PUTTING on my parish councillor’s hat, if I may, this has been a difficult week on the planning front.

A very large part of Bincombe Parish is designated as an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty but, despite many objections, I believe that the fight is lost and on our doorstep will appear a small industrial park, a hotel, car showrooms, a 100 bed care home, a new school, a community centre, more shops and 500 dwellings, not one of which will be social housing.

This application is called Litt 1 and Litt 2 although it is not in Littlemoor and is almost entirely in Bincombe.

This is on top of 310+ dwellings constructed in this area during the last couple of years.

There has been a huge amount of development at Chickerell on the western side of Weymouth, 500 homes at Curtis Field plus another 500 now given the go ahead.

There have also been countless dwellings built on individual plots and in gardens.

The local roads system is poor and grinds to a halt every day but there is neither a plan nor any money to improve the roads and no thought given to the pollution caused by stationary or slow moving traffic.

Objectors, including parish and town councils, are treated with contempt by the planners.

There is another application to build five dwellings in another corner of our AONB and that is what will come before the planners but I am aware more could follow.

More than thirty angry local residents attended our parish council meeting on Wednesday last. having had just four days to respond to the planning notice.

The site for Litt 1/2 is owned by Caius & Gonville College, Cambridge University, and the second site by someone who resides at Hamble, Southampton.

Councillor Graham Brant

Bincombe Parish Council

Stonechat Close

Bincombe