Subdivision neighbouring Wildflower Reserve gets council approval

Dorset Council - currently consisting solely of commissioner Andrew Wardlaw - approved the proposal for 61 Henry Street, Bridport on April 22.

The subdivision butts up against the Bridport Wildflower Reserve, and the development requires an unfinished access road that runs through the state-owned land to be extended.

The applicants had already received crown consent for that part of the proposal.

Three residents were against the proposal, with the encroachment onto the nature reserve - and its impact on flora and fauna - a key cause for concern.

"Allowing access over wildflower reserve for the purposes of private subdivision development will set a precedent which will slowly erode the natural landscape associated with the Wildflower Reserve," one person wrote.

"Developers should only build or develop land they own and not rely upon acquiring or using public land."

However, planning officers said the actual intrusion of the road into the reserve was miniscule - 0.04 per cent of the total area.

They said the main lot was an outlier as the sole remaining piece of freehold land next to the reserve that did not have an alternative way of connecting to the public road.

Commissioner Andrew Wardlaw - who is still overseeing council operations - approved the subdivision.