PUBLIC consultation on the partial review of the Purbeck District Local Plan Part 1, a document to shape future development in Purbeck, is nearing an end.

Residents and businesses have until 4pm on August 12 to comment on the plan, which will eventually identify the preferred sites for more than 5,000 new homes within the Purbeck District Council (PDC) area up until 2033.

The plan, which was adopted by PDC in 2012, is a requirement of an independent planning inspector. While not an official planning application in its own right, the plan is essentially a blueprint the council's planning board can use to help determine future planning applications.

The main issue this partial review needs to address is the potential for additional housing, over and above the 2,520 homes identified in the original plan when it was adopted four years ago.

Since then the Eastern Dorset Strategic Market Assessment (SHMA), which is a study of the way the housing market works in particular areas, found PDC would have to provide an extra 3,080 homes by 2033 to address the current housing shortage.

Cllr Peter Wharf, chairman of the Purbeck Local Plan Partial Review Advisory Group, said: "Thank you to everyone who has attended the drop-in events and taken part in the consultation.

"The council has received 250 responses to the consultation so far, and we hope to receive more responses in the current weeks.

"Please take the time to respond to the consultation. Without an approved up-to-date plan, the council would have potentially little control over where, when and what development would take place in the district.

"With continued added pressure on the district to provide for future growth, we need to ensure that the plan remains up to date."

Visit dorsetforyou.com/purbeck-partial-review to view the full consultation material, including details of how to respond