Campaign continues to stop building on last remaining urban farm in Poole

People in the Talbot Heath area are stepping up their campaign to save Highmoor Farm, the last remaining municipal farm in Poole, after a formal application from Talbot Village Trust and Nuffield Health to develop the land south of Wallisdown Road.

It is a hybrid application.

There is a full application for a new 11,606 square meter Nuffield Health Hospital and a master application for the provision of 13,394 square meters of work, health and university-related space, including ancillary uses and a growing hub.

In addition, there is an application for the conversion of 12 ha of pasture land to create a heath development area for the life of the innovation district.

Nick Dobbs, co-admin of the Facebook group Preserve Talbot Heath – which has 1,700 members – said: “It doesn’t matter how hard the applicants try to put this in their 91 documents submitted to the BCP Council Planning, the cold one , sobering reality is this The Talbot Village Trust and Nuffield Health hybrid planning proposals propose the equivalent of 44 football fields of farmland be paved with established wildlife and sanitized for human recreational purposes.

“The motions require the eviction of the tenant farmer and his beloved Highland cattle, resulting in one of the BCP Council’s SSSI Conservation Areas – Talbot Heath – being completely surrounded by development and the very real potential of net biodiversity losses without real accountability. Believing they can reshape nature with their architect’s pen, the proposers have deliberately ignored the importance of the interdependence of the established habitats of Highmoor Farm and Talbot Heath and the reason wildlife thrives.

“The general public and many local councils are now much more attuned to protecting their local natural heritage.”

Nick Ashley Cooper, Chairman of the Talbot Village Trust, which owns the land, said: “The Innovation Quarter is a unique opportunity to make a positive transformative impact for BCP and the region.

“The aim is to support the two universities and to offer young people and families better prospects to live, work and get involved in the BCP area. The proposals, developed in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, align with the economic strategy of the BCP Council and the Dorset LEP.

“Crucially, we are committed to providing people with a good life, improving the environment, generating a net gain in biodiversity and ensuring the Talbot heath is fully protected for future generations.”