Plans for Dorchester's Charles Street site go on show (From Dorset Echo)

Plans for Dorchester's Charles Street site go on show

12:00pm Monday 7th December 2009 in

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DEVELOPERS of one of Dorchester’s longest-awaited building schemes attempted to win over residents by showcasing their plans.

The team at Simons Develop-ments say they will submit a planning application to West Dorset District Council for the Charles Street site by the end of January.

Shoppers stopped off in the former Cardfair unit of the Tudor Arcade to get a glimpse of the artist’s impressions of the multi-million pound shopping, apartments, hotel and offices development.

Simons staff were on hand to take questions and feedback from residents.

Development director Mark Newton said: “The main concerns we’ve had are about the car parking and how many spaces we will have.

“The main car park for shopping has to be no less than 484 spaces.

“While the site is under construction we will be making arrangements with the council to provide extra parking spaces.”

Town resident Ellen Fay, who came in to view the plans, said she was hopeful the scheme would reflect Dorchester’s individuality.

“We don’t want Dorchester to become another clone town. It’s an individual town and we don’t want it to be a replica of hundreds of other towns.”

She said that she and her husband Alan were at the exhibition as interested long-term residents.

“We have seen this development so many times. It has taken around 30 years to develop, and we’re still waiting,” she added.

Stratton resident Hilary Jury said she was concerned about the future of the town centre.

“We have a decent town centre at the moment and we don’t want more charity shops.

“We need good shops and adequate car parking,” she said.

The development team - who held the exhibition over two days - said they hoped they had dispelled the cynicism surrounding the project.

Simons spokesman Jeremy Fieldsend said: “This has been talked about for a very long time and people are asking – are we going to do it? And the answer is ‘yes’.

“We’re very proud of these proposals and wanted to show people what we’ve done and explain to them how we’re going to do it.”