Planning work under Dorset Council
If your site is in Weymouth, Dorchester, Bridport, Lyme Regis, Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Blandford, Swanage, Wareham, Wimborne or the villages between them, the local planning authority is almost certainly Dorset Council. That is a unitary council, not a county overlay: it decides householder applications, full applications, certificates, prior approval and enforcement. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are a different authority (BCP Council). We name the LPA in the quote so you are not paying for a statement written to the wrong plan.
We prepare the forms, the planning statement and the supporting material, lodge through the Planning Portal, and deal with the Dorset Council case officer until the decision lands. The local plan, neighbourhood plans and adopted policies from the former districts still matter; we cite the ones that will actually appear in the officer report.
Dorset Council cases more often engage countryside policies, landscape character (including the Dorset National Landscape, formerly AONB), heritage settings, the south-east Dorset Green Belt on the BCP edge, and rural exception logic. Agricultural to residential prior approval under Class Q, barn conversions and small plots on village edges each need the right route, not a forced full application. Nutrient neutrality and protected habitats can apply depending on catchment; we check that before we quote.
The office is in Bournemouth. Work for Dorset Council sites is run online, with a site visit where it strengthens the case. We also act next door under New Forest District Council, the New Forest National Park Authority, Wiltshire Council and Somerset Council — those are separate LPAs with separate plans.
What usually decides cases here
- Dorset Council local plan and neighbourhood plan policies
- Countryside and settlement-boundary arguments
- Dorset National Landscape and landscape character sensitivity
- Heritage assets and village conservation areas
- Rural conversions and Class Q prior approval
- Green Belt on the south-east Dorset edge, plus nutrient and habitat constraints where mapped
Services for Dorset clients
- Householder applications for extensions, lofts, outbuildings and annexes
- Full applications for new dwellings and conversions
- Change of use and lawful development certificates
- Appeals, including enforcement and non-determination
Householder applications from £500. Small full applications from £1,000. Written representations appeals £500 to £1,000. Council fees are separate. Every quote is confirmed in writing before work starts.