Has the housing situation in southern England become so toxic that we are willing to accept houses being built anywhere at all, or are our local councillors becoming more gullible and agreeing reports without question?

Your report last week about a ‘second Poundbury’ for north Dorchester quoted various soft and fluffy statements from the proposed new local plan about ‘a balanced population meeting the housing needs of younger working families…’ etc. But this is not Poundbury.

The Duchy of Cornwall has a strong and lasting commitment to affordable housing. But the land north of Dorchester is owned by developers with no such commitment.

What guarantee is there that such a development won’t suddenly become ‘unviable’ if it includes affordable housing? (As the developers of Dorchester prison site claimed.)

This proposal is not about providing housing for young families; this is about making a small number of people richer.

Do we actually need more houses? How many empty houses are there in the town? (I know of five in my neighbourhood.)

And how many units in Poundbury are empty? What is there to stop WDDC buying existing local houses to let out at affordable rents, as has happened where my brother lives?

What guarantee is there that these proposed new houses will be for local families rather than the usual retirees from London and the Midlands?

And what’s actually wrong with people commuting to Dorchester from Weymouth and surrounding villages?

The two towns have very good transport links and working people living in the countryside help keep the villages alive. We cannot keep covering the countryside in concrete. Food doesn’t magically appear on supermarket shelves – it does have to be grown somewhere! – and if we have to be more selfreliant after Brexit, then we will need our farmland more than new housing developments.

That Dorchester cuts off sharply on this side of town – and has done since Roman times – is as distinctive as Maumbury Rings or the Walks.

That you can see otters, bats and a list of bird species as long as your arm is worth hanging on to.

That children can play and fish at Blue Bridge without getting mown down by traffic on the way is an increasingly rare privilege.

If, like me, you don’t want to see Dorchester turn into one of those bland, road-encircled towns which sprawl across the south east, then let’s do something about it.

Contact me at north.dorchester@gmail.com and we’ll start asking why our councillors think this is necessary.

Kate Hebditch
Orchard Street, Dorchester