AN EXPERT report has highlighted the major impact a proposed 1,500 new homes at Crossways will have on the surrounding road network.

The new homes have been earmarked in the latest draft local plan put forward by West Dorset District Council but those behind the report have questioned whether the village has the infrastructure in place to cope with the dramatic increase in population over the next 15 years.

Ian Thorn, a director of Meeting Places Communications, and Andrew Elliott, a technical director at planning consultants Terence O’Rourke, are promoting land to the north of Dorchester as an alternative site for new development.

As part of their work they commissioned a survey from a respected firm into the impact the new homes currently proposed for Crossways would have on local routes.

The figures put forward suggest traffic through villages such as Warmwell could more than double while the A352 through Broad-mayne, the West Stafford bypass and the B3390 north through Moreton would also see significant increases.

Mr Elliott said they had instigated the survey because they felt it was information that should have been obtained by the council before it identified Crossways as a site for such a major increase in homes.

He said, while Crossways would be suitable for some development, such a large addition of housing would ask serious questions of the local roads and infrastructure.

Mr Elliott said: “To put it frankly they have been somewhat dumped with Dorchester’s housing.”

He added: “It’s in the order of a 140 per cent growth of the village in a 15-year period.

“That’s going to significantly change the character of Crossways.”

Mr Thorn added: “I think the impact for not just Crossways but the eastern side of Dorchester will be significant.”

West Dorset District Council is currently consulting on alternative sites that were not included in the draft local plan and Mr Thorn and Mr Elliott have been championing land to the north east of Dorchester near the current Dorset County Showground as a more suitable location for new housing.”

Crossways Parish Council chairman Andrew Brewer said: “The council has discussed this at length and has responded to the consultation voicing our concerns and opposition to developments of this size and our reasons behind it.

“We have also made representations regarding the inclusion of land in Dorchester.

“We have not said no to all development but said that it should be of a much more reduced rate.”

COUNCIL ‘CONSIDERING VIEWS’ COUNCIL leader Robert Gould said: “The district council has been consulting the public on a draft local plan for West Dorset since 2011, which currently includes plans for between 1,200 and 1,500 new homes at Crossways.

“A number of suitable sites were put forward as part of the consultation process including the site at Crossways.

“Neither Dorset County Council or the Highways Authority raised objections to the plans for new homes at Crossways, and both offered a number of solutions to reduce the impact of traffic on the road system from any development. Councillors are still considering the results of the public consultation from the summer and will formally look at the Local Plan, and decide if any changes are necessary before it is submitted to the independent inspectorate.”

Details of the West Dorset Local Plan can be viewed online at dorsetforyou.com/newlocalplan/ west/weymouth