Sent to the following  

Dorset Planners / Dorset Chief Executive and Leader of Council / DC Councillors in the Bridport area and DC Councillors on the Planning Committee / all BTC Councillors / Symondsbury PC 

Dear Sirs, 

We are sending a copy of this letter to all named parties. It regards the request from the developers for an amendment to the clause in the legal agreement stating that no houses on the site can be occupied until the roundabout at Miles Cross is opened. The developers are asking that they should be allowed to sell up to 335 houses before the roundabout is opened. We strongly urge the Council to reject the request. We would ask you to consider the following points in considering our request. 

1. Process- We are currently researching national examples what for us is an unfamiliar part of the planning process and would welcome advice about how it operates in Dorset. Since 2012 we have been involved with this development and on many occasions have been told by regretful councillors that they had been informed by the planners that there was nothing they as Councillors could do but agree to a particular proposal. On this occasion we argue that the Councillors should be involved in the decision-making process. We can accept that minor changes to a planning application might be dealt with by the Officers. We do not consider that the acceptance of a figure of 335 houses is a minor matter not least because of the road safety issues involved. The roundabout at Miles Cross is seen by the local community as a key issue and it is essential that our democratic representatives are involved in the decision making. The developers signed up to the commitment knowing the potential complexities and, in our opinion, have dragged their feet. 

2. Impact – We understand that any proposed changes to a legal agreement should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment for such a major alteration. The developers term the risks created by delay as ‘negligible ‘ . We challenge that judgement. 

3. The developers’ case – The developers are claiming that the start of the roundabout is delayed because National Highways have other essential work on the A35. We have questioned this with National Highways but currently do not believe this to be the case. Any local resident who has been affected by the repeated night closures on the A35 including the current 10-day slot will be dubious of this as a reason.  

All parties have known about the roundabout for many years. The decision by the developers to press on with house building whilst dragging their feet on the roundabout is either reckless or devious. There are many in the community who are very concerned that the roundabout will never be built and who will believe the latter. 

At the recent Foundry Lea Working Group (FLWG) meeting the developers suggested that traffic in the area was at lower levels since COVID. That is at total odds to the lived experience of local people. It is essential that the DC decision is informed by independent statistical data on this key issue.  

4. Implications of refusing the request- The developers stated at the FLWG meeting that this is not a cash flow issue. We are confident that the coffers of Barratt and Bovis will cope with the delay. 

5. ADVEARSE position –For the past 10 years we have argued that Dorset Council should have followed the practice throughout the rest of England and insisted that the roundabout be installed before house building started. For councillors who do not know the site, it is worth saying the sites are adjacent and construction traffic for one will impact on that for the other. 

We therefore ask  

1. That the process for dealing with the request is one that can be transparent to the residents most affected by the delay. 

2. That Councillors are fully involved in any decision to amend the legal agreement. 

3. That an Environmental Impact Assessment be carried out. 

4. That the request for 335 houses to be occupied before the roundabout is opened be refused. We accept that a lower figure which could allow occupation of some affordable housing might be acceptable. It must be accompanied by a binding commitment to the roundabout. 

5. That Bridport Town Council and Symondsbury Parish Council place the item on an agenda and give opportunity in the democratic half hour for public opinion to be aired. 

ADVEARSE will be very willing to meet any of the recipients of the letter to discuss the issues raised. 

Barry Bates – Chair – 15 October 2025 

ADVEARSE RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION ON THE DORSET PLAN 2025

ADVEARSE has been in existence since 2013 when it was set up to oppose the development at Vearse Farm. It remains active, working to ensure that the development there (known as Foundry Lea) delivers the best it can for Bridport. During these 12 years we have developed an extensive knowledge of the planning system and how it is applied in the Dorset context. Our comments relate to the situation we understand best – namely Bridport. We would however that they would be applicable to other Dorset communities.

We are aware of the detailed analysis by a working group has been submitted of each of the sites identified for Bridport. We fully support this submission. We, however, wish to make a number of general points. Our recommendations are in bold.

1. In no sense is this consultation document a plan. It is an immature long list of potential sites, largely proposed by the landowners, most of which have previously been rejected as unsuitable. Despite the length of the main document, there is no balance in evidence between the potential housing sites and any cumulative planning consequences on related infrastructure, services, and amenities. We had hoped that the national government had been more sophisticated in allocating the latest housing targets. We also had hoped that the new administration would demonstrate a greater commitment to the involvement of local communities in the drawing up of this plan. At the meeting at the Town Hall in Bridport, there appeared to have been acceptance from the planners that they could have approached this particular consultation better. It was also very evident at that meeting that there was little or no coordination between the transport and housing plans. A plan of this complexity and significance which is intended to last 17 years should be able to ‘join up the dots ‘ of all that goes into long term planning for a county.

· DC should set out how it will engage with meaningful consultation with its constituent localities in drawing up the next phase of the plan.

