On 22 August we held an Advearse meeting and discussed the outstanding issues and actions we had after the recent reserved matters approval.

We noted that this approval meant there was no leverage that we could bring to bear on the developers or Dorset Council to force changes to the development plans. Any changes remain at the goodwill of the developers.

Bridport Town Council have set up a Foundry Lea Working Group which will periodically meet with the developers and other interested parties during the course of the development over the next 5+ years. This should provide a means for local people to raise concerns about the development and its impact on the town. Advearse have been offered a seat at this group and we are considering if/how to take this up.

We are also considering the future of Advearse and will be having a meeting on 14 September to look at our options. We would be very interested to hear from supporters about what they think we should do.

A quick update on our actions and the outstanding issues is noted below:

1. We wrote our local MP to ask for his support in asking for changes to the development plans. His response was that it was too late to request changes.
2. We have written to Dorset Council raising yet again our ongoing concerns with pedestrian access from Foundry Lea to the town centre and the local area. These concerns were dismissed at the recent reserved matters planning meeting as being immaterial and that the narrow footpaths were considered to be safe!
3. We are in correspondence with National Highways regarding plans to start the construction of Foundry Lea alongside the building of the Miles Cross roundabout. There are serious traffic congestion and safety issues about these happening at the same time.
4. We have made an official complaint to Dorset Council about how the reserved matters application was conduction. For example limiting the ability of the public to speak at the meeting and the failure of the council planning officer to directly address the questions/concerns raised.
5. There are legal issues relating to the development not complying with the 2010 Equalities Act by failing to provide sufficient housing which addresses the needs of disabled or elderly people. The council have dismissed these concerns so we will be raising with relevant organisations and charities to see what else can be done.
6. Concerns about the impact of Foundry Lea on the local electricity network remain unanswered. These were ignored when raised at the planning meeting. Western Power have told us that the Bridport electric network is out of date and not suited to a mass housing development of the size of Foundry Lea. But as the development has been given permission they have no choice but to provide access to the local network.