The development of nearly 800 houses on the outskirts of Bridport has been met with "huge disappointment" by an opposition group.

Last week, Dorset Council Western & Southern Planning Committee granted approval for the application to build new homes at Foundry Lea (Vearse Farm).

Campaign group Advearse have been fighting for the last nine years for the plans to be refused because of its impact on an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), it is believed the development will have a "negative impact on a small market town with limited infrastructure to support the influx of over 2,000 new residents - a massive 20% increase in the local population."

A spokesperson for the group commented: "Serious concerns that Advearse have being raising over the last 9 years have been repeatedly dismissed or ignored by Dorset Council or its predecessor West Dorset District Council. The fact that the Vearse Farm development was included in the Local Plan was used as an excuse to force approval by the Planning Committee at the Outline Planning Application (OPP) in 2017.

"The fact that the OPP had been approved was used last Thursday to persuade the committee members that the plans were set in stone and that they could not be amended. Sadly, only two councillors saw fit to object to the application and demand that more was done to at least make the application carbon neutral."

In 2019 Advearse challenged the OPP via a Judicial Review – which was dismissed by a judge. Although building on the AONB is only allowed in exceptional circumstances the judge took the view that building housing in a county which has a large amount of AONB designated land was sufficient reason to dismiss.

Advearse has been battling the housing plans for several years. They have prompted developers to improve detailed plans submitted in December 2021. However, they believe amended plans submitted in June 2022 are not enough in addressing "serious concerns" – requests for further changes were rejected by council officers.

Continuing concerns from Advearse include:

1. Risk to pedestrians using narrow footpaths on busy roads walking from the development into the town centre given the large increase in traffic that Foundry Lea will bring.

2. Allowing construction traffic for the building site to go ahead at the same time as the building of the Miles Cross roundabout on the A35. This will greatly increase the risk to road users.

3. The planners have ignored the Council's own climate emergency declaration and will allow over 300 homes to be built with gas boilers. There is minimal provision for solar panels. 

4. As yet there are no plans actually agreed upon with Wessex Water regarding the management of the sewerage and groundwater runoff which the site will create with an increase in discharges of sewage into the sea whilst the prospect of flooding elsewhere in Bridport and West Bay is ever more likely.

5. At the approval meeting the planners could offer no guarantees from Western Power about whether it can provide for Bridport's electricity needs once Foundry Lea is underway.  

6. Lack of any plans at all for the employment land promised as part of the mixed-use development. 

Advearse will be holding a meeting later this month to decide on next steps.