AN APPLICATION to build 12 homes on the edge of a north Dorset village has been rejected by Dorset Council.

The proposal, for a site at Bittles Green south of Motcombe Road, Motcombe near Shaftesbury, put forward by Amirez Development, had attracted dozens of negative comments from village residents who claimed the area has already taken more than its share of new homes and did not have to infrastructure to support more residents.

Some claimed that the site was at risk of flooding and that extra traffic would add to the danger to children who pass the site to get to school.

A mix of two and three-bedroom properties had been proposed for the farmland site, opposite existing homes.

Motcombe parish council claimed the plan had been submitted with outdated and inaccurate data in a flood assessment; that the foul water system in the area is already overloaded and that the plans showed inadequate consideration for road safety.

The parish was also unhappy with the house designs – describing them as “oppressive,” despite being re-designed during the consultation process.

Planning officers, who decided the application, ruled that the scheme would “harmfully impact the rural character and appearance of the area by virtue of its uniform and linear layout, formal landscaping arrangements and over-use of uncharacteristic timber cladding.”

It added: “It has not been demonstrated that the proposal would not exacerbate existing flood risk and sewerage problems within Motcombe by virtue of the unresolved surface water drainage and foul drainage arrangements.”