PUDDLETOWN villagers have been putting forward their case again in their fight against a proposed housing development.

A planning application for a 15-home development on land south of the village High Street was rejected in June after local residents spoke out passionately about the damaging impact it would have on the community.

They have been speaking out again at an appeal hearing after developers Wyatt Homes challenged West Dorset District Council’s decision to turn down the application.

Representatives from the developers and the council addressed planning inspector Gareth Isaac before the residents got the chance to have their say.

Parish Council chairman Stephen Buck and local district councillor Patrick Cooke also spoke on behalf of local residents.

The Wyatt Homes and council representatives carried out a site visit the day after the hearing and a decision on the appeal is now expected in around six to eight weeks.

The residents’ concerns over the development include fears over the traffic impact, the visual impact of the scheme, housing density and the invasion of privacy on nearby homes.

Vicar Roy Bennett, who lives in the High Street, said after the hearing: “I feel we were well listened to by the inspector and I was very impressed by the process.

“You just have no idea which way these things are going to go. I felt we produced good arguments and backed up the stuff we have said before, but if you asked the other side they would probably say the same.”

Fellow High Street resident Ann Soderberg said: “The inspector listened to both sides and he was very good at allowing us to speak. We all got more than the normal three minutes.

“We brought up a lot about the existing traffic problems and the lack of parking and in my speech I talked about the density.

“I also talked about the fact we are at the moment trying to produce a parish plan and with the new Localism Bill coming out from the Government, parish plans will have much more standing than they do now.”

All the villagers can do now is wait for the inspector to publish his decision.

Miss Soderberg said: “It’s normally a minimum of six weeks so we don’t really expect anything until the last week of January.”