Mill Street, Fontmell Magna, is earmarked for development.

PLANS for 25 new homes in Fontmell Magna have been submitted.
The scheme would see three chalet-style bungalows, five barn-style houses, four cottages, 10 terraced homes and three farmhouse dwellings built on a 1.98-hectare site in Mill Street.
Applicant Hartdene Homes Ltd says the scheme would see Mill Street slightly widened, and the frontage ‘enhanced’.
However, the development site falls outside the Fontmell Magna Neighbourhood Plan, which was approved in a referendum in November 2018 and adopted by Dorset Council later that month.
The application says that due to the age of the plan and with no overarching Local Plan being in place for Dorset, which has ‘demonstrated persistent under-delivery’, the scheme should be determined with a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’.
“The council cannot currently display a five-year supply of available and deliverable housing sites and thus its policies relating to the delivery and location of housing development are out of date,” it said.
On the Fontmell Magna Neighbourhood Plan, the application said: “This Neighbourhood Plan… stands over three years old.”
The plan should not prevent a ‘presumption in favour’ view of the application, it says.
“Fontmell Magna is more than capable of accommodating growth as a sustainable settlement and thus it should be delivering a share of the housing need,” it added.

Benefits of the scheme include a ‘compliant provision’ of affordable housing, improvements for pedestrians and vehicles in Mill Street, as well as the creation of new public open spaces, the application said.

People can comment on the application, reference P/OUT/2023/00667, until March 17. For more details and to view the full application, visit www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.