Controversial housing scheme for Weymouth refused
Developers wanted to build seven homes off Watery Lane
Seven homes proposed for a site off Watery Lane, Weymouth, have been refused planning consent.
The controversial development, had it been allowed, would have included a new bridge over the Pudsey Brook and a new site road.
Dozens of objections had been sent to Dorset Council about the proposals including one from Weymouth Town Council which objected on the grounds the site being outside the defined development boundary, traffic concerns, local flooding issues and sustainable drainage systems. The town council said there was also confusion about a footpath route and concerns about over-burdening the storm and sewage drains.
Similar worries had also been raised by the River Wey Society and the Dorset branch of the Campaign for Rural England as well as the Environment Agency and Dorset Wildlife Trust, along with many residents.
The greenfield site is west of the lane with the proposal for three 3-bed homes and four 4-bed homes, all with attached garages.
A previous application for the site was submitted in 2015 but later withdrawn to await flood data remodelling from the Environment Agency.
The most recent plans were amended to increase the finished floor levels to push the proposed homes above the predicted one in one hundred year flood risk level, together with other alterations to the design and layout.
A planning agent for the developer says that although the site is not within the Broadwey conservation area the scheme had been designed as if it were.