Dorset Council to consider increasing 39,000 home building target

An independent report says the current housing allocation in Dorset's local plan may come up short

Author: George SharpePublished 17th Jan 2022

Plans for 39,000 new homes in the next 17 years will cause ‘planning chaos’ according to countryside campaign groups.

But Dorset Council’s Local Plan may need to consider building even more homes to account for people on lower incomes, according to a new report.

Campaign groups say the number needs to be reduced though, to a figure closer to 20,000.

What the review found

Independent consultants have carried out an assessment of the housing needs of specific groups such as the elderly, those with disabilities and those who cannot afford market housing. During this work, the consultants also considered whether there are grounds to plan for alternative housing need figures in the Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council areas, rather than those arising from the standard Government approach.

Housing need figures consider birth and death rates, the number of people moving in and out of the county (migration) and how the area’s population will grow in 17 years. The standard approach also includes a further uplift in the figures, based on housing affordability.

It suggests that Dorset Council may need to build more than the 39,000 homes previously recommended.

Dorset Council is considering this evidence and all the responses to the local plan consultation, and councillors will decide on revisions to the plan next year. The consultation document, published in 2021, suggested that the council would use the Government’s standard methodology to determine the local housing need.

Cllr David Walsh. Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Planning, said:

“It is important that, as part of the development of the Dorset Council Local Plan, we test all assumptions and possibilities. The final adopted plan will guide decisions on planning applications in Dorset until 2038. It is vital that we get this right for the future of Dorset.”

But Dorset CPRE Chairman Peter Bowyer said:

“Dorset Council’s plans to build 39,000 houses across rural Dorset cannot be justified and will lead to planning chaos. It would require population growth to double.

“It is in the interests of everyone that we now work together to develop an alternative approach.”

Dorset Climate Action Network has written an open letter to the council in a bid to stop so many homes being built.

Michael Dower, of Dorset CAN, said:

“We sincerely hope to persuade Dorset Council to deliver an optimistic and forward-looking Local Plan that values our landscape, supports environmental regeneration, provides affordable housing for local families, reduces our carbon footprint and encourages a thriving green economy in Dorset.

"We believe this can be done within the existing regulations and without wholesale destruction of our green spaces. We hope to work with Dorset Council to achieve this.”

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