Dorset CPRE (The Campaign to Protect Rural England) says Dorset Council is hoping to hide the scale of the opposition to its housing target of more than 39,000 properties contained in the draft Local Plan.

The countryside charity points out that the recently published summary of responses to the draft Local Plan (LP) has revealed overwhelming opposition to Dorset Council’s housing strategy, disguised as a misleadingly low number of responses. It adds that this was achieved by recording the submission of each town and parish council as a single response and by incorrect categorisation of many of their responses.

Peter Bowyer, the chairman of trustees of Dorset CPRE, said: “Our analysis, which is ongoing, was made much more  difficult since each response was filed under the name of the respondent. This is fine for individual people but the parish clerk of, for example, Corfe Mullen, is responding on behalf of 10,000 residents and the town clerk of Dorchester represents over 21,000.”

The CPRE added that that people wouldn’t know the response from their organisation would be under the name of the chairman Peter Bowyer or Jo Witherden, the planning consultant that put together their submission.

CPRE also found numerous examples of respondents who had comments to make on housing policy, but their comments have been recorded elsewhere.

The first consultation of the draft Dorset Council Local Plan was carried out between January and March  this year, with around 9,000 respondents having taken part.

Cllr David Walsh, Dorset Council portfolio holder for Planning, said: “We continue to work on the policies that underpin the plan. This includes research and gathering information to make sure the plan delivers what it needs to for Dorset’s next generations.

“I am very proud of the work the team is doing. We have had representation from across the Dorset Council area. There will be a further chance to comment upon the plan before it is voted on by our full council next year.”

The comments that were received during the first consultation of the draft Dorset Council Local Plan have been published on Dorset Council’s website https://wa.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/LocalPlanDCComments/pages/View.aspx

Article from Dorset View magazine December 2021