Earlier this year, the Leader of Council, Cllr Spencer Flower, set out his commitment to develop a new Dorset Council Local Plan that meets the needs and aspirations of the people of Dorset.
In Dorset Council’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 26 July Cllr David Walsh, Portfolio Holder for Planning, provided an update on the progress of the draft Plan. The following summarises the key points delivered.
“We have listened to you on the draft Dorset Council Local Plan and spoken with Government.
We are reshaping the new Plan and extending the timescale by two years to allow adoption 2026.
There will be more focus in the reshaped Dorset Council Local Plan on the right development in the right places, the right quality and on climate and ecological considerations.”
“We received an unprecedented 9,000 responses to our consultation on the draft Dorset Council Local Plan. In summary, respondents told us we should:
- Challenge the housing numbers – they should reflect needs of Dorset, not blindly follow a government calculation and not include housing for BCP Council
- Support building more affordable housing across the area, helping working families and young people to live in Dorset
- Protect Dorset’s unique natural environment
- Tackle climate change as our leading priority, ensuring the Dorset Council Local Plan and our Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy and action plan are fully aligned
- Consider the infrastructure requirements of new development: public transport, roads, health and education services, utilities to ensure the needs of residents are met
We have listened to you, and it became clear that the National Policy, regulations and local constraints in place for councils when devising these plans were preventing us from coming up with the best possible Local Plan that reflects the needs and aspirations of Dorset’s residents.
Therefore, over the past few months, the Leader of the Council has been in discussions with Michael Gove, the former Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with the Chief Planning Officer and other senior civil servants.
Our discussions have been extremely constructive. We are now at a point where we can confirm:
- That the adoption of the new Dorset Council Local Plan is expected in 2026. This gives us more time to develop the plan. (Previously we were aiming for adoption in 2023/4)
- We have asked for Dorset to be a pilot for a new national approach to local plans being introduced through revised national policy and legislation. This will allow Dorset to take advantage of the improvements we fully expect to be enacted, including a genuinely plan-led system that has been shaped by engagement with our communities, make use of support from Government and where development accords with what the plan sets out, streamlined processes and a national suite of development management policies.
- As part of this, the Government is planning to remove the ‘duty to cooperate’ which currently requires us to take account of unmet needs that our neighbouring authorities such as that BCP Council cannot deliver. The changes will mean Dorset can focus on a strategy that is right for us in meeting our needs
- However, we recognise that access to affordable housing is currently a challenge for some Dorset residents. More affordable housing needs to be built, but we need the right development in the right places, at the right quality which respects our unique and important natural environment.
- Working with Homes England there will be more focus on new or significantly expanded settlements to help deliver the longer-term growth needs of Dorset, with the necessary infrastructure (transport, utilities, health and education services)
- We want greater recognition of our Climate and Ecological Emergency commitments in locally produced planning policy.
Dorset Council’s aspiration is to provide a framework for long-term sustainable development that meets housing needs, delivers national and local net zero carbon and biodiversity targets, and ensures development is supported by essential infrastructure.
We are currently seeking confirmation from Government of a temporary exemption from housing land supply requirements until the new Dorset Council Local Plan is adopted, so we can protect Dorset from harmful unplanned development in the interim period.”
Absolutely hopeless. The previous Local Plan Inspector ticked you off for not dealing with the matters of Dorchester and Sherborne and only recommended your Local Plan proceed to adoption if you undertook an early review. You started to grasp the nettle but have now, again, completely bottled it because a small minority of the populus has objected to North Dorchester. Not only that, have the temerity to go crawling to the Minister to be asked to be let off the 5 Year Housing Land Supply requirement because you can’t get your act together. If it wasn’t so pathetic it would be funny.
Completely agree David. Don’t they realise there is a housing crisis going on in Dorset today
Is Care and carers’ support, NHS/Dorset Care Plan in another place?
Filling your comment David Lohfink with clichés does not make any of it true. Please explain what nettle the Council have failed to grasp, what exactly they have completely bottled, what constitutes a small minority, what is meant by the temerity to go crawling to the Minister, exactly what act they can’t get together and what is so pathetic about all this?
And Pete, please define the housing crisis that is going on in Dorset today and how it would be solved by the Council in your view?
Bear in mind that the recent July OBR report on public finances puts forward the view that the population of the UK will rise only by another million by the mid 2030s and then begin to decline. That’s about 500,000 more homes. Yet the 5 year land supply rules that you mention require councils in England to plan 300,000 homes per annum, or 4 million too many over the next 15 years.
I think it would be irresponsible of the Council not to pause and press the Government to re-think, along with other councils elsewhere who have paused their plans too. When asked by BCP Council this year, a majority of people in all age groups opted for less housing than prescribed by the 5 year land supply.
Finally, the Council’s recent report from consultants on housing needs states that, using the growth in housing required by the 5 year land supply, there would not be the level of household growth required to fill that number of homes. There would have to be extra migration into the County and there would have to be “changes in the housing market to allow this to happen (rather than simply building more homes)”.
Yes houses are too expensive, but simply planning/building more won’t alter that enough to fix the problem. The Council are right to seek a better plan.
