by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporting Service.
A design panel has met to try and find a way forward for a key Dorchester redevelopment.
The proposals for the former builders merchants’ site at Great Western Cross had stalled with reported differences over the design between the developers and Dorset Council planning officers.
Dorchester town councillors had welcomed the latest, revised, proposals for the site, on the access road to the town’s West rail station.
The changes include a new block of flats on the corner of the site where the former Gibbs & Dandy merchants used to be with further redevelopment, including commercial and rentable spaces, using the former grain store buildings along Maumbury Road with the addition of a new, linked, building to fill the gap.
More than 20 apartments could be created by the proposals, together with several commercial spaces which could be uses for shops, cafes or offices.
Cllr Les Fry, who took part in the Design Panel exercise, using external experts to the council, described the rarely used process as “very constructive” with a number of new ideas for the site considered.
“All we can do now is watch this space and await the outcome,” he said.
