Failings of Dorset’s Local Plan (Part 2)

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11 March 2021

You only have a few more days to give your views to Dorset Council on Dorset’s Local Plan. It is SO important you do take a look – and if you don’t have the heart to decipher the 2,000 pages of the full plan, then Rupert hardy, chair of the North Dorset CPRE has broken it into manageable chunks for us, with the biggest issues highlighted.
Reading his article will only be a few minutes of your time, and if any of the below rings alarm bells (and it probably will) then you only have until the 15th to make your voice heard:

Last month we wrote about the failings of Dorset Council’s (DC) draft Local Plan (LP) and its consultation process, but we could have said more on the Plan itself which is so very important, deciding the future development of Dorset until 2038. We will do now:

The LP appears to be made up of a mishmash of various plans from the previous District Councils, already out-of-date. It offers no strategic options. It consists of c.2,000 pages of unmanageable documents, which most residents will not read. Recent caveats may have been inserted into the Plan, but clearly the impact of Covid, with its profound consequences for retailing and the hospitality, has not been factored in. The Council’s excuse is that they are under pressure from government but other councils are taking a more measured and consultative approach.
The government’s housing requirement for Dorset is 30,000 new homes but DC officers have conceded that they are actually preparing for more with a housing supply figure of 39,000 homes, to allow for unmet need from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) and the New Forest, although it has not been requested yet. Last year Dorset CPRE commissioned an independent report that heavily criticised the government’s Standard Housing Method (SHM).
The government did state though in December 2020 that the SHM is a starting point for assessing housing need, not a target in plan making. There are plenty of examples of other local authorities, where adopted LP numbers are lower than the government’s SHM. Given the number of constraints facing Dorset, such as the Green Belt and the protected Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, why are DC proposing such a major increase over the last adopted Local Plans?
North Dorset’s problems emanate from the allocation of 1,800 houses to the Gillingham Southern Extension in the old North Dorset’s Local Plan, with none having been built yet. As a result of the loss of 5 year land supply, much speculative development has landed elsewhere. Residents here now face thousands more homes being built over their beautiful countryside.

“DC have targeted Stalbridge in particular with a housing allocation of 610 more homes. Yet it offers no useful public transport, no doctor’s surgery, no secondary school, few retail or employment options and narrow constricted roads.“
Rupert Hardy, Chairman, North Dorset CPRE

One other option being offered is to build yet more homes in Gillingham. The Peacemarsh proposal might deliver 600 units too, despite poor infrastructure and serious flooding risk, hence the name.

Dorset’s Local Plan - development at Pimperne — Rolling downland at Pimperne threatened by Wyatt Homes development and included in Local Plan

It is not easy navigating through the many documents, as the Plan covers much, such as transport, employment, the environment etc and not just housing. Most of the focus on housing is on the towns where more development is proposed.
However if you live in a village, you can identify what Tier your village is placed in the Settlement Hierarchy, as this will determine the degree and type of development that might be expected.

“Even if there appear to be no allocations in your parish, watch out as there only 26,000 homes allocated formally in the Plan.”
Rupert Hardy, Chairman, North Dorset CPRE

Neighbourhood Plan Housing Requirements are shown in Appendix 2, but the Plan says clearly these are minimum figures! Small and medium-sized housing sites are shown in App.3, while new or extensions of existing Gypsy and Traveller sites are in App.4.
It is curious that two thirds of the these happen to be in North Dorset in Marnhull, King’s Stag, Gillingham, Thornicombe, Enmore Green and Shaftesbury.
One extraordinary feature of Dorset’s Local Plan is its bold reliance on a DC forecast of 21,000 new full-time jobs being created over the twenty years to 2038. Yet there is no chapter on economic strategy to justify this.
Insufficient consideration has been given to whether the Plan is compatible with DC’s declared climate emergency. There is much comment on the “need to enable better public transport services, promote active travel and reduce car dependency”. Besides wishful thinking that residents will walk and cycle more, there appears to be no strategy for improving public transport.
There are serious omissions in the Wind Development Opportunities Report. DC say the potential locations shown could deliver 400 Gwh of renewable energy but there is no consideration of landscape restraints, so the target is risible. Overall we would like to see much greater focus on roof-mounted solar panels as a means to generate more renewable energy.
Why has Blandford, the former administrative seat of North Dorset, been relegated to the South Eastern Functional Area? Is this a ploy for Blandford and surrounding villages to be set up as a dormitory town for BCP, and to support their need for housing? Local parish councils and the town are united in opposing this.

