AN MP says he is more hopeful of defending East Dorset’s green belt from development following the rejection of a bid to build homes on protected land.

The district’s MP, Robert Walter, raised the decision of government planning inspectors to overturn an appeal to build 41 houses at Heath Close, Colehill, in a parliamentary question at the Commons.

Mr Walter said he had been heartened by the response given to his question by minister Iain Wright, that the green belt would be defended.

“There is, I hope, now the possibility that they will be true to their word and abandon their plans to build in the green belt around Wimborne and Colehill, and across the whole of south east Dorset,” said Mr Walter.

“The local infrastructure simply cannot cope with the volume of new housing proposed and it will destroy forever the essential rural character of this part of Dorset.

“I suspect, however, that we may have to wait until the summer before we see the response from the minister to the 35,000 submissions made by local people and organisations across the south west of England,” said Mr Walter.

But the MP’s optimism was not shared by Sheila Bourton, the chair of campaign group, Keep Wimborne Green, which aims to safeguard the district’s green belt “at all costs”.

“It would be nice if we could take some heart from the decision at Heath Close, but I don’t think we can. The government is saying it will allow building on the green belt in ‘exceptional circumstances’,” she said.

“We will have to fight for each bit of green belt as planning applications come along.”

Janet Healey, who speaks for the East Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said she did not believe the decision at Colehill would have a wider significance.