SECOND homes and affordable rented housing are among the key findings of major consultation document focused on Purbeck.

A report, summarising almost 7,000 responses to Purbeck District Council’s (PDC) ‘New Homes for Purbeck Consultation’, has just been published.

This consultation, launched to help shape planning policy in the district up until 2033, took place from January and March.

More than 1,000 residents also took part in an additional telephone survey, with around 550 attending consultation events.

Feedback from residents and organisations contained in the consultation report will be used to help the council prepare its new draft Local Plan for Purbeck.

This local plan will provide a host of policies, to be used to help determine planning applications.

Effectively, it will be a document identifying preferred development within Purbeck for 1,700 new homes, for the next 15 years.

PDC leader Cllr Gary Suttle said: “It is essential the district has an up-to-date local plan, as it provides clarity to communities and developers about where homes should and should not be built.

“This means future development is planned, rather than just being the result of speculative planning applications, enabling the beauty and diversity of Purbeck to be protected, whilst providing for future needs in our communities.”

Residents in Sandford, Bere Regis, Wareham and Wool say plans to earmark sites local to their communities for housing represent over development.

The Pan Purbeck Action Campaign, and WoolRATH have been fighting the plans.

Findings of the latest PDC consultation revealed:

n Majority support for a policy limiting new second homes in some parts of Purbeck.

n Strong support for development of small sites.

n Opposition to allocation of homes at Sandford.

n The preferred option - or least disliked option - was to spread development across the district.

Cllr Suttle said: “The responses highlighted the need for more work on specific items, such as small sites, employment land, restricting second homes and enabling more affordable homes and we have already started work with town and parish councils to move this forward.

“This will help us draft the policies which will go into the local plan.”

The draft local plan will be presented to district councillors this autumn, before being published for comments on its soundness.

Then it will be passed to the Secretary of State, early 2019, for examination by an independent planning inspector.