WORK on a housing development that will bring almost £1million of investment into Tisbury and the surrounding area is underway.

CG Fry & Son is building 90 new homes off Hindon Lane in a development called Wyndham Place.

In return, the company has pledged to spend £400,000 on community and leisure facilities, £475,000 on the improvement of facilities at Shaftesbury School, £70,000 on sports pitches, £8,100 on recycling facilities and £5,400 on bike stands.

The development will include 34 affordable homes with 20 for rent and 14 available to buy as part of a shared ownership scheme.

The remaining homes will be three and four bedroom cottage-style homes and there will be some commercial premises for small businesses.

Dorset-based CG Fry & Son was the building firm involved with the Prince Charles’ Poundbury project.

It says the houses will be built around a village green and the new homes should fit “seamlessly into the landscape”.

Each property will have an air source heat pump which uses less energy than conventional heating systems.

The first householders in the new homes will also receive £800 towards the cost of travel by bike or public transport.

When plans for the homes were first unveiled Tisbury residents raised concerns about over-development and access but chairman of the parish council Patrick Duffy said people had “come to accept” the new estate.

“There are always going to be people who don’t want a development of that size in an area like this but we have to think about the long term future of the village,” he said.

“We have worked closely with the developers to ensure we are now more comfortable with the plans.

“A significant number are affordable homes, which we welcome as it will help local people to stay in the village.

“It was a little difficult to accept that the money for the schools will go over the border to Shaftesbury although we accept that is where the majority of children in the new homes will go to school.

“The money for planning gains will be a huge boost – we have already agreed to spend some on a skate park and at a public meeting we came up with a list of about 10 other projects that we will be discussing further.”