Dorset Council This Week: 828 Homes Back at Committee

Two of the biggest housing schemes in south Dorset go back before councillors on Wednesday. Planning officers recommend approval for both: 500 homes at Crossways and up to 328 at Chickerell.

Both were already backed or discussed by the same committee this summer. They return because the government rewrote national planning policy in August, and in Chickerell’s case because more objections came in.

Here is every Dorset Council meeting with a published agenda from Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October. All are at County Hall, Dorchester DT1 1XJ.

Monday 12 October: Audit and Governance Committee

6.30pm, Council Chamber. Agenda and papers.

The committee scrutinises the council’s books and risks rather than deciding policy. The paper most residents will care about is the Period 4 financial management report. It says:

• the council forecasts a £8.136m overspend, 1.7% of its £466m net budget
• children’s services are forecast £3.048m over, mainly on external residential and specialist placements for children in care
• adult social care is forecast £3.022m over
• £4m of savings tied to its Our Future Council transformation programme are forecast to be delayed

Also on the agenda: changes to who decides which planning applications under the new national scheme of delegation, the quarterly risk register, internal and external audit progress, the annual emergency planning report and the treasury management outturn.

The deadline for public questions passed on 7 October.

Wednesday 14 October: Western and Southern Area Planning Committee

10am, Council Chamber. Agenda and the full reports pack.

To speak, you must register by 8.30am on Monday 12 October with the committee clerk named on the agenda.

Crossways: 500 homes south of Warmwell Road

Application WD/D/2016/000378. Officers recommend approval, subject to a legal agreement. The scheme is in two parts:

• 99 homes in full, with a doctors’ surgery, a replacement village hall, a car park and a village green
• 401 more homes in outline, with 2.5 hectares of employment land
• 22.4 hectares of new natural greenspace (SANG), to draw walkers away from the protected heaths

The legal agreement would secure:

• 35% affordable homes, which the report puts at 175 of the 500, split equally between rented and shared ownership
• only the first phase to start before 2030
• £467,000 for off-site road works, including a better link to Old Farm Way, a safer crossing at Warmwell Road and Dick O’ Th’ Banks Road, and a new bus shelter with live times
• £6,951.12 per qualifying home towards schools, including £1,487.62 for SEND
• at least three equipped play areas

The committee resolved to grant permission on 7 May 2026. It is back because the government published a revised National Planning Policy Framework on 17 August, with a new policy on wildfire risk. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service told officers the site directly adjoins Moigne Combe Wood, which the applicant’s own assessment calls an area of significant vegetation and potential fuel load.

If the legal agreement is not signed by 14 April 2027, officers would refuse permission instead.

Chickerell: up to 328 homes east of the town

Application WD/D/20/002569, land east of Chickerell and south of Coldharbour. Officers recommend approval, subject to a legal agreement.

• 143 homes in detail (Phase A), with new accesses onto School Hill and the Chickerell Link Road (B3157)
• 185 more in outline (Phases B and C), plus land for a primary school
• 35% affordable homes, with a local connection clause
• no more than 100 homes occupied before the central avenue is finished

The money it would secure includes:

• £722 per home for the NHS
• £106,413 towards Weymouth swimming pool
• £50,000 towards Willowbed Hall, plus up to £50,000 more for play there or for a skate park in the town
• £81,675.76 for bus infrastructure, and travel cards that can be swapped for a 30-day bus ticket or cycle equipment

The committee considered it on 15 July 2026. It returns because amended plans drew 24 more representations, 23 of them objections, and because of the August policy changes.

Weymouth Esplanade: canopies at Kika Beach Club and The Nook

Four applications cover canopies, planters and signage at 52-53 and 54-55 The Esplanade, Weymouth. They come to committee because the frontage includes council-owned land and highway.

Officers recommend refusing all four. They say the canopies would harm the listed buildings and the Weymouth Town Centre Conservation Area, and are out of keeping with the Georgian Esplanade.

The report’s planning history shows earlier applications to retain canopies at Kika Beach Club were refused on 29 January 2026.

Thursday 15 October: licensing

• General Licensing Sub-Committee, 10.30am, Committee Room 3. Agenda. Three taxi driver cases, all to be heard in private because they concern individuals.
• Licensing and Gambling Acts Sub-Committee, 10.30am. Listed as provisional. No agenda had been published on 11 October, so it may not go ahead.

How to follow a meeting

Papers, and after the meeting the minutes and decisions, go up on the council’s meetings calendar. Our Dorset planning news page has more on how to comment on an application.

We will report Wednesday’s decisions.