North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council have been successful in bids to unlock the development of 2700 homes.
The councils have been successful in bringing in over £8m worth of funding for Housing Infrastructure projects in Chickerell, Portland and Gillingham.
The funding boost is a result of the housing infrastructure fund, a government capital grant programme which aims to help the delivery of over 200,000 homes in England.
North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council have recently launched ‘Opening Doors’, an ambitious programme to tackle the housing crisis in the area with a target of 20,000 new homes by 2033.
The ‘Opening Doors’ programme includes the targeting of more Government grants to bring housing schemes forward.
Cllr Graham Carr-Jones, Leader of North Dorset District Council, said:
“It‘s fantastic news that £4,064,250 has been awarded for the Gillingham Southern Area Extension. The funding will go towards significant infrastructure such as utilities and improved road networks.
“This funding will aid the delivery of over 1800 homes in an extremely important development site allocated in our local plan.
“As part of our Opening Doors Initiative, I am keen to capitalise on any funding initiatives in order to provide homes for our residents.”
Cllr Ian Gardner, West Dorset District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, said:
“This £1.5m funding will fund a suitable internal Road Network for this Chickerell urban extension which will also connect the whole community to the proposed new primary school.”
Cllr Tim Yarker, West Dorset District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, said:
“Our Opening Doors programme was set up in order to bring forward stalled sites as well as encourage new development. It’s great that we’re already seeing an impact from this initiative.”
Cllr Ray Nowak, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council’s Briefholder for Environment and Sustainability, said:
“It’s great that we’ve been successful in our bid for £2,838,000 for the Ocean Views development on Portland. The funding will be allocated to the significant land stabilisation works needed to bring forward the development of 191 new build homes at the southern end of the development site.”
Cllr Gill Taylor, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council’s Briefholder for Housing, said:
“Housing is much needed across the Borough. As part of our recently launched Opening Doors campaign, I am keen to see development begin on sites where planning permissions are already in place.”
