Make room!

The projections are for at least 42,000 new homes in Bournemouth, Poole, East Dorset, Purbeck and Christchurch.

It's claimed these are needed if the area's economy is to expand, if key workers and young people are to get a foot on the property ladder and to accommodate the growing number of people choosing to move to the county.

Demand is so high across the south west that, ideally, the government would like to see up to 51,700 new homes built by 2026.

But trying to find the space for all these new properties has proved a headache for officers and councillors.

Most people want to see the green belt left alone - but that means shoehorning more and more properties into town centres and suburbs.

There's a desperate need for affordable homes in rural villages - but that would mean more people commuting to work on already congested roads.

And the area's economy can't risk standing still, but there's a fine line between that and over-development.

"It's a real conundrum and the one thing that is patently obvious is that there is no perfect solution," said Cllr Hilary Cox, Dorset council's cabinet minister for environmental services.

"We will never be able to please all of the people, all of the time.

"We need to make maximum use of the towns but we don't want urban sprawl. And there's a limit to how many houses you can stuff in before it becomes an undesirable place to live."

It looks certain the vast majority of new homes will be built in Bournemouth, because of the large number of single detached homes on large plots that can easily be converted into flats.

And while this will have repercussions for transportation, the local infrastructure and the general character of the area, the impact on the borough's green belt is the main concern for councillors.

"Increasing the density of Bournemouth without protecting its beautiful green spaces will be a travesty to all residents and we shall fight it all the way," said Cllr Angela Manton.

And Cllr John Beesley added: "If you encroach on the green belt you can never go back; it's there for ever.

"It's a huge number of new properties we've been asked to build and will need to be carefully managed. Government policy is always pressing us into much higher densities than we would otherwise like. We've got to try and strike the right balance long-term."

But while Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole are pledging to fight their corner and resist over-development, the final decision on how many homes should be built rests with the South West Regional Assembly.

The Regional Assembly has already asked the three local councils to see if they could increase their house-building rate by up to 50 per cent, an idea that has been considered and rejected by planning officers.

Phil Robinson, Bournemouth's planning policy manager, said their research revealed that higher levels of growth could only be achieved by "significant intensification" within the existing urban areas.

Air quality would be at risk from increased congestion and the general quality of life would suffer.

Substantial investment of up to £30million would need to be pumped into water provision and treatment facilities and a further amount of between £24million and £28million into wastewater treatment facilities.

Additional growth in Verwood, West Moors, St Leonards and St Ives would probably need a new sewerage rising main at a cost of around £3.6million.

And the cost of reinforcing the sewerage network and building new pumping stations would be between £55.7million and £69.6million.

Green belt faces 'greatest threat'

RURAL campaigners celebrating the green belt's 50th anniversary claim it us under attack as never before and its greatest threat is government policy.

Chief executive of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Shaun Spiers said ministers have repeatedly stated their commitment to green belts and the government should be their closest ally.

But he claims the government is preparing a major onslaught on green belt land as the pressure to find space to build more houses grows.

"A crucial element of green belts is the permanence of their boundaries," Mr Spiers said.

"Green belt policy is one of the sharpest tools in the planning toolkit.

"But its effectiveness is being blunted by the top-down imposition of boundary reviews and careless talk of replacing lost green belt elsewhere.

"Of all planning policies, green belt is probably the best-known and best-loved by the general public and it's the envy of other countries.

"We should be celebrating this 50th anniversary by creating new areas of green belt rather than threatening existing ones."

First published: May 25