Puddletown will maintain and improve opportunities for social interaction within the village, addressing all age groups, to create a safe, secure and welcoming environment, and enhanced community spaces, and ensure that infrastructure is planned to meet the needs at the heart of our community, including but not limited to, schools, doctors, vets, broadband, bus services, children’s play areas and a shop, post office and pub. |
5.1.1 In the 21st century, the village of Puddletown is a friendly and lively place to live and visit. Many regular activities are based in its largest buildings, including St Mary's Church and church room, the Village Hall and adjoining Community Library, the Sports Pavilion at the Recreation Park, the Blue Vinny Pub and the Lower and Middle schools. There are groups meeting regularly, such as the Lunch Club and the young mums' group (Pumpkins), as well as a monthly community pop-up cafe. The Recreation Ground with its Pavilion hosts clubs for footballers and cricketers as well as a much used Play Park (built and managed as a community project). In the summer, Puddletown, has had (on occasion) a Village Fayre in The Square and in alternate years a very popular Open Gardens Weekend, both of which attract visitors from inside and outside the village. Music is a particular strength in the village with various concerts being held in the church and Middle School, including the local Hand Bell Ringers and visiting choirs. Both the church and the pub feature carol singing at Christmas and in February 2018 the first Puddletown pantomime was produced, directed and performed by local people. There are also very active (male and female) cricket and football teams.
5.1.2 There are also many locally used services, including the village shop, post office, pub, surgery, veterinary practice, pre-school, first and middle schools as well as other local businesses and organisations. For other facilities and services most residents look to Dorchester, for example for the upper school, and sports such as swimming, bowls, tennis etc. In this respect, the local bus services (currently the X12 and 187) are also important, as these provide convenient access into the town18 for those without a car or able to cycle. The rugby club use the local pitches in nearby Piddlehinton.
5.2.1 As the population of Puddletown grows there is a need to ensure that the community facilities and local services required to support our community are available. For example, Dorset Council (as the Education Authority) estimate that a typical development of 25 dwellings will generate a total of 9 children across the First, Middle and Upper School phases, which in turn will impact on local schools if there is insufficient capacity. In 2019 the Village Hall and the Church Room were both heavily booked – indicating that they may not be able to accommodate additional activities if the need arose. Similarly, local utility companies may also need to make plans to improve their services if they would not otherwise have capacity.
5.2.2 Areas of particular interest for improvement and / or development identified through the making of this plan include:
Table 7. Community Infrastructure – Identified Needs
| More / improved community venues that offer space for community activity that target all age groups and encourage inter-age interaction | A new fit-for-purpose kitchen is required in the current Village Hall (at an estimated cost of up to £20,000). The carpet tiles also need to be replaced, and more storage space is needed for materials. The kitchen area in the Sports Pavilion needs refurbishment (at an estimated cost of £9,000). A suitable base is needed for a Community Café – one option could be to expand the Sports Pavilion. If the swimming pool at the Middle School (which was refurbished in 2018/19) was covered (at an estimated cost of £50,000), this would increase its use (both by the children, and could also allow Puddletown parishioners the opportunity to use the pool outside of school hours, assuming life guards could be found). |
| A wider choice of convenient public open spaces for sports and recreation | The continued development and improvement of the sports and recreation facilities at the Puddletown Recreation Ground. The cricket pitch artificial pitch needs to be upgraded (which will require the realignment of the bridleway to the north) (at a total estimated cost of £17,000). There are also plans to have a Skate Park, which requires funding support. Improvements to the quality and offer of the play area on Butt Close and public access to The Green. The provision of new allotments or a public orchard. The provision of space designed for dog walkers. |
| Sufficient burial spaces | An extension to the cemetery, which could be provided by making an opening in the wall in the current churchyard and making the adjoining land suitable for burials. |
| Capacity within the local school system to provide the best quality education | The extension of the Middle School (Dorset Council own land immediately adjoining the school which they have reserved for this purpose). The capacity of the First School will also need to be kept under review, as in 2019/20 it was broadly at capacity, although there were pupil spaces in the early years, and in the wider catchment. |
5.2.3 The land reserved for the future extension of the Middle School Grounds, due to its size and position on the edge of the settlement, will need to be accompanied by a landscape strategy and biodiversity mitigation and enhancement plan. This is likely to require the retention of the existing planting belt along the western edge of the site as far as practical. Careful consideration will also need to be given to the impact of increased vehicular trips given the narrow nature of the existing roads accessing the school site. A transport assessment should be undertaken to fully understand the impact and identify appropriate mitigation. Dorset Council have indicated that they are giving consideration to the provision of a new access road specifically linked to the school, to remove the need for coaches and taxis to continue to use New Street and Coombe Road as part of any future expansion. The alignment of such a route need not encroach unduly into open countryside, and could potentially run close to the current village boundary to the west of the school. However much more work is needed to establish the feasibility of such a solution.
