Farmland in rural Dorset village could be used for 21 houses

PLANS have been put forward for a 21-home development in Milborne St Andrew.Submitted by Messrs Burt, the application seeks permission to build on farmland on the eastern edge of the village off Milton Road.They describe the scheme as “a natural housing extension” to the village say that it would not harm neighbours of the site or the village as a whole.Ten of the 21 two-storey houses would be made ‘affordable’ with the remaining 11 sold at normal market rates.A statement submitted by GVD Strategic Land Promotion as part of the application says the levels of the land, which was part of a plot which was developed into the Brooklands estate, make it unsuitable for farming uses.The application also proposes to alter the public footpath which runs through the middle of the site.A number of proposals for new housing developments in the village have been submitted in recent months.Three applications for a total 157 homes, a doctors’ surgery and a pre-school have been lodged with the council and are being considered by its planning officers.Last year, planning permission for a 30-home development at the opposite end of the village was refused with councillors criticising the lay-out of the affordable houses which they described as “ghetto-style”.The latest scheme will need to be considered by planning officers before May 28.