The update includes the phrases – the right housing in the right places – and with regard to the necessary infrastructure. We urgently need small communities with a mix of properties for sale, rent, part own and finance in place for older/disabled people to transition to smaller easier to manage homes. All with fast internet, solar panels, fully insulated, heat pumps and tree lined avenues. We need schools, public transport, health hubs and local shops. We need empty shops to be filled with small businesses making use of waste material . I wish the council luck.
Hi jennifer – that’s quite an ask! but we are working with all the agencies that can make this happen. But it may not be in small communities. To make the best decisions we may need to create larger communities that can have all the infrastructure planned within it and the range of housing for all. It’s called ‘place making’ and it ensures that this is all thought about rather than just adding onto existing villages and hamlets in a haphazard fashion that doesn’t increase local facilities because in themselves they are too small. New national building regulations have been brought in so new builds will have to consider their impact on climate and include some of the things you have listed. Thanks for the luck – we will do our best. Fiona
Not asking for haphazard building – and certainly not disregarding infrastructure planning. Just asking that vast estates of three bedroom family homes are not plonked down on the outskirts of Dorchester, which has already had to incorporate Poundbury, without sufficient thought being gi ven to smaller properties and the enormous existing pressure on A roads (often closed because of accidents ) and the county hospital.
Hi Fiona, I understand that Dorset Council is empowered to introduce the higher insulation standards immediately and that other councils have done so some years ago. Higher insulation in new homes and refits would reduce bills and contribute to UK energy independence (which the council recently voted for).. Why is Dorset holding back from doing it immediately ? Builder Magazine reports that the cost is only 2,000 – 3,000 per home and this would come from the builders current huge profits (£100m to Persimmon’s CEO, £50,000 profits per house built by Barratts).
Interesting that Dorset Council says that feedback calls on them to:
Challenge housing numbers – not blindly follow a government calculation
Build more affordable housing across the area
Protect Dorset’s unique natural environment
Tackle climate change as a leading priority
How come Dorset Council missed those basic requirements first time round?
Hi Andrew – we didn’t. The draft plan we developed was inline with national policy with these elements. But our residents want more of this, which is why we have asked Government to allow our plan to include more of these things. Also new national building regulations have already come in to include measures to combat the climate emergency. We are waiting for the new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that will help us achieve what our residents have asked for within the national planning policy. Fiona
I am most concerned about the provision of the infrastructure necessary for significant new developments. We need must stronger rules and guarantees, not just words and promises. One example would be the provision of additional GP and dental services. How will these be built, funded and, more importantly, staffed. We need specifics on all infrastructure provision. Developers must not be let off the hook.
Hi Brian, as part of the Dorset Council Local Plan we are talking with the NHS to ensure that areas identified for development will have appropriate health services attached. Also money from developer contributions already go to the NHS to provide services for increased demand caused by the developments. Fiona
I am really pleased to see that the council have taken notice of residents concerns.
One point not mentioned was the justification to build on green belt due to ‘an emergency’ in housing.
I hope all residents will engage with their local councillors as they reshape the plan to meet our local needs.
Hi James – The ‘green belt’ you mention is located in the east of the county and was mainly an allocation for the ‘duty to cooperate’ with BCP council. It was also to satisify the need for housing close to the large towns where people are working. The spacial maps at https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/documents/35024/313708/Local+plan+display+posters+FINAL+A1.pdf/dc3ad13c-62ee-8024-c84d-9844754b20a5 help to show where the protected AONB and Green belt areas of the county are and how we are planning to protect them from haphazard planning. By allocating areas close to larger settlements we can ensure that facilities and infrastructure are planned at the same time. Fiona
So in fact the Government has not agreed to allow Dorset to pilot a new way of local planning? Why then has Dorset Council just announced that any new local plan is now to be delayed until well into 2024 and can’t be agreed until 2026? That’s seven years since all this started in 2019.
The lack of a local plan threatens every green space next to where people live in Dorset. The draft local plan allocated land for nearly 40,000 new homes in Dorset, far more than could possibly be sold to Dorset’s natural population. All that land and more is now at risk of haphazard unplanned development for 4 more years.
One must wonder whether the Council’s timing is related to the forthcoming local elections in May 2024?
Why are Dorset Council not requiring all new and the altered parts of refurbished housing to be built to A or B rating insulation standards ? I understand that other councils already do this and that there is no legal impediment. Incorporation of insulation in the build stage is a fraction of the cost of later modification, the decision on boilers or heat pumps could be delayed. This would help meet the Council’s recently voted aim to strive for UK energy independence. Builder Magazine quotes the cost of installation of the extra insulation at build as being less than £3,000. This would come from the huge profits currently being made by the Building Industry (c.f. £100 million to the Persimmon CEO, Barratts reporting a profit of £50,000 per house etc.)
Hi Peter – this is all part of the new building regulations that have recently come in. I wrote a release about this. You can find it here: https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/2022/05/31/rules-are-changing-for-home-renovations/ Planning and building control are different things please see mor information at https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/general-building-control-guidance/the-difference-between-planning-and-building-control So we are requiring all new and altered parts of buildings to comply with national standards. Fiona