Green light for controversial depot

THE controversial Highway Depot on the A35 just outside Bridport is to go ahead.
Dorset councillors have backed a recommendation from their officers for the picnic, café and loo stop alongside the Eype turning.
A Symondsbury parish councillor told the area planning committee that the depot would cause "some harm" to the area, turning it into an industrial site.
Many objectors claimed the loss of the facilities would be a blow to travellers on the main road – although it had been claimed that the closure could have a positive effect on Bridport with travellers by car choosing to stop in the town instead.
Much of the argument about the taking away of the site for the depot had been about heavy goods vehicles which would not be able to get into the town centre.
Councillors were told the nearest HGV facilities were at Turk's Head, Honiton; at Kilmington Cross and Kingston Pond near Dorchester, although National Highways accepted the need for more HGV facilities on the A35.
Several gritters, snow ploughs and other large lorries will be based at the depot, along with a conical 3,000 tonne salt barn up to 11metres tall, offices and workshops.
All the existing building on the site will be cleared to make way for the development which, as yet, has no confirmed timescale although an existing contract with Balfour Beatty ends in 2026.
Between 10 and 15 staff are expected to work from the site, serving the main road between Bournemouth and Exeter.
Around 120 people had written to Dorset Council about the proposal, most saying the area is one of the few rest stops on the A35 in Dorset and is busy throughout the year, and that another site should be found.
Bridport Town Council recognised the need for a depot in the area and had offered to develop a rest area on the Bridport Football Club car park for car drivers, if funding could be found.
National Highways said that vehicle movements at the site would drop from over 700 a day, to around 60 once the depot was in operation.
Agent for the applicants, Rebecca Tilley, told the area planning committee on Thursday that the depot would ensure the local network could be maintained safely. She said that the site was 'geographically advantageous' and although the Agency had looked for other sites the Eype turning picnic area was the best available.
Councillors were told there would be a biodiversity gain from the site with additional landscaping added to mask its appearance.
Cllr Paul Hartman, chairman of Symondsbury parish council, said the importance of the site could not be underestimated – and denied claims from the Highways Agency that the area was only 'lightly used'.
He said that despite claims of biodiversity net gain the depot would result in much of the natural habitat currently on the site being removed: "It must be remembered that this will become an industrial site with the use intensive over 24 hours, at times," he said.
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