Residents of North Dorset still have until 15th March to respond, so please do now!
You can comment on Dorset’s Local Plan here.

Rupert Hardy, Chairman, North Dorset CPRE

This article first appeared in the March Issue on page 16 – you can see all issues of the Blackmore Vale here.

Town Mills Gillingham | Then and Now

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Editorial team

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10 March 2021

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They are sadly long gone, but Gillingham’s old mill buildings once provided the town with a gloriously historic centrepiece.

They were attractive enough to catch the eye of the great John Constable, who painted the mill while staying at Gillingham Vicarage with his friend Archdeacon John Fisher.

Town Mills c1900. The recently closed silk mill is left of centre adjoining the rebuilt corn mill (far right). Far left is the house that included the indentured girls’ dormitory with silk workrooms rooms on the ground floor. Picture from Gillingham: The Making of a Dorset Town, by John Porter

The silk mill, built by Stephen Hannam in 1769 adjoining his corn mill, provides one of Gillingham’s most interesting historical stories.

For many decades, beginning in the 1780s, the Hannams added girl power to water power to aid their silk throwing business.

Surviving apprenticeship documents reveal that girls aged nine to 18 were recruited from London workhouses to ‘learn the art and mystery of a silk throwster’.

A similar view from a slightly different angle

Under the terms of the indentures, the girls were required to serve the mill until marriage or the age of 21.

Most probably did marry locally and will be among the ancestors of some North Dorset people today.

For their part the Hannams were required to provide the girls with ‘double apparel of all sorts, good, and new … one suit for holy days and another for working days’.

The girls were accommodated on the upper floors of an east-facing Georgian house a few yards away, with the ground floor used for washing and drying the silk.

Barnaby Mill retirement flats from a similar angle in 2021 with the surviving mill manager’s house (far right)

This house later became Brickell’s printworks until it was demolished in 1924.

The silk mill, which shared a mill wheel with its grist-grinding neighbour, closed in 1895.

G B Matthews and Co continued as millers until 1965, after which the vacant mill buildings fell into disrepair and were eventually destroyed by fire in 1981.

A decade later the Barnaby Mill retirement flats were built on the site next to the old mill manager’s cottage – the only survivor of the original mill complex.

Roger Guttridge

Death of much-loved Stalbridge ex-teacher Pam Roberts

By

Editorial team

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10 March 2021

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Many ex-pupils of St Mary’s Primary School will be saddened by the death of ex-head teacher Pam Roxburgh (née Roberts) who died early last month in Blandford Hospital.

As ‘Miss Roberts,’ Pam taught at Stalbridge for in the 1970s before being appointed head of a primary school in Cornwall. She returned to Stalbridge as head of St Mary’s.

She married Edwin Roxburgh, an antiques dealer and land owner, and went to run a successful chinaware shop in Sherborne’s Long Street, before moving with Edwin to the Dordogne in SW France.

On Edwin’s death she returned to Dorset to live in Fitzoak Cottage in Higher St, Okeford Fitzpaine, where she was diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

Pam, 81, was a striking, warm-hearted lady with a keen sense of fun, says Andy Palmer, who was a 10 year-old pupil at the school when she first taught at Stalbridge.

‘When I moved back to Dorset I used to call on her several times a week and take her out and it was always a pleasure. She was full of fun and still behaved as if she was in her twenties, when she became friends with my mother, Audrey Palmer, who also taught at St Mary’s’.

