A 60-HOME development has been approved in principle for Milborne St Andrew to include business units and a pre-school nursery.

The 2.25 hectare site, a former milk factory, on the south of the A354 opposite the Milborne Business Park, will also include greenspace area and play facilities.

Proposals for the site were first submitted in March 2019 and have the support of the parish council which say the designs align with the Neighbourhood Plan and that the developer has responded positively to feedback.

Further consultation is now expected to take place locally before final plans for layout, scale, appearance and landscaping are submitted.

Among the suggestions is that the number of homes be reduced from up to 61, to 58. The site is proposed for a mixture of terraced houses, detached houses and flats, with between one and four bedrooms each. The new homes would be between one and three storeys in height with a mixture of open market and affordable properties. Two business units are also being put forward, with flats above, on the western part of the site using the existing access onto Lane End.

A proposed new access to the site would come off the main road which runs along the site’s northern boundary.

Illustrative drawings show new footpaths across the site to the village and to the recreation area and pavilion adjacent the south of the site. The site would include new public open space, play areas and landscaping with a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG).

The final consent will include the demolition of remaining buildings on the site and filling in a large water treatment pond.

There was only one objection to the proposal, from former parish councillor and a past chair of North Dorset planning committee, Kevin Maintland-Gleed, who said he was worried about the potential risk of pollution in the area and has suggested Dorset Council carry out an investigation into drains and water courses prior to any development getting underway.