Dear Residents of Marnhull,
As you are aware there are currently four applications for housing development within the village. In total these developments are for up to 305 dwellings.
The Parish Council has submitted its strong objections to all four applications and many residents have also submitted detailed objections. In addition, members of the Parish Council have had meetings with the Senior Planning Officer, Dorset Councils Partnership to discuss these objections and to seek guidance on what further actions can/should be taken. At the most recent meeting, a Planning Consultant retained by the Parish Council, together with our Councillor on the Dorset County Council were also present. At this meeting we were advised that it is likely that the four applications will be considered by the North Dorset District Council Planning Committee at its meeting on the 26th March and that submissions from the Dorset Councils Partnership Senior Planning Officer need to be completed by 6th March.
Following the meeting, our Planning Consultant has suggested that our case could be strengthened if a larger number of residents are encouraged to comment. As the period for comment on the planning website is closed this could be done by way of a survey. It was also suggested that any survey of the wider group of residents should ensure that participants are able to identify their preference, or not, for any of the applications to ensure that the survey is not seen as a totally negative exercise.
With this in mind, the Parish Council requested the Planning Consultant to prepare a suitable survey to reflect these views based on her previous experience. This explains why residents are able to provide their view on each of the four sites by choosing on a scale from “highly suitable” to “highly unsuitable” for development. In addition, residents are able to add any further comments that they wish to make against each site.
The survey forms are being made available as widely as possible and residents are able to submit them at the Post Office and Spar Shop or to attend the Village Hub or Village Hall on the specified dates where details of the various sites will be made available to help with decision making. It is essential that you get your survey in to the Parish Council no later than 12 noon on the 5th March to enable us to collate the results and submit them to the Senior Planning Officer to meet their deadline.
The aim of the Parish Council is to ensure that as many residents as possible within the village are able to have their voice heard at the Planning Committee meeting. Whilst we are not able to guarantee the outcome of the meeting, this exercise will help to get your voice heard.
Communications in this respect should be addressed to
The Parish Clerk
Marnhull Parish Council