Wool Parish Council has prepared a neighbourhood plan for its parish. The Plan aims to guide development from when adopted to the year 2038. It has sent the draft plan to Dorset Council who has now arranged for its examination. Dorset Council has opened consultation on the neighbourhood plan for 6 weeks until 18th October 2024.
The Plan acknowledges the fact that Dorset Council has earmarked Wool for substantial additional housing but states that from the feedback gathered during the creation of the Neighbourhood Plan, it is overwhelmingly clear that residents of the parish oppose the number of houses being proposed by Dorset Council, but goes on to accept that that whilst regulations do not allow the neighbourhood plan to reduce the number of houses allocated for development in the area by Dorset Council, it can and does attempt to address the concerns regarding infrastructure and, to some extent, affordability.
The Plan describes various ‘character’ areas of the village, and proposed policies include a desire to see new development designed to protect and enhance those character areas. On sites larger than 1 hectare, the Plan requires that development should be planned to promote walkable neighbourhoods and active travel, and local grocery shops should exist or be provided within 800 metres of the whole of the development. New major developments are encouraged to provide financial contributions towards the creation of a new local bus service and bus stops to connect Bovington to the Dorset Innovation Park via Wool Station and key community facilities in Wool, plus improvements to Wool railway station itself.
Associate Director Alan Davies commented; Wool has been earmarked by Dorset Council for major growth. I entirely understand the desire of the Parish wishing to have some degree of control over the form and appearance of new development and to seek to use this as a lever to help overcome what local people perceive to be shortcomings in the existing infrastructure and community facilities of the village, so that the new development will have the best chance of assimilating itself into the existing village and become a positive asset.
