The Leader of East Dorset District Council, Cllr Derek Burt, has written to Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to express concerns over the Report of the Panel on the draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West.

The Panel recommends the building of 6,400 new homes in East Dorset over the next 20 years, with 3,000 of these being built as infill or redevelopment within existing built up areas.

In the report, the panel has rejected the Council's argument that the urban extensions at Corfe Mullen, Ferndown and West Parley and north of Wimborne should be removed from the Strategy. If they are confirmed, these urban extensions would accommodate 2,400 dwellings. In addition, the Panel recommends that a further 1,000 dwellings should be found in smaller developments around existing settlements in East Dorset.


The Council believes that the Panel has followed a course of 'predict and provide', an approach which, for many years, has been rejected by the Government as an unsound basis for planning. The Council further believes that the Panel has made radical proposals on the basis of inadequate evidence, which has been used to inform fundamental proposals affecting the interests and environment of East Dorset's Green Belt settlements. The Council considers these conclusions to be challengeable.

In his letter, the Leader urges the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to reject the Panel's recommendations, to consider the proper policy approach towards development in East Dorset and provide a clear policy framework for the control and management of development, without the environmental damage which the Panel's recommendations would create.

Cllr Derek Burt, the Leader of East Dorset District Council said: "The Report of the Panel on the draft Regional Spatial Strategy is a full and comprehensive document and the Council has considered its implications for East Dorset. The Council has serious concerns regarding the report and, on behalf of the residents of East Dorset, I have written to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to express these concerns.

"I have requested that the Government rejects the Panel's recommendations and, instead, considers a proper policy approach towards development in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the country."

(JM)