DISGRUNTLED residents voiced their concerns to Wool Parish Council as 1,000 new homes have been proposed for the village.

As reported, Purbeck District Council has been asking residents and businesses to comment on the Purbeck Local Plan, a plan which will eventually identify the preferred sites for more than 5,000 new homes within the area up until 2033.

Although not a concrete planning document, the plan is essentially a guideline which the PDC planning board will use to determine future development and planning applications.

While the consultation has ended, plans to allocate a 1,000 homes to Wool has caused upset among residents and former councillors who took their concerns to a parish meeting last week.

Former councillors Alex Ward, Tom Gilbert, Rodney Leak, Alan Brown and Rachel Palmer attended the meeting to confront present councillors with their issues.

Former Cllr Palmer said: "The last voice of the people expressed in the Parish Plan had 86 per cent of those responding not wanting more housing development in Wool and Bovington. Of those prepared to see some development, 60 per cent only wanted small infill development for local use.

"Many responded that they did not want Wool to become a town and many responded that they chose to live in Wool because it is a village."

Campaigners from the group WoolRATH also attended the meeting to express their concerns and question the council.

As published on their website, their response rejecting the proposals reads: "Wool has no evidence-based or identified need for 1000 extra homes.

"There is already serious traffic congestion in Wool, which causes inconvenience and delay, and is threatening safety in that the identified trigger-point to build a by-pass has already been reached.

“In terms of sustainability, the plan would burden Wool with uncontrollable second-home ownership and housing which is not actually needed, leading to an increase in population which is disproportionate relative to the availability of employment locally and to the sustainability of transport, water, sewage, and utility supply."

The group also highlighted other issues such as the lack of amenities for the current number of residents and the detrimental loss new homes will cause for current homeowners.

Now, the public have been invited to participate in a meeting of the Partial Review Advisory Group at the Purbeck School at 5pm on Wednesday, November 2.

The 3,300 responses to the consultation will be discussed, with the main issue being the potential for additional housing, over and above the 2,520 homes identified in the original plan when it was adopted four years ago.