Dorchester Prison developers say work could start next year
They've promised a meeting for local residents to have their say
The developer behind the housing scheme for Dorchester prison has promised a meeting for residents to have their say on the new plans for the site.
The scaled back simplified designs will see the removal of the 46-space underground car park in North Square to cuts costs.
Also extracted from the 2017 agreed plans are proposals for undercroft parking, while a re-design has also resulted in slightly different positions, and heights, for some of the new-build housing blocks and the introduction of balconies for some flats.
The core proposals, for 60 homes in the main prison block, remain the same as does access to the site and the majority of the landscaping proposals.
City and Country’s head of planning Adrian Fox promised he would arrange a meeting with residents after they claimed they were not being given enough time for their views to be heard at Monday night’s Dorchester Town Council meeting.
The meeting took so long that town councillors also deferred their views on the revised scheme for another day although remain broadly in favour of the development.
The re-worked plans will see an increase in the number of homes, from 185 to 193, with a higher proportion of smaller one and two-bed properties.
The town council meeting heard of continued worries over traffic proposals at the The Bow/North Square junction including claims that it will not comply with national planning guidelines or equality legislation.
Dorset Highways has yet to express a view on that – although in 2017 its officers agreed the removal of the pavement on one side, to the replaced by a ‘rubbing strip’ to protect the historic Bow wall around the church.
One resident claims the 2017 highway agreement was based on incorrect measurements and argues that the proposals today will not meet any of the updated criteria laid down in the National Planning Policy Framework or equalities legislation.
Mr Fox said the family-owned company which specialised in buying old properties and finding new uses for them, had to simplify designs to reduce costs to make the scheme viable – he said that the 2017 proposals were likely to generate a loss of £3.75million.
Around twenty residents attended the town council planning committee meeting on Monday evening to hear him speak and put their views.
Those that were allowed to address the meeting, before discussion was cut short by the committee chairman, Ralph Ricardo, raised concerns about the re-siting of housing blocks closer to their homes; the introduction of balconies leading to overlooking and the management of up to 200 additional cars making their way in and out of the site – including the pinch-point of The Bow.
Conversely Cllr Les Fry questioned whether 196 parking spaces for the development would be enough, although was told by Mr Fox that many residents would choose not to have a car because it was a town centre site.
Cllr David Taylor said the situation at The Bow could become a nightmare: “If there is no traffic control it will be just complete chaos,” he warned, also expressing his concerns about larger vehicles, including refuse lorries, getting in and out of the site.
Cllr Fiona Kent-Ledger reminded the meeting the town council had previously voted for the scheme and, apart from some details, little had changed.
She said the traffic proposals for The Bow had also previously been approved and, in her opinion, provided a better route without the need for vehicles to drive on the pavements to get by.
Cllr Mollie Rennie questioned the new housing mix, claiming the town had many empty one-bed flats and that larger flats were also needed, if for no other reason than to encourage the development not to be just for pensioners, but for young families as well.
Mr Fox said that if all went well with the fresh planning application building work could start on the site in late 2023 or early 2024 with up to two-years in construction, although some properties could be ready earlier.