THE value of Neighbourhood Plans has again been questioned after councillors were told that a plan over two years old has limited weight.

The issue was raised during a discussion on plans for six homes at Motcombe.

After being told the village neighbourhood plan now had less impact because it was more than two years old parish councillor John Taylor said he believed the view to be unfair.

“It takes a lot of effort to generate a neighbourhood plan, to say it has less weight after two years is unreasonable,” he told the northern area planning committee.

He said the fact that Dorset Council had delayed its Local Plan now left Motcombe, and others in the same situation, with a dilemma.

“If we review our plan what do we now review against, the old Dorset Plan, or do we now have to wait for the new one?” he said.

Planning committee member Cllr Tim Cook said that if the two year position was the case then Shaftesbury’s neighbourhood plan would also soon be out of date, along with others.

He argued that unless there had been major changes in an area all neighbourhood plans should remain valid.

The committee had been discussing outline proposals for six homes west of Little Elms in the village, a plot which residents wanted to have affordable housing on, although none are proposed.

The site is outside the village development boundary although has been identified as being suitable for affordable housing as a rural exception site in the neighbourhood plan.

Eleven objections from village residents were submitted over the proposal to develop the site – including that it would be contrary to the neighbourhood plan without affordable housing, that it would be an overdevelopment with poor access and would result in a loss of privacy for neighbours.

The committee voted unanimously to reject the proposals.