RESIDENTS say they are delighted to have won their fight against an 18-home development off the unadopted Prospect Place at Upwey.

Most of those living in the road opposed the plan along with the Upwey Society. Some feared it could open the area up for further development.

Residents argued that to build on the field just beyond Chesterfield Place at the end of the road would be harmful to the character of the area and change the nature of their homes forever.

Six of the eighteen home to be built at in the field at the end of the lane would have been 'affordable' social housing.

“We're very pleased, the application was knocked back on a number of issues,” said one of the protestors, Robert Hughes, “We had about a hundred objections to the scheme and the public meeting we held in the school hall was standing room only.”

He says the residents are determined to keep the unadopted lane as it is, despite the developers offer to widen and tarmac it.

Palmer Homes said in their application, which has now been refused, that they would widen and make up Prospect Place to adoptable standards as part of the scheme with the addition of pavements – also offering residents ten laid out parking spaces for the first time.

The company wanted to build nine three-bed house; one two-bed; and two four-bed houses for the open market with two two-bed and four three-bed social houses, together with 53 parking spaces.

The field, which has some dilapidated farm buildings and an old greenhouse, was once used as a brickworks in the 19th century and a market garden and poultry farm until around 2002.

In the notice refusing planning permission Dorset Council say the scheme is considered “unacceptable because the site is located in an unsustainable location on the western edge of Upwey outside the Defined Development Boundary (DDB) for the village, and in the open countryside. It comprises an area of open space within the Upwey Conservation Area, and is also classified as an ‘Important Open Gap’ marking the edge between the built up area and the adjoining countryside and Dorset AONB which lies to the north, east and west of the site with that to the north being on rising chalk downland.”

“The layout of the scheme provides for a development that is suburban in its form which would detract from the more rural character of the local landscape emphasised by the ‘Important Open Gap’ and Conservation Area status of the site; and, the intimate, small-scale character of the dwellings in Prospect Place. The scheme would not be in harmony with the open nature of the area as a whole, and with adjoining buildings at Prospect Place and the isolated dwelling located closest to the site.”

The refusal notice also cited drainage scheme as being unacceptable and said no agreement had been entered into the secure the affordable homes.

Prospect Place residents Jim and Marilyn Clubb were among the objectors. They said that the road has been unmade since the homes were built in 1881: “The area has always been a rural area, and Prospect Place is one of the few remaining lines of Victorian terraced cottages left in Weymouth. We believe that this character and charm should be preserved and not taken over by another modern development,” said the couple in statement to the local planning committee.

Mr Clubb says that the effect of opening up the road to the site would treble the amount of traffic coming out onto a junction at the brow of a hill with poor sight lines and that, during construction, the use of heavy lorries on the lane could cause vibration damage to the existing homes.