Plans to re-develop the Dorchester Prison site have stalled – and may eventually be abandoned by City & Country.

A company spokesman has admitted that they have been looking for new partners to either carry on the development with them, or to take it over altogether.

Company planner Adrian Fox says City & Country is still committed to “finding a future for the site” but said that after gaining planning permission in February 2017 was still unable to give a start date.

“We are considering whether there might be an interest in somebody else coming on board with us – or whether we do the conversion work and somebody else does the new build; or potentially stepping away and we don't do either.”

He said that with other large projects the company had running the team's time was being stretched: “To be upfront we just don't have the resources at the moment.”

On the evening the news broke former Mayor Cllr Susie Hosford lambasted the company for going back on their promise of providing a pedestrian access to the prison site via Glyde Path Road.

The company has now put in a planning consent to convert a building, which blocks the potential access, into a home – ending the chance of a way to walk through to the prison site from near County Hall.

Mr Fox told town councillors that the company had only just bought the building and the strip of land which runs from it back to the main prison.

The company has permission for almost 200 homes on the site – including converting the former cell blocks and other prison buildings, together with more than a hundred new build properties within the grounds and the car park in Friary Hill.

The application has always been controversial because the company claimed they could not afford to provide 'affordable' homes in the development, something normally expected for a scheme of its size. It argued that the smaller homes were 'affordable' anyway.

Part of the planning consent was based on having a workable ‘travel plan’ – dealing with the safety of how people and vehicles, enter and exit the North Square site.

The planning brief said that a pedestrian access could be achieved through Glyde Path Road although the company did not, at the time, own the building, which blocked the way.

On hearing that the company now wanted to convert the property into a home, closing the through route Cllr Hosford said: "I cannot tell you how disappointed I am by this...this is just a piece of rampant opportunism. It was always understood that this would be a pedestrian access to stop the development being a closed ghetto...this jeopardises the strategy for the whole site and I'm really angry about it.”

Cllr David Taylor was also unhappy: "This is just so wrong...we were hoping to incorporate the town and the development but this will just cut people off.

“We were all hoping for this and welcoming it...it will upset a lot of people,” he said.

Developers seek permission for two homes

The company is also asking planning permission for two new houses to the left of the prison access gate, just behind the No6 North Square restaurant and bar.

Town planners decided not to object to building new homes by the gate, although would like to see them reduced in height, but will join the town's Civic Society in objecting to the loss of pedestrian access via the Glyde Path Road property which was once used by the prison as a storage area.

Mr Fox said he would take the council's comments about the Glyde Path Road site back to the company.

A final decision on the two applications will be made by West Dorset District Council later in the year.