AN ‘exception’ home has been agreed in principle on a site at Church Knowle for a local family – with a condition that it will have to remain ‘affordable’ forever.

The single storey property will be built on a site south of the main village and adjacent to a home known as Withy Lakes, outside the accepted development boundary for the area and within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Both Withy Lakes and the nearby property, Becher Stables, are owned by the applicants’ wider family.

Agent for the family, Steve Tapscott, said both applicants were teachers but found themselves unable to afford to buy a home in the area. He said they had willingly accepted a legal agreement which would mean if they were to sell the home on, it would have to be at an agreed level below the market value.

He made out of a case for what is known as a ‘rural exception site’ and was critical of residents in the village who had written to object, claiming the site was unsustainable and the family would need to use cars to get about – while at the same time being in the same position themselves.

Six letters of objection had been lodged, including the parish council and the Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England with one writing to Dorset Council to support the request.

The parish council said there had been a long history of planning application refusals on the site which it believed should remain for agricultural use, claiming that by allowing the scheme it might set a precedent.

The committee heard that the home would be modest, probably around 100square metres, and would be designed to fit in with the surrounding area – the exact design to be agreed at a later stage.

Swanage councillor Bill Trite said that while he had a great deal of empathy with the family he was concerned that a precedent could be set by allowing the home to go ahead.

The committee voted 7-1 to approve the outline application.

A Purbeck affordable housing document supports building affordable homes for local people in certain sites where housing would not normally be allowed.

The document says: ‘Rural exception sites seek to address the needs of the local community by accommodating households who are either current residents or have an existing family or employment connection. Small numbers of market homes may be allowed at the local authority’s discretion, for example where essential to enable the delivery of affordable units without grant funding.’