by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporting Service.
A PARISH council chairman says he finds it hard not to despair over the way a recent application for more housing at Crossways was dealt with.
Andrew Brewer claims comments from the parish were ‘brushed aside’ by Dorset Council over an application submitted on behalf of Woodsford Farms for 145 houses on the ‘Hangar Field’ off the western link road and the views of highways officers not considered.
A public meeting about future housing in the parish is now likely to be held in mid-March which will also consider what extra facilities might be needed if extra housing is agreed.
Cllr Brewer said the decision in favour of the plans came “in spite of our comprehensive reasoning as to why it should be refused and was totally inappropriate.
“More concerning is that despite our case regarding Highways there was no specific report from the Highways Department for the planning committee to consider and the officers recommendation report brushed aside everything we had said as if we had no clue what we were talking about. It was claimed that the 29 public objections were not enough to sway the decision and that the 2 in favour were noted even though they were from people who lived outside of the application area,” he said.
Mr Brewer says it is now likely that there will be more application from Woodsford Farms and other landowners with Crossways being continually favoured as a housing development area.
He says an application for the Egdon House site has yet to be determined although he expects that too will be approved, even though it is on what he describes as a dangerous part of the ‘Highgate Lane’ road to Dorchester.
Mr Brewer says he was also less than amused to hear a former Dorchester town councillor in the county town’s South Street shouting: ‘Build the houses at Crossways not North of Dorchester’, during a protest over the Dorchester North housing proposals.
Said the parish council chairman: “In all my years as a councillor I believed some of the worst ways of objecting to any application is to say ‘We don’t want it in our back yard but you should build it in someone else’s (Crossways)’ We have always argued on valid planning grounds and in partnership with our community. However we are now in different times where the pressures from central Government on the County Council and the tactics of developers and landowners really mean we have no friends.”
Cllr Brewer says he believes a public meeting of Crossways residents would give greater authority for when comments are asked for on future plans.
“I feel this will give us more authority in our future submissions. I think it would be a good idea to invite Dorset Council chairman Nick Ireland and possibly our MP as well as representatives from the various departments who will be most impacted by these kind of developments. It also will give villagers the opportunity to tell us what facilities they feel should be a priority on the back of the building of more houses as we have to be realistic and have a fallback position.”
He says that an application for 500 houses on land South of Warmwell Road is currently being proposed – although this is a revision/renewal of an existing permission which has expired.
“Above all, I hope that we will be able to focus on the future and get the best we can for Crossways, that is, after all why we are councillors. We still have the vacant seats and will need every available volunteer if we are to get anywhere,” he said.