· We would expect to see clear evidence that Bridport Councillors have been involved as advocates for the local communities of the Bridport area and have shaped and influenced outcomes. Otherwise, individual residents and Bridport Town Council are commenting in parallel, potentially with duplication and no clear indication of relative weightings. This is hardly local government at work, rather it is a confusing free-for-all.

· DC planners should take full account of the detailed site by site analysis which has been submitted by the Bridport Working Group.

2. We accept that more housing will be built in Bridport over the lifetime of this plan. Although there has been attempt to reassure local people that this is a very early consultation and more will follow, we would warn urge Bridport residents to take part and set out their concerns. The development at Vearse Farm was imposed on Bridport because opposition began too late.

· We will be urging the Bridport community and neighbouring parishes to collaborate in producing coherent responses to the proposals.

3. We understand why the national government has set ambitious targets for house building. We, however, believe that the targets imposed on Dorset are arbitrary and in no way reflect local needs. This way of planning forces local authorities to identify green field sites which the large-scale builders will exploit. This has led to what CPRE calls ‘Building the wrong type of houses in the wrong place ‘.

· We urge local authorities such as Dorset to join together to challenge this target setting approach.

· We urge DC to engaged in robust discussions about the country wide targets and secure a more realistic target for Dorset.

4. The imposition of yet more large-scale development is at odds with Dorset Council’s own environment aims. West Dorset is predominantly rural and a beneficiary of the protection of the National Trust and its land ownership. Its founders showed that it is possible to preserve the most beautiful parts of the country for future generations. There are many across our whole country who would support our efforts to slow the creeping suburbanisation of West Dorset.

· DC should work with key environmental groups to produce a long-term plan which marries the need for development long with the preservation of our unique landscape for future generations.

5. Bridport has a well-developed Neighbourhood Plan. This has included thorough analyses of the housing need in Bridport. This should be the starting point for determining the number and mix of houses to be built in Bridport. A key priority is the need for social housing. Because of the poor public transport service this should be close to the town centre, and this would suggest that brown field sites should be considered first. We are disappointed that brownfield development is dismissed so lightly at Para. 8.3.2. for want of planning effort. We expect more of our Council’s officers.

· The DC plan for Bridport area should demonstrate that it has taken full account of the Bridport Neighbourhood plan, most especially its housing proposals.

· The DC plan must include proposals for significant amounts of social housing.

· The DC Plan must demonstrate that it has considered the significant of brown field sites which lie in the town centre.

6. We are at the early stages of a massive 760 house development at Vearse Farm. This will potentially increase the population of Bridport by 12-15%, yet we have seen little evidence of infrastructure, services and amenity adjustments to compensate. We would strongly urge that the impact of this should be absorbed and assessed before Bridport should take more development. Already serious concerns have been expressed about the need for employment opportunities for those drawn to live in new housing. Interestingly in the past 20 years DC or its predecessors has approved plans at St Michaels and Vearse Farm which included ‘employment land ‘. We have seen no sign of activity on either site. Additionally, the infrastructure of the town is under serious stress in terms of road and footpath networks, parking, medical services. The S106 agreement for Vearse Farm is already judged as inadequate in providing for these needs.

· We wish to see an impact assessment carried out on the Vearse Farm and strategies for dealing with the demands on the town’s infrastructure which have arisen as a result.

· DC should work with BTC to set out a long-term plan for improving the infrastructure of the town to take account of the significant increase in population.

Local residents have been contacting ADVEARSE to express concern that there has been no news about a start date for the roundabout on the A35. Another six weeks have passed since the developers of the Foundry Lea site reaffirmed that they would be honouring their legal commitment to create a roundabout at Miles Cross as a condition for planning permission to build 760 houses at Vearse Farm. In the past 2 years we have had a series of anticipated start dates which have been and gone.

ADVEARSE has contacted the developers to seek reassurance but has had no reply. A spokesperson for the group commented.

There was widespread opposition to this massive housing development but there was a hope that it would be accompanied by employment on the other part of the site and improvements to the dangerous road junction at Miles Cross. At present neither are forthcoming. There is growing cynicism about whether the roundabout will ever be built. We monitor Dorset Council’s website which publishes planned road works on Dorset roads and can see none planned on the A35 for the next 12 months.

There is a legal agreement between Dorset Council and the developers that the roundabout must be opened before houses can be occupied. Building work has continued on the site but we have had reports that this has slowed.

ADVEARSE will be asking Dorset Councillors to enforce the legal agreement. There are clearly some problems in getting approval for the construction of the roundabout. We would argue that local people are entitled to know what those obstacles are. It has been suggested that the builders have spent so much on this preparation stage they need to sell houses in order to fund the roundabout. We cannot accept this as a reason from two multi-million-pound companies. When Vearse Farm was first suggested as a site for a major housing scheme in 2012 Taylor Wimpey refused to back it on the grounds that the site was in their opinion not viable. Barratt and Vistry now need to face up to the reality of the site and honour their commitments. This must include a start date for the roundabout.

For more information contact ADVEARSE via advearse@aol.com