PLANS to bring 130 houses to Blandford St Mary have been approved on appeal after Dorset Council previously rejected the plans.

Hallam Land Management submitted plans back in March 2024 to build the houses on land north of Ward’s Drove, which include creating a new vehicular junction onto the busy A350.

But Dorset Council rejected the plans after raising concerns over the development’s impact on the Grade II listed St Mary’s Church, The Old Rectory and Clerkenwell House.

Hallam subsequently appealed the plans, with the planning inspector Mathew Jones coming to the conclusion that the homes would have a minimal effect on the buildings.

He said the “group value of the listed buildings would not be harmed by the introduction of the development into their settings.”

He added: “The proposed development would have an acceptable effect on the settings of the church, The Old Rectory, and Clerkenwell House.”

READ MORE: Blandford man arrested on suspicion of murder after body of Sturminster Newton man found

READ MORE: More than £1,000 raised after Blandford RBL branch broken into

The new houses would sit near the Bellway development of 350 homes, St Mary’s Hill, and the site itself was allocated for development under the Blandford Neighbourhood Plan.

But the plans faced opposition from stakeholders, with both Blandford Forum Parish Council (BFPC) and Blandford St Mary Parish Council submitting their objections to the plans.

BFPC believes the building of the 130 houses would exceed the number of houses previously agreed to in the neighbourhood plan.

They said: “The 350 houses that are designated for the St Mary’s Hill site were included in the neighbourhood plan as part of the original allocation by North Dorset District Council. The Ward’s Drove allocation was not.”

They also raised concerns over the impact the now-approved houses could have on the infrastructure of Blandford Forum, such as shops, doctors and schools, as well as the reduction in green buffer between the village and the town.

They said: “Such [a] development would also inevitably place a great burden on the already strained primary school system in this area with little or no room to expand in the two existing primary schools closest to the proposed development.

“Cumulatively, with the St Mary’s Hill development, the remoteness of Ward’s Drove from the principal settlement, along with the other proposed developments, will cause a sizeable increase in the amount of traffic driving back into Blandford to access the primary shopping centre, medical and dental facilities, and primary and secondary schooling.”

To view the appeal decision notice by the Planning Inspectorate, search reference APP/D1265/W/24/3351896 on the Appeals Casework Portal.