STURMINSTER Marshall people packed their parish hall to protest against plans for a development of new houses in the village.
The new homes are proposed for land on Moor Lane, off the town's High Street, and near to the Sturminster Marshall Golf Club.
But concerns for the future of the village's best-loved building, The Thatch, dominated a meeting that attracted nearly 100 residents.
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Fears that the cottage may have to be knocked down to improve access to the proposed site was chief among the views expressed by concerned locals.
On-street parking for High Street cottages would also obscure the vision of motorists leaving and entering the proposed development, said councillors.
The proposed development is for 21 family houses, each with gardens.
Eleven of the new houses will have four bedrooms, two properties will have three bedrooms, and five two-bedroom houses will complete the development.
Five of the houses will be rented as social housing. Three properties will be sold through a shared ownership scheme. The remaining 13 properties will be sold to private buyers.
Sonia Cade, the chairwoman of Sturminster Marshall Parish Council's planning committee, told the Daily Echo that councillors would have liked all 21 properties allocated for sale through a shared equity scheme.
Councillors felt strongly that young people should be given a leg-up onto the housing ladder, said Mrs Cade, whose committee gave the development the thumbs-down.
The proposals will go before the planning committee of East Dorset District Council in due course for consideration by elected members.
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