Riding for the Disabled Makes Fun with Horses Accessible for All

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Editorial team

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9 March 2021

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The Princess Royal is the President of the Riding for the Disabled, a National Charity, started in 1969, for riding horses and now carriage driving.

There are National and International Groups, one of the 500 groups in the UK is the Blackmore Vale RDA. The Blackmore Vale RDA often translate RDA as Riding Develops Ability or Riding for Different Abilities. They are situated in North Cheriton & are currently all crossing fingers, toes, & hooves that they are going to be able to start riding again soon. They have been closed for a year now, apart from a short while in the autumn when they were permitted to use a mechanical horse with a remote control & a family member helping the rider. They had one very special day when one rider was able to ride a live pony in the school & then……they were locked down again.

Image: National Hunt Jockey Bryony Frost who is a keen supporter of RD

In the picture their flag bearer is National Hunt jockey Bryony Frost, who is a keen supporter of RDA and is hoping that they can reopen soon and have some fun days & show everyone what they CAN do this year.

They are an eclectic group of many volunteers & ponies who together can provide riding, be it on Bob & Florin, the mechanical horses or the real ponies Pod, Toby, Woody & Duke. They normally (whatever that means now!) ride on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday mornings but they can be flexible.

For more information please email [email protected]

The Blackmore Vale March Issue out now!

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Laura

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9 March 2021

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Ooof – sorry, sorry – the Blackmore Vale March magazine turned into a huge great thing. It’ll be a long read, so I suggest you go make a pot of coffee!

Lambs on the front cover of the March issue of The Balckmore Vale magazine

Obviously we’re bursting with the news – starting with Dorset’s own Handforth (you know you want to read that)…

There’s also important news on local help for victims of Domestic Violence, the deathly seriousness of littering at Compton Abbas Airfield and the genuine surge towards shopping locally.

EVERYONE should read Rupert’s column this month – he’s written a handy short hand guide breaking down the Local Plan. It has massive, long-lasting impact for every Dorset resident, and needs your attention – complaining in two years time that 30,000 new homes are being built will be too late, this is your chance (also check your local town council’s website – most are holding extra-ordinary meetings to discuss the Local Plan. Do attend, listen, and use your voice).

Andy Palmer’s column is probably my favourite yet, Roger’s story about ‘Darzet being spoke in Newfoundland‘ is SO interesting, and then of course there’s Brigit’s Hairy Footed Flower Bees…

We’ve also got seven pages of Mother’s Day messages – I love them all. But we’ve tucked them away at the back, because you don’t need them til next week. No peeking.

There’s also pages of situations vacant for those looking for jobs in the Blackmore Vale March.

Don’t forget: every link is clickable, and there’s lots of video too. Do pinch and zoom the pages, and you can flip back and forth as you wish. And please, do share – you can share the whole magazine, or just a single page. Not long now and we can break out and see a face or two for outside chatting. I honestly can’t wait.
In the meantime, come have a chat on Twitter, Facebook or Insta. Coffee’s at 11, and we like posh biscuits.
Laura & Courtenay x

All previous issues can be seen on the Blackmore Vale magazine rack here

Sturminter Newton – Town Clerk Vacancy

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Editorial team

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9 March 2021

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Sturminster Newton – Town Clerk vacancy

Sturminster Newton Town Council is seeking a Town Clerk. This is a real opportunity for an experienced leader who is dynamic, innovative, and resilient and who will focus on pragmatic solutions to meet the aspirations of the councillors and the people of Sturminster Newton.

The Town Clerk is responsible for carrying out all the functions of the Proper Officer and also the Responsible Financial Officer, providing effective leadership and management of staff, services and facilities. The role is challenging and you will be required to work evenings regularly and occasionally at weekends. You will be supported by a strong and positive team of eight staff.

The post is 25 hours per week, the core hours are 09.00 to 13.00 Monday to Friday and the remaining hours may be worked flexibly. The salary is NJC scale point 37 to 42 (£40,875 to £45,859) on a pro-rata salary of £27618.92 to £30985.81. The package includes the equivalent of 24 days’ paid leave plus public holidays and a contributory pension scheme.

