning chiefs after more than 100 locations were recommended in a project to find space for new homes.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and West Dorset District Council invited landowners to submit proposed sites for development in a bid to try and meet housing targets The council has added the nominations to its own list of potential sites and is now confident of meeting those targets.

They hope to help generate 1,300 new homes in the next five years and 4,100 in the next 15 years.

Their current structure plan targets 247 new homes per year for Weymouth and Portland, which will increase to 280 when the council adopts the Regional Spatial Strategy next year; set up by the Regional Assembly on the direction of local government secretary Hazel Blears. Forward planning officers from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and West Dorset District Council consulted an independent panel to generate the list of 14 suitable sites.

The panel included estate agents, councillors, building companies and the Environment Agency.

Land at Radipole Lane, Weymouth, and Park Road, Portland, was also listed alongside the Lakeside Superbowl, which would retain bowling facilities if housing was added.

Weymouth's Sluice Gardens, land at Markham and Little Francis and the Abbotsbury Road allotments were among 91 sites deemed currently "non-deliverable."

Planning officers scanned maps, aerial photographs and current planning applications in their quest to find suitable land.

The Pavilion development and the Post Office sorting office are the subject of pre-planning application discussions while the Weymouth railway station forecourt is one of the potential sites identified by the council.

All of the locations identified remain subject to planning permission.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's spokesman for environment and sustainability Doug Hollings is confident they can meet their targets.

He said: "There's more than 2,000 on the housing list so we are not looking at building houses to satisfy demand but we are trying to make it possible for what we believe is realistic and achievable. The first year has gone very well and we are pleased with the good response from landowners. We'll be hoping for the same when more sites are invited for proposal next year."