Village design statements

They are written by local people, sharing expertise, knowledge and skills plus enthusiasm and enjoyment of their surroundings.

To date, the council has adopted eight village design statements (VDSs) as supplementary planning guidance. These are:

• Bothenhampton: includes parish plan (2003) (pdf, 4Mb) (opens in a new window)  
• Bradford Peverell (2000) (pdf, 2Mb) (opens in a new window)  
• Charminster (2004) (pdf, 1Mb) (opens in a new window)
• Loders (2000) (pdf, 2Mb) (opens in a new window)
• Osmington (2003) (pdf, 2Mb) (opens in a new window)  
• Piddle Valley (2004) (pdf, 3Mb) (opens in a new window)
• Walditch: includes parish plan (2004) (pdf, 4Mb) (opens in a new window)  
• West Stafford (2003) (pdf, 3Mb) (opens in a new window)

The council can no longer adopt VDSs as supplementary planning guidance, under the current planning system. When deciding the influence of these documents, consideration will be given to their conformity with the local plan and extent and response to public consultation. These will be a material consideration in planning decisions.

Further guidance on preparing a Village Design Statement is available by downloading the VDS Toolkit (pdf, 122kb) (opens in a new window) . 

Neighbourhood Plans are likely to supersede the development of Village Design Statements because they can be adopted by a council if they meet the relevant requirements - more details can be found on our Neighbourhood Planning page.

• Name: Local Policy (West Dorset)
  Email: local.policy@westdorset-dc.gov.uk
  Tel: 01305 252386
  Fax: 01305 251481
  Full details for Local Policy (West Dorset)