THE RESIDENTS of a North Dorset village are fighting plans to build 35 homes – with two previous applications for the same site already rejected.

The Charlton Marshall Action Group hope they will be lucky for the third time after planning permission was sought for Church Lane.

But the owners of the land, who are related to some of the village’s oldest families, say they want to leave a legacy behind for future generations.

Village resident Ruth Berry, who is part of the Action Group, said: “We’ve been through this twice before, and we are still hoping for a big fat no.

“There are lots of people working behind the scenes to make people aware of what’s going on. We hope that once again it won’t go through.”

The owners of the land are Mary and Jane, the nieces of Eleanor Walker, who died in 2000.

Mary’s husband Robert Lawton, who owns a farm near Marlborough in Wiltshire, said some of the villagers were taking a “NIMBY” approach to the application. The land was designated for building long before it came to us,” he said.

He said the chief planning officer, John Hammond, had always supported the development, despite the eventual refusal, adding that only the design of the homes were eventually rejected.

The family have now employed a new architect, Paul Harrington of Morgan Carey Architects, to complete the designs.

Mr Lawton said: “Many of my wife’s family are buried in the village churchyard.

“We want to do a good job to leave a legacy to the village in the name of Walker.”