Dorset Council’s Local Plan – the blueprint for future development in the county – has highlighted three new sites for housing development in Gillingham which could lead to 1,190 more homes being built here.

The biggest suggested site is on farmland north of Wavering Lane– an area of 100 acres between the Peacemarsh area and North Dorset rugby club – where the council says around 800 houses could be constructed.

The other proposed sites in the plan are for around 280 homes at Park Farm and a further 100 on land east of Madjeston Farm, both to the south of the town.

However, it is the site north of Wavering Lane which is likely to prove the most controversial, as this is a large site which is currently farmed and which runs alongside the River Stour.

In its plan, which is now out for public consultation, the council admits that the need to safeguard biodiversity and also the flood risk posed by the river and nearby water courses could ‘compromise’, ‘restrict’ or ‘constrain’ the amount of development on some of the site.

‘Buildings and access roads would need to be located outside of the areas of predicted flood risk,’ the report says. But it adds: ‘Despite the prevailing flood risk, most of the site remains developable with regards to flooding & surface water drainage.’

Another issue flagged in the plan is transport access to such a large site, and its says that because of the approach roads the junction of Wavering Lane West with the B3081 is ‘not suitable’ for ‘intensified use’. It recommends that ‘all access is from Cemetery Road’.

The Local Plan also says that land should be set aside on the site for a new primary school plus ‘public open space, parks, playing fields, and play areas’.

Overall, the plan states that the ‘gently sloping topography, and the proximity of existing residential development on the sites southern and eastern boundaries would appear to make it the logical site for any further substantial expansion’ in Gillingham.

The Local Plan notes that simply being included as an ‘opportunity site’ in the document does ‘not constitute any form of planning permission. Development within these areas would require a planning application and approval.’

The suggested plans for 1,190 new homes are on top of existing developments, including the building of up to 1,800 houses in the southern expansion of the town, which was first approved a decade ago and where homes are now finally starting to be constructed.

To comment on the plans residents can visit the Dorset Council Local Plan page at www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dorset-is-changing or consult a hard copy of the plan at the library.

Dorset Council will also hold a consultation event at Gillingham Town Hall on Thursday 25 September from 2pm to 7pm. The consultation process ends on 13 October.