VILLAGERS have been ‘ignored’ after a plan to install eight electric vehicle charging points in a North Dorset village was approved, according to a countryside group.

On January 26, Dorset Council’s Northern Area Planning Committee granted permission for the development – off the A354 at Pimperne – after an application by RTPI on behalf of Instavolt.

The application said the scheme would answer a need for rapid charging points in the area.

“Pimperne currently has no rapid chargers and Blandford Forum currently only has two rapid chargers,” it said. “The A354 itself serves over 9,000-plus vehicles a day and is an important A road serving commuters from Salisbury to Dorchester.”

It added the chargers would help residents ‘switch to sustainable transport while also serving commuters’.

However, the approval has been lambasted by the North Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), as the site falls outside areas of development earmarked in the Pimperne Neighbourhood Plan (PNP), which is intended to outline where schemes would be allowed.

Derek Gardiner, on behalf of North Dorset CPRE, said: “After a lot of very hard work, this plan became part of the official development plan for the area… The plan was updated and formally accepted in November 2022.

“Roll on four months and you can imagine the feeling of disillusionment among a number of those who supported the PNP, when the Northern Area Planning Committee of Dorset Council voted unanimously in favour of granting permission to InstaVolt Ltd to install eight rapid electric vehicle charging stations on greenfield land outside the Pimperne settlement boundary.

“Additional lighting will be introduced in an area which is part of the AONB’s International Dark Skies Initiative.

“It is however, Dorset Council’s obligation to reduce light pollution, not simply to minimise the increase in light pollution.

“Also, it is naive to assume that drivers will be happy merely to sit in their cars whilst charging takes place.

“It is highly likely that additional facilities such as a protective canopy, a coffee shop and toilets will need to be added to the site.”

The site is within the Cranborne Chase AONB, he said, and that coming legislation would see neighbourhood plans given more weight when making planning decisions.

“By approving this development, the community led objectives of the PNP have been ignored,” he added. “It will seem that Dorset Council is undermining the government’s drive for greater local democracy and involvement, setting a very unfortunate precedent for other planning decisions.

“What is the point of neighbourhood plans if planning committees do not respect them?”

Under conditions of approval, a hedgerow at the site would need to be preserved, while further design and lighting schemes would also need to be approved.

A report to councillors making the decision recommended the plan be approved, saying the benefits of the scheme outweighed ‘degree of conflict’ with the neighbourhood plan.

Pimperne Parish Council and the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB officer objected to the plans, as well as the Dorset CPRE.

But the report said: “This is a development that, on balance, is sustainable and, therefore, acceptable.”

Councillors on the committee approved the application unanimously.