ADVEARSE, the group campaigning against more than 750 homes at Vearse Farm, is encouraging residents to respond to the draft Dorset Council Local Plan.

Members of the group have been contacted by supporters and in response has posted some comments on ADVEARSE's website about issues residents might like to comment on.

A spokesman for ADVEARSE said: "The issue which has caused most comment is the target for 39,000 new houses in the plan. The council justifies this on the basis it has to accept the target set by the national government.

"ADVEARSE strongly objects to the figure of 39,000 on many grounds. Firstly, as CPRE has conclusively demonstrated, the national figures are in excess of what is actually needed nationally. The housing target is in effect a developer's charter.

"Many councils have been robust in challenging the national target. Dorset has not only failed to do this, but it is also proposing to build 39,285 houses, which is 8,804 - 29 per cent - more houses than the government target.

"Bizarrely, the local plan suggests the target may have to be even higher to meet 'unmet need in neighbouring authorities'. Why should a county facing pressures to find suitable sites because it has so much AONB land have to increase its number because other authorities fail to find sites themselves?"

The group "strongly believes" the coronavirus pandemic will have a "dramatic long-term difference" to the number of houses needed and the type of accommodation required.

The spokesman added: "We have always supported the provision of affordable and local authority housing to deal with the problems of real housing need.

"The plan still indicates that builders can avoid the commitment they make at the time of gaining outline planning permission by declaring the scheme would be 'unviable' if they had to build the affordable houses.

"The plan must be more robust on this point if we are to be able to offer local people on low incomes a decent home.

"The plan invites respondees to suggest policies regarding second homes and we are urging that measures should be set in place to positively discourage second home ownership.

"The real disappointment is the fact the local plan sets out at the start so many fine sounding phrases which we would all support about preserving the unique character of Dorset, responding to climate change and caring for the environment. These fine aims are simply incompatible with a decision to invite large scale and unjustified building schemes.

"We strongly urge the council to take on board the views of residents and reduce the target housing figure to reflect the requirement for just affordable houses needed for local people in housing need."

Councillor David Walsh, Dorset Council portfolio holder for planning, said: "Unfortunately, we cannot wait for things to get back to normal or for planning changes to be implemented as we would not then have a local plan in place, meaning we'd have less influence over where development happens in Dorset. We have consulted with town and parish councils and have met - virtually - with many organisations.

"We have drawn upon work carried out in previous local plans because considerable progress had been made, not to mention that residents had already fed into that process. But we have updated this work, considered previous proposals in the new context of a larger geographical area and included new information and projections for Dorset where appropriate.

"We are required by central government to plan for the housing target calculated using their standard approach. If we don't plan to meet these targets, we are required to demonstrate exceptional circumstances. We must ensure that Dorset residents have places to live and work - especially young people - and our local economy is able to support those who already live here.

"This is a true consultation for the draft local plan and, because of the pandemic, we are doing more than we ever have before to publicise and support the consultation to ensure as many people as possible can have their say."

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