“IT is a sad day for local democracy.”

Those were the words of Pimperne Parish Council chair, Peter Slocombe, who has hit out at a decision to allow 490 new homes to be built between Blandford and Pimperne.

On Tuesday (October 24), Dorset Council’s Northern Area Planning Committee approved a bid by Wyatt Homes for the scheme, on a 37-hectare site north and east of the Blandford Bypass.

The application was opposed by the North Dorset Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Pimperne Parish Council, the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and a number of residents.

They long campaigned against the scheme, citing reasons including housing needs being met in north Dorset, harm to the Cranbourne Chase AONB, and conflict with the Pimperne Neighbourhood Plan, which outlines areas for development.

The site, between Blandford and Pimperne, set to be developed by Wyatt Homes

“News last month that there was now more than a five-year housing land supply in North Dorset with planning decisions supposedly following development plans, made campaigners more confident that they stood a good chance of stopping the developers,” a CPRE spokesperson said.

“Housing targets in the North Dorset Local Plan for Blandford Forum and St Mary, as well as in the surrounding villages, had been exceeded thanks to a massive building programme in recent years.

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“There was little evidence of the need for a new school, with data showing declining school rolls, and if there was need later, surely this could be achieved more cheaply with a few extra classrooms?

“Granting permission would also result in severe traffic congestion for Blandford and place more pressure on Blandford’s creaking infrastructure.”

They said views to and from the AONB would be affected, while good farmland, which contributes to food security and acts as a carbon sink against climate change, sacrificed.

The proposed layout of the 490-homes development between Blandford and Pimperne

The ‘gap’ between Pimperne and Blandford, in direct conflict with Pimperne’s recently re-made Neighbourhood Plan, would also be narrowed, campaigners said.

The planning officer’s report acknowledged that there was a conflict with the council’s development plan, which said building in the countryside should be resisted.

However, they recommended approval on the grounds the benefits of the scheme outweighed any harm.

Cllr Slocombe, who said he spent hundreds of hours with volunteers to create the Pimperne Neighbourhood Plan, said: “It is a sad day for local democracy.

“This decision sends a clear message to Dorset villages that it is hardly worth creating these plans, that were initiated by the government over a decade ago.”