30th June 2011

WEYMOUTH: Service overload fears for new housing development

Exclusive by Harry Walton

WORRIED residents fear a giant new housing development in Weymouth will swamp local schools and doctors’ surgeries.

The proposed Destiny Fields scheme by developer FH Cummins could build a new estate of 176 houses to the east of Louviers Road between Littlemoor and Preston.

Cummins say there will be no such impact on local amenities, but Dr Malcolm Beeson of Littlemoor Community Action Group is appalled at the effect such a massive development might have on the community.

He said: “There is mounting evidence that any new housing development on Littlemoor, such as that proposed by Cummins, will overload the local infrastructure.

“I have already accumulated evidence that our two local schools will become saturated, leading to children from our estate having to travel to St Nicholas and St Lawrence on Dorchester Road.

“My information is that by the time the proposed estate is complete St Andrews School on Littlemoor Road - which serves all of Preston as well as Littlemoor - will be full, based on historical nursery place projections.

“If numbers at St Nicholas and St Lawrence were to rise much above the present level then there would be a need to develop some specialist rooms, including a music studio and an enlarged school hall.”

He said the potential scenario created by the proposed development would be “seriously detrimental to the existing local community and even have repercussions in Preston”.

Dr Beeson said he was also worried that transport issues might develop and he said: “Like me, First Buses are concerned at the impact of additional passengers travelling from the new estate. They might request support funding from the local council.

“The county highways authority estimates that the new housing will generate an additional 1,100 vehicle movements a day, with an additional 180 an hour in peak periods.”

He added that he had also talked to local doctor Huw Llewellyn about the scheme and he said they were aware of the proposals and had been approached for their opinion.

Dr Llewellyn told the View: “We are working at close to capacity and, being the virtual sole providers in the Littlemoor area, we will struggle to accommodate many more patients.”

He added that if the scheme is granted planning permission then “not only the GP practice but other workers such as health visitors, community nurses and mental health colleagues” will be affected.

Dr Llewellyn said: “We can’t decline to register patients so it could mean a reduction in the quality of service we are able to offer current patients, though we will do all we can to try and ensure this doesn’t happen. Our list size is growing anyway as people move into Littlemoor.

“It was suggested to us that there may average three residents per household, possibly 500 more to our community.

“We could try and recruit more medical staff but it’s not easy in the current climate and we certainly couldn’t do it until we knew what the actual list size increase was.

“We don’t relish the prospect but we suspect that the stresses on other health workers that we don’t employ will be equally if not more significant as budgets can be very slow to keep pace with population changes.”

Cummings director Steven Cummings spoke to reassure residents and said: “The proposed development would provide much needed homes as part of the borough’s strategic housing requirement over the next several years.

“We are aware of the impact of development on local services and facilities and have consulted with the relevant bodies to assess the needs and capacity of the local infrastructure and services in the area. I can assure the local residents that the area can cope with the proposed additional homes.

“There would be no sudden overwhelming impact on the local services as it will take several years to complete the phases of development. The NHS Dorset medical services will adapt to the continuing changing needs in the area, as is the case anywhere in the country, to provide the best quality medical care for all the local residents.

“We have been building homes in Weymouth for over 25 years and take pride in providing well designed schemes that are an asset to the local community.”

WEYMOUTH: Service overload fears for new housing development

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