Thomas Hardy described his fictional village of Marlott as being in an “engirdled and secluded area, for essentially the most half untrodden as but by vacationer or landscape-painter, although inside a 4 hours’ journey from London”.
However the Victorian realist would now barely recognise Marnhull, the real-life village in north Dorset upon which Marlott was based mostly, and would in all probability be stunned to know his title is repeatedly invoked in official submissions arguing in opposition to its growth.
Nestled within the Blackmore Vale, the opening backdrop for Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Marnhull is a patchwork of hamlets with a hotchpotch of architectural kinds, from Tudor manors and thatched cottages to postwar developments.
In latest months, an acrimonious row has damaged out over plans to construct as much as 120 properties, which residents concern will merely be “part one” of a seamless, wider growth of the picturesque village. The scenario has underlined a few of the tensions rising out of the Labour authorities’s drive to construct extra homes.
Dorset council refused permission for the event in July 2024, however the landowner efficiently appealed in opposition to this after an inquiry by the nationwide planning inspectorate, which needed to take Labour’s new housing necessities into consideration.
The energy of feeling was so forceful in Marnhull that the parish council took the weird step of participating within the inquiry as a “rule 6 celebration” – an group granted the precise to actively take part within the inquiry course of.
It’s putting what number of instances Hardy is referenced within the parish council’s submissions as proof of the village’s necessary heritage standing. Stephen Boyce, a Marnhull resident and heritage advisor, submitted 40 pages of argument with dozens of references to the romantic poet and novelist, identified for works together with Removed from the Madding Crowd and Jude the Obscure.
Boyce, who has held senior roles on the Nationwide Lottery Heritage Fund and consulted for the Nationwide Belief, says: “The event demonstrates no consciousness of the necessary cultural worth of the location in query, specifically its associations with the work of Dorset’s most well-known literary determine, Thomas Hardy. These historic connections make a notable contribution to the character, significance and high quality of Marnhull’s heritage.”
The scheme would additionally embrace a industrial plot being developed – provisionally named Tess Sq. in a nod to the eponymous character of Hardy’s famend novel – in addition to a big automotive park close to St Gregory’s church – the place Tess’s child, Sorrow, was buried.
Boyce says: “The proposed growth significantly impinges on the places and buildings most intently related to Tess.” He factors out that along with the church, the Pure Drop Inn within the novel is predicated on Marnhull’s Crown Inn.
Residents of Butts Shut backing on to the sector earmarked for growth are devastated by the proposals.
Anne Hartley, 59, and her husband, Mike, 61, take pleasure in an uninterrupted view throughout the vale from their again backyard, which is able to vanish if and when the event is constructed.
Anne Hartley says: “You used to have the ability to stroll fairly simply down a few of the little nation roads and the lanes you’ve acquired right here, however now you’re diving into shrubs to get out of the best way of automobiles.
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“For those who put one other 120 homes you’re going to get increasingly more and extra. And also you’re going to lose that tranquility that so many individuals have moved right here to get.”
In his choice to permit the enchantment, the planning inspector, Jonathan Bore, says that below new necessities launched by Labour, Dorset council should construct 3,219 properties a yr – practically double the 1,739 required below the earlier authorities. He seems to criticise Dorset council for failing to place in place a coverage for housing allocations throughout the county.
Bore says: “The place is certainly one of very excessive recognized housing want. There isn’t a up-to-date spatial technique that responds to this place, no up-to-date coverage that establishes the quantities of growth to be apportioned to totally different places within the gentle of this want, and no prospect {that a} new native plan will probably be adopted till 2027.”
Marnhull parish council mentioned it was “stunned and clearly disenchanted” by the planning inspectorate choice.
It mentioned in a press release: “We took the weird step of taking part within the inquiry as a rule 6 celebration because the village was overwhelmingly opposed to what’s perceived as a disproportionately massive growth in a rural village with vital impression on heritage, present native companies and highways security.
“We summarised our case in paperwork submitted to the inquiry however finally our issues had been outweighed by Dorset council’s vital shortfall in constructing housing to fulfill the brand new authorities targets and by the shortage of a present Dorset council growth plan.”
A spokesperson for Dorset council mentioned it had agreed a provide of housing earlier than the latest authorities modifications, which is legitimate till the tip of October below transitional preparations. The council mentioned the elevated calls for for housing below the brand new framework, coupled with necessities to mitigate potential air pollution from new developments meant it was looking for new websites.
It mentioned: “Dorset council is getting ready a brand new native plan, and session will probably be going down on web site choices this summer season, taking account of the newest housing and mitigation necessities. Within the meantime, the council continues to work positively to assist the supply of sustainable growth.”
