Residents are fighting back against new 18 homes for Prospect Place

A similar application was rejected in April – and residents of Prospect Place say they fail to understand why a similar application has now been submitted to Dorset Council planners.

The one-hectare site lies within the village conservation area to the west of Dorchester Road with along the unmade and unadopted track.

The site is recognised as an ‘Important Open Gap’ in the Local Plan.

At the time of the spring decision to reject the scheme local planning officers ruled that the application would harm the local conservation area.

“The site … is recognised in its designation as part of the Important Open Gap in this area. The fields that make up the Important Open Gap are an essential component of the Upwey Conservation area, they ensure that the settlements of Upwey along Elwell Street and Church Street do not lose their rural character,” officers said.

Palmer Homes say the new application, like the last, will include six social housing properties and additional space for more than 50 cars, helping meet a shortfall in local housing need.

The company claims that there is support from some residents for their application which would result in the track being improved.

Their outline application, if approved, will also include the demolition of dilapidated farm buildings and an old greenhouse. The site was once used as a brickworks in the 19th century and a market garden and poultry farm until around 2002 and prior to that had been an orchard.

Residents have repeated their arguments that the ‘character’ of the area will be, in the words of some, be “ruined”, if the additional homes are allowed.

Several have written to Dorset Council to express concerns about extra traffic in Prospect Place and the effect it may have on their underground services and foundations.

Resident Jim Clubb is among those to objector for the second time in a year. He says the road has been un-made since the homes were built in 1881: “It hasn’t changed much since then and is a rural, pleasant, quirky – as one councillor put it – pathway to open fields,” he says in statement to local planning committee members.

“To cover it in tarmac and concrete with streetlights and a double width carriageway would be a great shame….the vast majority of residents have lived here for a very long time and contrary to what the applicant says there is only one in favour of developing the road.

“There was approximately 90-100 objections to the original application which was refused. Looking at the new application plan drawing I fail to see any great difference from the first.”

Fellow Prospect Place resident Robert Hughes shares the same concerns: “Surely it is the residents who should have a say on the future of Prospect Place and whether this application should go ahead – we chose to live here in safety, privacy and idyllic rural surroundings. Palmer Homes Ltd does not own Prospect Place. “

Objections have also come from the River Wey Society, the Upwey Society, Dorset CPRE and the Weymouth Civic Society who all say the site should not be built on to protect the rural nature of the area.

Palmer Homes say their scheme will benefit the wider area and help meet a demand for local houses. Their agent says there is precedent for development in the area and nothing against building on the site in the Local Plan.

Palmer Homes say that to the south of Prospect Place is Miles Gardens which was granted permission in February 2016 and was not deemed to contravene the council’s environmental policies relating to open gaps.

The applicants say their proposal will only have a small effect on the recognised open gap which should not preclude the site being developed. Additional trees will be planted as part of landscaping to mitigate the appearance of the new homes.

But Weymouth Civic Society says allowing the Miles Gardens site makes it even more important to reject the site at the end of Prospect Place: “The fact that development on the land west of Miles Gardens has already been allowed on appeal, contrary to the wishes of local people and the former borough council, makes it even more important that development of this present site, with a much larger number of houses proposed, should be resisted, to prevent further erosion of this important open gap,” says society planning chair Pauline Crump.

The application is open for comments until August 17 and is expected to be discussed by Weymouth town council this week although they can only make a recommendation for Dorset Council to consider.