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31 Jul 98

PLANNING FOR DEVELOPMENT IN DORSET AND THE SOUTH WEST

PRESS CALL: COUNCIL CHAMBER, CIVIC CENTRE, POOLE
10am, Friday 31 July 1998
Launch of the regional strategy for future planning in Dorset and the South West


Poole is among three towns in the South West which will host a simultaneous launch of an important development strategy for the region.

The Strategy, which covers the period up to 2016, addresses the issue of housing growth, which has caused so much controversy elsewhere in the South, and the need to raise the economic competitiveness of parts of the region which have been underperforming.

The environmental quality of the area means that Bournemouth and Poole, in particular, will no longer be able to grow at past rates.

Cllr Bob Williams, Chairman of Borough of Poole's Environment Policy Board, said: "The local Strategic Planning Authorities welcome the recently published Strategy for the adjoining South East Region, which aims at meeting its own development needs. It is from the South East that much of the migration to Dorset has originated."

However, Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth will be required to:

· accommodate sufficient housing (53,000 dwellings to 2016) to ensure that local prosperity is maintained whilst protecting the area's important environmental assets;
· promote sustainable transport, partly by ensuring that most development takes place within urban areas;
· ensure that rural communities are able to share in the prosperity generated in those urban areas.

Cllr Williams added: "This means that the local population will have to be sufficiently adaptable to meet the needs of local employers so that prosperity does not fuel unacceptable rates of housing development."

The Strategy also allows for an enhanced role for the ports of Portland and Poole and the improved access which that requires.


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Chris Elton, Head of Economic Development, Borough of Poole: 01202 633303