A LATE u-turn by council officers looks set to see plans to build hundreds of homes on the edge of Dorchester put on hold.

Land to the south east of the county town at Came View was due to be earmarked as a site for development in the local plan for West Dorset and Weymouth and Portland.

An original proposal had suggested allocating 1,000 homes for the site and committee papers considered by councillors put forward a revised recommendation for around 850 homes.

However, members of the West Dorset District Council’s policy scrutiny committee have now been told that the result of further investigations into the site have not been fully compiled and officers do not feel in a position to include the site in the plan at this stage.

Director of environment Dr David Evans said following the latest stage of consultation, which attracted strong opposition in and around Dorchester, concerns raised by statutory consultees prompted the council to commission a historic environment assessment and the final report had not yet been published.

He said: “We recommend that at this stage we do not take forward that site for development as part of the submitted plan.”

Officers are now proposing to put forward a local plan identifying a housing supply for around 17 to 18 years, rather than the 20 years originally planned, and carry out a review in about four years’ time.

Local Dorchester councillors roundly welcomed the change in approach from the officers.

Coun Molly Rennie said: “I’m very pleased to hear south east Dorchester is out for the moment and I do hope this will give parishes and towns the opportunity to look at new sites.”

Coun Andy Canning added: “The important thing is the council has listened and changed its plans to recognise the reality and depth of opposition to the plans for south east Dorchester.”

Coun Stella Jones said she hoped the site would be permanently excluded from the plans and stressed the importance of containing development in Dorchester within the town’s bypass.

She said: “Dorchester has that boundary and we must stay within that boundary, otherwise we will just expand and expand on land which we should not be expanding on.”

The recommendation that will now be considered by councillors also withdraws plans to allocate land at Hollymoor Lane in Beaminster for 30 homes but does include an allocation of 500 homes at Crossways.

The draft local plan will now go before the council’s executive committee tomorrow and then full council for approval next Tuesday.

It will then be looked at by an independent planning inspector before being adopted in early 2014.