We're not against housing say protestors fighting 4,000 new homes for North Dorchester
Two effigies of a developer and town planner were paraded through Dorchester town centre
Last updated 7th Apr 2022
Protestors against 4,000 new homes north of Dorchester say they are not against new housing, it just needs to be in the right place.
Members of STAND (Save The Area North of Dorchester) paraded two effigies around Dorchester of a planner developer.
It mirrored a scene from a Thomas Hardy novel.
Alastair Nisbet is one of the protestors. He said:
"4,000 houses is massive. It's certainly massive in 18 years to do it. It's something like twice the size of Poundbury and just a little bit bigger than the town of Wimborne.
"I think my biggest beef is that we don't need them. Dorset's housing needs for the next 18 years can be met without any greenfield development."
Alastair said the protest went very well:
"It was a whole lot of fun. Somebody had the idea of resurrecting the Skimmity ride from Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge which was a scene in the book where a husband and wife were paraded through the streets back to back on a donkey in shame.
"We recreated our own version in which the people riding on the donkey were planners and developers and they were paraded through the streets of Dorchester in shame because they should be ashamed.
"It just will not work and I think there is an overwhelming body of public opinion against it."
Dorset Council are due to publish the local plan, which will include housing allocation for the county - in May.