BUILDING on private farmland in Poole would help BCP Council meet its employment needs, the council leader has said.
Controversial plans to build a private hospital and 'innovation quarter' on Highmoor farm, near Talbot Heath, and BCP Council faced further scrutiny by residents at Tuesday's full council meeting.
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Resident Daniel Parkin, asking on behalf of his daughter Alexia, said: “The reduction in the land allocation does not protect the heath at all, so the compromise is worthless.
“This is an SSSI area, not an industrial park.”
Harriet Stewart-Jones, meanwhile, asked the council to remove the employment land allocation at Highmoor Farm from the draft Local Plan.
She said there is "no proven need" for employment land at the farm and described it as "ill-considered".
Cllr Slade explained the Local Plan requires the council to meet development needs for employment land to create job opportunities and support businesses.
She said: “We have policies within the local plan to protect existing employment sites but some existing commercial units have been lost to residential uses through the government permitted development legislation which allows for these changes of use without the need for planning permission.
Read more: Rejected private hospital plans could be decided in May
"The land at Talbot Village will help us meet our employment needs, ensuring a chance of employment sites exist across the area rather than relying on the airport business parks and support our universities and the potential for graduates to set up businesses in the local area.”
Some 7,000 people signed a petition against the plans and around 750 official letters were received by BCP Council in the consultation stage of the application.
Fierce opposition was at last October’s planning committee where it was decided the council would reject the proposal – later to be appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, pending an outcome.
Cllr Slade added: “We have worked closely with Natural England to ensure that there will be no harm to Talbot Heath. The biodiversity impacts have been carefully considered and the proposals can achieve an overall net gain in biodiversity.
“To resolve concerns raised by the public and councillors, we have halved the land area from 9.8 to 4.7 hectares to create a larger buffer to the heathland.”
It is expected around 9,000 jobs could be created with the introduction of a new private hospital and ‘innovation quarter’.
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