Our Dorset Deserves Better campaign to transform
the widely criticised Dorset Local Plan

​Join our Dorset Deserves Better campaign
Click here to join

One of DorsetCAN's first actions was to respond in depth to Dorset Council's draft Local Plan in March 2021.
The draft Local Plan proposes almost 40,000 new houses + roads, car parks & services. These will encroach on our precious Green Belt, our famous Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and other locally valued greenfield land.
Press Coverage for our Dorset Deserves Better campaign:
Dorset View
Dorset Echo
The Alfred Daily podcast
Purbeck Gazette 
Swanage and Wareham Advertiser  
Keep106FM – Dorchester Local Radio
91% of those represented in the public consultation rejected the development strategy at the heart of the Plan!
In our response, co-ordinated by DorsetCAN founder member Professor Michael Dower, CBE, we wrote:

"...we are baffled to find that the Council has chosen to base the Plan on a scale of growth in housing, workspace and supporting infrastructure which cannot be achieved without grave damage to [the county's] rich heritage. The Council has ignored the opportunity, offered by government, to use Dorset’s exceptional heritage as the reason for taking an alternative approach to calculating the scale of development that is needed and that is within the capacity of the County to absorb.

The adverse impact of the Plan’s proposals on landscape, biodiversity & climate change is shown to startling degree in the Sustainability Assessments. The Council could not keep its pledge to “ensure that all new development incorporates ecological net gain”.

We therefore urge the Council to think again, to choose a level of growth based simply on local needs, and thereby to draw back from grave incursions on the AONB, encroachment on the Green Belt and the placing of heavy pressure on regions already under severe strain."

See Dorset Council's Local Plan webpage
Read our 2021 response in full.
Now, in January 2022, we launch our campaign to get Dorset Council to change its mind before it's too late.
Our Campaign Alliance of 38 organisations (representing over 20,000 Dorset residents) has now written to Dorset Council arguing that the Local Plan in its current form would:
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  • Do great harm to Dorset, through adverse impact on its natural environment, landscape and historical character
  • Fall short of meeting the needs of Dorset’s population for the right houses in the right place at the right price
  • Fail to face up to the global challenges of climate change and loss of wildlife, which are spelt out in the Climate & Ecological Emergency Strategy adopted by Dorset Council

Instead, the Alliance suggests ways to transform the Local Plan into a visionary programme that enriches the county and serves the people of Dorset – especially the young and those most in need. 

Chronology:

What can I do?

1. Join our Dorset Deserves Better campaign - Click here to join

2. Contact your Dorset Councillor and your parish/town council - try to tell them in your own words why you object to the Local Plan. Urge them to put pressure on Dorset Council to change its Local Plan along the lines suggested in our Open Letter.
Follow the Dorset Deserves Better campaign via social media:
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Instagram: @dorset_can  (@dorset_can)
Snapchat - @dorset_can  (@dorset_can)  
Twitter - @Dorset_CAN (@Dorset_CAN)  

Facebook Group 
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If you want more information, would like to help or have any other enquiries, please email us:
dorsetdeservesbetter@gmail.com
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