A PARISH council has blasted Dorset Council over claims it ‘misrepresented’ its position regarding a controversial plan to build more than 3,500 new homes north of Dorchester.
Stinsford Parish Council is included on Dorset Council’s website as one of the organisations supporting the bid for a new sprawling ‘garden community’.
But it has now written to the authority and asked to be removed from the list, and claims it wants to ‘put the record straight’ about its views on the controversial proposal.
- READ MORE: Dorset Council responds after 'distressing' sights of roadkill and litter along busy route
Michael Clarke, chairman of Stinsford Parish Council, said: “To be misrepresented in this way is unacceptable. I have insisted that our name be removed from this list immediately.”
Under current plans, 3,500 homes being proposed, as part of the north of Dorchester development, would fall within the small parish of Stinsford - a community with fewer than 350 residents.
Stinsford Parish Council said it raised strong objections when it first wrote to the former Dorset County Council about the proposal on November 8 2018, and councillors unanimously restated that position at a parish council meeting last week.
“It’s not just our residents in Stinsford and the wider Dorset community that have been misled, it’s the Government as well, as the initial garden communities bid claimed that it had the support of the community and local town and parish councils,” said Mr Clarke.
"We feel obliged to set the record straight."
A spokesman from Dorset Council said: “Stinsford Parish Council wrote in their letter, dated November 8, 2018, ‘we object to the idea of 3,500 homes being built in the parish but, if the development is forced to go ahead, then the Garden Village Scheme should meet most if not all of our objections and, in this respect, we fully support West Dorset District Council in its application’.
“Dorset Council has received Garden Community funding from the Government to consider all the options for the north of Dorchester development proposal.
“The draft Dorset Council Local Plan has been developed to balance the needs of current and future Dorset residents with the preservation of our beautiful and unique landscapes.
“The plan is not just about housing, it’s about creating communities for people to live, work and enjoy. There will be mixed types of housing to produce homes for a wide variety of households who will use the newly created local facilities, generating economic growth and prosperity for the county.”
For more on this, visit: www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/garden-communities.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel