£15,000 cost to move slow worms if Weymouth housing development agreed
More than £15,000 will be spent on moving slow worms to a Nature Reserve if a housing scheme in Littlemoor in Weymouth gets the go ahead
More than £15,000 will be spent moving slow worms from an overgrown ‘green lung’ site at Littlemoor if a scheme for housing goes ahead.
Dorset Council intends to develop the overgrown plot, off Beverley Road, for up to 17 homes. The land is surrounded on each side by housing and has been derelict for years.
Ward councillor Louie O’Leary objected to the outline proposal claiming that the site should be left as a green space, arguing that more than enough homes were already in the pipeline for the area, putting pressure on local services.
He said he feared that building homes on the site, which is owned by the council, could lead to an additional risk of flooding for surrounding properties.
Councillors were told that the site had been kept vacant, partially as means of collecting flood water coming off surrounding land.
Said Cllr O’Leary: “It is an ugly site but that doesn’t mean it has to be used for housing,” claiming that to try and put 17 homes on the area, while leaving space for the flood measures, would be an overdevelopment and risk flooding.
The area planning committee heard that the council’s flood risk team had raised no objections to the homes and believe that clearing the site of undergrowth might help the effectiveness of its designed for flood protection. Other anti-flood works have already been undertaken in the area.
The council plan shows two access road to the site, off Beverley Road and Pemberton Close.
Cllr Paul Kimber said his experience on the former borough council housing committee led him to an uneasy feeling about developing the site.
“It’s not called Littlemoor for nothing. Back in the WPBC days we were warned to be particularly careful with these areas,” he said, adding that like Cllr O’Leary he also regarded the 17 homes as an overdevelopment. He also warned that the loss of the site would be detrimental to wildlife.
Despite the pleas the committee voted 7-3 in favour of the outline application.
If it finally goes ahead the project is expected to see a contribution of £35,500 for affordable homes elsewhere. Other payment shown include £4,100 ‘compensation’ for the loss of woodland and £15,100 “for slow worm translocation” – with experts collecting them from the site before development begins and then re-homing the creatures at the nearby Lorton Nature Reserve.