For more information see the Town Council website or contact Acting Town Clerk, Mal Derricott, at [email protected]

A recruitment pack and application form (required for all applicants) can be downloaded via the link below.

http://www.sturminsternewton-tc.gov.uk/Working_for_the_Council_33711.aspx

Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday 29th March 2021

Interviews will be held during the week commencing Monday 6th April 2021

PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY

Posted March 2021

Stamp duty holiday ‘to be extended until end of June’

By

Editorial team

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9 March 2021

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The Government is expected to extend the stamp duty holiday for another three months in order to boost the property market following the announcement of the roadmap to ease lockdown restrictions in Britain.

The news will be welcomed by many who were concerned about missing the 31 March deadline.

We understand that Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, will make the announcement in the budget on 3 March 2021, although details of the extension are yet to be confirmed.

The SDLT holiday was designed to be a temporary relief to stimulate the market and support jobs following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

It is understood that property transactions fell by around 50% during the first national lockdown.

The tax relief increased the starting threshold of residential SDLT from £125,000 to £500,000 from the 8 July 2020 until 31 March 2021. Since the relief was introduced, transactions have significantly increased and seasonally adjusted data showed that in October 2020, transactions were 8% higher than October 2019.

The market has been very busy, and the boom has led to substantial increases in average house prices over the last seven to eight months which show little sign of abating. The SDLT threshold extension undoubtedly contributed to this increase. There has been considerable concern within the property market that the abrupt end of the tax break could bring significant disruption. The cliff edge and bottleneck could have seen thousands of transactions collapse, leaving many out of pocket and a sudden fall in property values.

Thousands of people signed a petition to extend the SDLT holiday, which resulted in the issue being debated in parliament and many estate agents, solicitors, surveyors and regulators have also lobbied the Government to extend the deadline.

A temporary solution?

It has been suggested by many professionals within the industry that the most sensible and balanced approach would be to continue the threshold extension and taper it out over a period of six months to a year to ensure there is no sudden collapse and that we don’t simply move the same issue further down the road, only to face it again in the coming months. In this way, we could ensure some continuity and stability in the property market at a time when many may feel that there is very little certainty in employment, finances, or the wider economy.

It is hoped that the extension takes into consideration the challenges the industry has faced amid greater demand from buyers and the lockdown.

If you need further advice please contact Charlotte Robins, Licensed Conveyancer

01823 625863 [email protected] in Taunton or Jenny Cottrell in Sturminster Newton 01258 444682 [email protected]

Voice of an Estate Agent: March 2021

By

Editorial team

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9 March 2021

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Regular monthly Blackmore Vale property commentary column in the Blackmore Vale from Susie and Brad the North Dorset Team at Meyers

Well it’s official, the stamp duty holiday has been extended by our Chancellor; the rumours from both the press and industry that have been circulating for the past weeks have finally been clarified but what does this mean for the property industry? Is this just a ‘push-back’ of the cliff-edge ending feared by most? Will it buoy the industry up again and keep properties being listed for sale, or will this merely help those for whom the original end of March deadline had become an extremely stressful race to the finish line?

We find ourselves planning for the end of lockdown 3, with the housing market open, yet still hampered by factors out of our control. The stamp duty holiday to date, had clearly disproportionately buoyed the market, with many people bringing forward their plans to move home in order to make this saving. In so doing, it created an enormous strain on the ancillary services, the council, solicitors, planners and surveyors with the average time now taking for a house purchase to go from ‘under offer’ to ‘completed’, a whopping 134 days.

These unprecedented and unpredictable times continue with the now extended stamp duty holiday; Rishi Sunak providing this almost inevitable compromise enabling the huge backlog of properties currently under offer, to have their transactions cleared in time to make this crucial saving. Rumours had been circulating the industry for weeks attempting to quantify what if any, compromise would be reached and finally we have the answer, an extension of the SDH till end of June 2021.

