A CONTROVERSIAL high-density building at Poundbury has won the backing of Dorchester town councillors.

Members of the planning committee last night voted by a majority of five to three to back the Duchy of Cornwall's plans for 26 flats, four offices and two shops at Jubilee Court on Bridport Road.

A lively debate heard from residents campaigning against the development as well as representatives from the Duchy.

David Dawkins, who lives near the site, said the application was the third similar application for the same plot of land.

He said: "It's a very large piece of development, the largest single development on Poundbury to date. The amount of land on that site puts this application at a residential density of 110 dwellings per hectare - one of the highest in Dorset and way above planning guidelines for this sort of area."

Fellow resident Paul Breakwell said: "This development is just too big for the plot of land. What we're talking about is trying to stick something like Buckingham Palace on a housing estate."

For the Duchy, David Oliver said since Poundbury's inception the master plan had always envisaged Bridport Road would be a major thoroughfare within the development and that a building of this scale was appropriate.

He added: "We are providing low-cost housing with this site, as well as the prospect of employment.

"The master plan has always been flexible so as to accommodate the needs of the community."

Coun Andy Canning said the scale of the proposal was out of step with surrounding buildings.

He said: "If the Duchy had been intending to do this from the very beginning the houses on either side of the site wouldn't have been built. Although this is an improvement over last time, it still doesn't go far enough."

Coun Molly Rennie said the scale was something that the people of Dorchester would have to accept.

She said: "We're always concerned about big statement buildings on corner plots, but since Poundbury started we've known they were going to be there."

Coun David Barrett said the worry had to be for people who owned properties next to the development. He said: "People who bought two-storey houses had no concept that behind them would be a four-storey block of properties. If they had known, would they have bought them?"

But Coun Fiona Kent-Ledger said that was a 'gamble' purchasers knowingly took.

The plans will now go before West Dorset District Council for consideration.