A passionate plea for affordable housing in Broadmayne, near Dorchester, has led to a "minded to" decision to support proposals for 80 new homes.

The vote will see the plans discussed by Dorset Counci again in September, when further details about likely planning conditions and legal agreements have been worked out.

Dorset Council's housing portfolio holder told a planning committee that there had not been a single affordable home built in Broadmayne or West Knighton for more than a 13 years, with more than 100 people on the housing register saying they wanted to live there.

Cllr Graham Carr-Jones' intervention may not have won him many friends in Broadmayne – more than 140 letters had been written about the proposals for 80 new homes on the 34-acre Broadmead site, most of them objecting and only 12 identified as being in support.

Many residents attended the Dorchester committee meeting on Thursday – clapping and cheering when anyone spoke against the proposals.

Initially the plans had been for 90 homes, but they have now been scaled back to 80, with housing association Abri offering 45% as affordable and holding out an offer that this could be upped to 100%.

Cllr Carr-Jones urged his colleagues on the area planning committee not to throw away the opportunity by following a planning officer's recommendation to reject the application on policy grounds.

He said offers of affordable housing, especially in villages, were few and far between – warning that if the site went back onto the open market it would most likely be snapped up by a more aggressive developer who would build the maximum number of open market houses, mostly out of the price range of local people.

He added that the housing association Abri was reputable and had already delivered schemes locally in Drimpton and Hazelbury Bryan, helping to maintain an age balance and support local facilities.

Cllr Carr-Jones said that in West Dorset, average homes now cost £345,000 with average salaries at £27,000 – a multiplier of 13, the highest ratio ever recorded locally, making most homes unaffordable to many local people.

Committee members were told that there were problems with the site – although surrounded by housing on three sides it lies outside the village's defined development boundary and is also adjacent to the Area of Outstanding Beauty.

Concerns were also raised about the site access, the extra traffic the homes would bring, the loss of good quality farmland and the potential for flooding on at least part of the site, as well as the scale and density of the proposals.

Various estimates were presented to the meeting about the potential increase in the population, most claiming between 10% and 15%, with several speakers arguing that, whatever the percentage, it was too much for the village to bear without altering its social cohesion.

Extra cars were also seen as a problem with one speaker, Andrew Mason, warning of an extra 200 vehicles moving around the village, adding to the risks in joining the busy A352.

He also spoke of the loss of farmland and feared that agreeing to the homes could set a precedent with Broadmayne being turned into "an urbanised, sprawling landscape".

Parish council chairman Steve Diamond echoed many of the points, telling Dorset councillors "there is no pressing reason to set aside policy and no reason to sacrifice the best land".

He questioned why there had been no legal agreements already signed to deliver a 'green' area to the north of the development, the percentage of affordable housing, or guarantee the site access, adding: "Cynics might wonder if the benefits will ever be delivered."

After a motion to refuse the scheme was lost on a majority vote, councillors agreed "a minded to approve" proposal from Weymouth councillor Kate Wheller, who said she saw an urgent need for affordable homes, especially on sites which were sustainable and met the council's environmental agenda.

The decision gives council officers time to work up the details of a set of conditions and possible legal agreements, which will be discussed at the September meeting.

The planning application had been lodged by Southern Strategic Land LLP but the meeting heard that it would be the housing association, Abri, which will bring the scheme forward, if final consent is given.

Their proposals include a mix of mainly two and three-bed homes, including bungalows with half for rent and half for sale.

The site itself is an area of open farmland with housing on three side to the south of the A352 on the western edge of the village. The field closest to the village will be used for the housing scheme with the further field maintained as a natural open area, described in the proposal as "a country park" with its own parking area.

Access to the housing site would be off Broadmead, to the eastern side of the development field, with a temporary road into the site for construction traffic through the northern field, part of which is within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A previous application for 30 homes on part of the site was rejected in 2015, primarily because of concerns over the road junction with Rectory Road, although the council case officer had said at the time that the principle of housing on the site was acceptable in his view.

Illustrations – The site location (aerial and map)

Proposed lay out – courtesy Southern Strategic Land & Bright Space Architects