To that end, and to quote our friends at Zoopla;

‘’There’s one thing we can’t get away from; the pandemic has unlocked a lot of new demand for homes; it has led to a ‘once in a lifetime re-evaluation of the home’ and it won’t stop there. With big life changes still inevitable this year, the factors behind buyer’s decision-making will get more and more complex’’.

How this manifests itself within our Dorset property market, only the coming weeks and months will reveal, with an almost inevitable further ‘race to the finish line’ later this year.

Here at Meyers our flexible business model has been able to ride the storm so far and will continue to do so as we enter the next phase in this unprecedented period for house selling and buying. For further information on how we work, please contact a member of your North Dorset team:

Internet company founded by farmer who was quoted £120k for leased fibre line doubles staff to 81

By

Editorial team

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8 March 2021

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A privately owned internet business, founded by a farmer who was quoted £120,000 to connect a 300 metre leased fibre line to his office, has doubled its staff numbers in the last 12 months.

Blandford-based Wessex Internet now employs 81 people from its rural base on the Ranston Estate, an increase of 100 per cent since last year.

*Wessex Internet installed 624 km of fibre in the ground in 2020, the equivalent distance from its Blandford offices to Perth in Scotland.*

The business, which provides ultrafast connectivity to rural areas considered unviable by other providers, is planning to recruit more employees this year.

The growth follows a four-year migration to full fibre delivery from its previous wireless focus.

Hector Gibson Fleming, Managing Director, said: “We will continue to recruit more people over the coming year.

“The whole nation is currently undergoing a revolutionary change in approach to its working patterns, education, healthcare, home life and leisure activity.

“People and businesses in rural areas have the same rights to world class connectivity to support this as those in towns and cities.”

During 2020, Wessex Internet:

significantly increased its network footprint allowing for a continued growth with a year-on-year increase in the number of customers it connected by 27 per cent.
achieved a 59 per cent increase in the number of rural communities it connected to full fibre broadband from the previous year.
installed 624 km of fibre in the ground across Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire. That’s the equivalent distance from Blandford to Perth in Scotland.
expanded its geographical reach from Warminster in Wiltshire, close to Fordingbridge in Hampshire, down to Lulworth in Dorset and over to Yeovil in Somerset.
doubled its number of employees. Every office-based function is in-house – from sales and customer support to project managers and marketing. The company has its own dedicated civils and construction team that build its network across the countryside.
extended its reach of non-residential connections to include schools, churches, farms, businesses, village halls and sports clubs. Among them Farmer Palmer’s Farm Park, Lulworth Heritage Centre and The Tank Museum at Bovington.
won a three-year contract to bring full-fibre broadband to some of the most rural areas in South Somerset following a successful bid to Connecting Devon and Somerset, a government subsidised scheme.

Wessex Internet adopts a community project-based approach to building networks.

It has more than 80 ‘Community Champions’ in local areas who work collaboratively with its in-house team.

The company is actively involved with helping rural homes and businesses to receive a broadband service that is on par with towns and cities through the government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity Voucher (RGCV) scheme.

Hector Gibson Fleming, Managing Director Wessex Internet

Hector Gibson Fleming said: “Our focus is to expand our fantastic service to even more of the countryside.

“We want to significantly grow our customer base and continually improve our service experience for existing customers.

“We have everything in place to achieve this – robust systems, a strong management structure and the specialist skills that contributed to a successful 12 months.”

Hector’s father, James Gibson Fleming, 62, founded Wessex Internet in 2010 after receiving the shock £120,000 quote for connecting a leased fibre line to his farm office over a distance of 300 metres.

James Gibson Fleming Wessex Internet Chairman

He is now the company’s Chairman.

Eleven years later the Wessex Internet network consists of more than 150 wireless masts and over 2,000 km of fibre delivering ultrafast fibre and wireless coverage across Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and parts of Hampshire too.

In Dorset, Wessex Internet is one of the first providers to use funding from Dorset Council’s Rural Gigabit top up scheme to extend its network to new communities in the county that would otherwise have a sub-standard internet connection.

By: Andrew Diprose Dorset Biz News