The second phase of the Bridport Cohousing project off Mead Lane has been welcomed by local planners.

It will offer 19 affordable homes in additon to the 34 from the first phase together with additional parking spaces.

More than fifty people wrote to West Dorset district council in to support the application although the parish council said it was worried about the effect of extra traffic on Meadfields, Cherry Tree and Hospital Lane and the possible impact extra homes might have on the drainage system and potential flood risk.

The statutory organisations, including Wessex Water and the Highways authority, did not object to the proposals.

The first phase of the Cohousing scheme was approved for 34 custom built houses and flats in June 2016, with an amended scheme agreed in January 2017. Work has not yet started on the site.

The new application is for a mixture of homes, mainly two and three -bed but also including one-bed flats.

The Cohousing project is a collaborative group in which residents participate in the design and operation of their own neighbourhood. It consists of individual homes alongside some shared facilities including dining space, activity space, kitchen, laundry facilities and a children’s play room.

The site will include shared growing spaces between the terraced homes with residents hoping to run a car club to encourage households not to have more than one vehicle each.

In support of the application planning officers said that with 1,600 households in the district registered as being in affordable housing need, and with 414 of them having a Bridport connection, the site will make a real contribution to helping meet local demand.

The officers’ report said that any effect on local roads would be minor: “Given the location of the site there would be no direct impact from the new dwellings on any existing neighbouring properties. There could be indirect impacts from the increased traffic and movement along Hospital Lane. However, any increase is not considered to have a significant detrimental impact on the amenities of occupiers of nearby properties.”

Planning permission has been granted for the second phase of Bridport Cohousing’s Mead Lane scheme.

The plans were approved at a meeting of West Dorset District Council’s planning committee yesterday.

As reported in this week’s Bridport News, the scheme had been revised since the application was originally submitted.

At the planning meeting on Thursday, Bridport Cohousing’s professional advisor Charles Couzens said: “If this application is approved the residents of the parish will benefit from a local lettings policy which prioritises local people in housing need. And we will be working with Bournemouth Churches Housing Association who will own and manage the affordable rented homes.

“With planning permission granted today the whole scheme will be able to be built in one phase forming a sustainable and affordable neighbourhood for the benefit of Bridport and surrounding parishes.’’

There had been objections to an initial application to build 28 further units on the site from Allington Parish Council, but the members of Bridport Cohousing have limited the scheme to 19 further units and diligently addressed all of their concerns, and with a car share scheme planned as part of the cohousing sustainability strategy, and extra car parking spaces allocated in the revised plans, they are confident that residents will not create parking problems for nearby estates.

Half of the two, three and four bed houses and one bed flats will be for leasehold purchase at 80 per cent of open market value and half for affordable rent through BC’s partner housing association, Bournemouth Churches. The group anticipates starting to put in groundworks over the winter period and having homes ready for occupation in late summer 2019.

BC member Lin Scrannage said: “We are so thrilled that at last all the permissions are in place. It has been a long and sometimes difficult journey, but at last we can begin to start building the homes that are so badly needed.”

For information about how to register interest in a home and how to become a member of Bridport Cohousing Community land Trust visit www.bridportcohousing.org.uk or phone 07907 993587.