5.2.4 Whilst the surgery recognised that further housing in the area could lead to more pressure on the practice, there is scope within the existing site to cater for additional staffing and several alternative practices in the area that also take patients from Puddletown (and vice versa).
5.2.5 Whilst further improvements to the frequency and routing of the local bus is largely outside the ability of the Neighbourhood Plan to deliver, the provision of bus stops at convenient locations and travel information packs for new residents can potentially be secured through planning.
5.2.6 Similarly, basic utility services such as for water and sewage, and mains electric, are rarely an issue for development provided that it is possible for a connection to be made. Discussion with Wessex Water have highlighted that, whilst the sewer networks have limited capacity, once allocations are made in the Neighbourhood Plan, Wessex Water should be able to design and construct any necessary improvements to accommodate the anticipated level of growth, and will look to ensure that the works are programmed to match the rate of development.
5.2.7 Superfast broadband is available for the village, and building regulations now require that homes are designed to allow copper or fibre-optic cables or wireless devices capable of delivering broadband speeds greater than 30 Mbps to be installed. Whilst 4G mobile phone coverage is generally available on most networks (although indoor reception can vary), further improvements are not something that the Neighbourhood Plan can readily influence.
Policy 14. Supporting Community Facilities and Local Services
Development proposals to improve the provision of community facilities (including those listed below) in a manner in keeping with the character of the area and supporting opportunities for social interaction for all age groups, will be supported.
CF1. Blue Vinny Public House
CF2. Londis Village Shop and Post Office
CF3. Piddle Valley Vets - Veterinary Surgery
CF4. Puddletown Pre School (located within the Puddletown First School building)
CF5. Puddletown C.E. V.C. First School
CF6. Puddletown Recreation Ground and Sports Pavilion
CF7. Puddletown Surgery
CF8. Puddletown Village Hall and Library
CF9. St Mary’s C.E. Middle School
CF10. St Mary’s Parish Church, Meeting Room and Cemetery
CF11. Rod Hill meeting room
Improvements should include:
a) The expansion of the cemetery on land to the south side of the existing cemetery (for which land is reserved, as shown on the Policies Map);
b) The expansion of the Middle School grounds on land to the north-west of the school (for which land is reserved, as shown on the Policies Map). A combined landscape strategy and biodiversity mitigation and enhancement plan for this development will need to be agreed with the Local Planning Authority, in accordance with Policies 6 and 7, together with an assessment and mitigation of the likely increase in vehicular traffic as required under Policy 15;
c) A new community facility, public open space and allotments in association with the development of Land at Athelhampton Road (under Policy 12);
d) Land (public open space) for informal recreation to the south of Northbrook Farm, to be provided in association with that development (under Policy 13).
Developer contributions may be sought where reasonable and necessary (and not likely to be delivered through the Community Infrastructure Levy) for improvements to the community facilities as identified in Table 7.
Every effort should be made to work with the local community and relevant authorities to investigate potential solutions to avoid any loss of these valued assets.
16 the X12 runs every approximately 2 hours from 8am to 4pm into Dorchester and onto Weymouth, with the last bus returning leaving Dorchester just before 6pm, including Saturdays but not Sundays, and a similar service to Dorchester also provided by the 187 – for more details see https://www.damory.co.uk/timetables/
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