The developers of Vearse Farm (now Foundry Lea) have lodged their detailed planning application (reserved matters stage) for approval.

These are on the council website with the link below. Initially the deadline for comments was 3 January which given the Christmas/new year holidays was a ridiculously short period. This has now been extended to 10 January. There are 250 documents associated with the application and so highly complex and still with limited time to look at and comment!

https://planning.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/plandisp.aspx?recno=377403

There remain serious concerns about this development and the possible negative impact on Bridport. We will be looking at the concerns and how they are addressed in the detailed plans.

These concerns include:

• Planning committee – Currently the detailed planning application is to be decided by the planning officer on delegated authority – so it will not go before the planning committee and be open to public scrutiny. This is a huge issue and it is vital that pressure is put on the council to not allow this application to be decided on the quite away from the public gaze.
• Sewage/flooding – The recent article in Bridport News from Wessex Water stated that ‘the Bridport area has a very high risk of sewerage incapacity and frequent storm overflows.’ We are communicating with Wessex Water on this and hope to get more clarity. Flooding has been and still is one of the biggest issues with the massive VF development.
• Electricity supply issues – We have had credible concerns raised about the Bridport electricity supply infrastructure being inadequate to cope with the size of the VF development with the potential for problems effecting residents beyond just VF. We are aiming to get more information on this and will ask for assurances that this issue is being properly addressed.
• Road works & Miles Cross roundabout – There are serious implications for road use not just on the A35 but for the whole of Bridport and the surrounding area during and after the VF building phase. We are in contact with the council and the Highways Authority on this issue.
• Climate change and the lack of sustainability – It seems that a move to low carbon houses (eg solar panels, sustainable heating, suitable building materials etc) is not being considered. Whist there are some communal electric bike stores and some electric car charging points it is an opportunity missed not to properly address the climate change emergency that even Dorset Council have declared!
• Environment – The plans are not clear on which trees/planting are staying and the promised mitigation measures to offset the environmental harm.
• S106 promises – These include affordable housing, cycle routes/paths, employment land etc. These benefits to Bridport were promised as an integral part of VF development going ahead. We will be looking at the plans for how these will be delivered. In the case of the employment land this is owned by Symondsbury Estate and so up to them to provide. We will follow-up on this.

Over the next few weeks we will be posting detailed updates on these and other concerns. These can be incorporated into comments that you may want to make on the planning application.

There is an option on the above link for comments to be made directly on the council planning portal– and we encourage this as the more comments received the better the chance that it will get some traction with the council.

If you have any thoughts or identify any other points regarding the detailed plans then please let us know.