A 13-homes scheme for a Main Road site at Winterbourne Abbas has been rejected.

The outline application had asked to demolish existing homes adjacent to the garage and redevelop the site with two and three-bed homes.

But Dorset Council decided that the scheme's benefits, including four affordable homes, did not outweigh the harm which would be caused to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and might add to the flood risk.

The parish council was among the objectors to the scheme claiming that it would be an overdevelopment of the site, that the designs were inappropriate for the village and that there could be additional sewage and flood problems.

Concerns were also raised about the extra traffic the site would create with the site access close to the busy petrol station forecourt and junction opposite the entrance. The village school is also a short distance away.

The application from Addis Homes was to demolish two existing detached homes and outbuildings at Conifers and Greenacres just off the main road on the north side of the main road. Between them the two plots could provide 3,000 square metres of building land.

Dorset Council agreed that there were no concerns about demolishing the two home, both of which are hidden from view by large hedges.

The proposal said the new homes would be a mix of open market and affordable, a mix of two and three bed with 26 car parking spaces on the site, an increase of 22 over the existing.

A flood risk report submitted with the application says that only the south west corner of the site is at a higher risk of flooding, but that the new houses will be kept away from this area and a pavement provided which, in the event of a flood, would allow pedestrian access even if there were water on the road. It did not envisage that any flooding would cause problems for vehicle access.

Another large application is currently being considered for a site on the other side of the garage, further west, at Manor Farm, which could produce 32 homes. There have been several objections to that scheme, some based around the risk of flooding, access and layout. A revised scheme was submitted to the planning authority in February taking account of some of the comments and has still not been decided.