A BLUEPRINT for Bridport's future development was officially launched this week.

The Bridport and West Bay town plan will identify community needs and look for ways to meet them.

And it will not be full of "pie in the sky" Coun Tony Fifield assured the annual town meeting on Tuesday, when he unveiled the working consultation document.

He said the aim was to identify the key strategies, objectives and projects that the town council should pursue for the benefit of Bridport and West Bay.

It would seek to set priorities and would be a working document spanning a three-year rolling period, to be reviewed and updated annually.

"Each year it will form the main input to the annual budgeting process so that the budget will reflect the council's agreed project priorities for the following year," he explained.

Coun Fifield stressed that there would be no place for "pie in the sky" ideas in its pages. It authors would be keeping their feet firmly on the ground.

"The focus is on those realistic objectives and projects for which the council has direct decision making responsibility and financial control - or at least significant indirect influence with higher authorities," he said.

The meeting heard that there would be 10 key strategy areas: organisation; business and prosperity; grants; communications; the street market; inclusion; property; environment; information and tourism; open spaces and recreation.

To launch the plan the focus in the first year would be on audits and reviews to establish a firm foundation.

Key strategies in the plan will address include:

*Adapting all town council buildings for disabled access. * Providing sufficient public toilets over a five-year period including the Bucky Doo area. * Supporting the building of a sea angling jetty at West Bay and exploring the potential for a multi sport solution to enable this. * Promoting the farmers' market and investigating possibilities for increasing Sunday visitors and trade for Bridport town centre. * Improving communications via notice boards, website and press briefings. * Developing strategy for extending the tourist season and encouraging weekday events in the holiday months to encourage the smooth flow of visitors. * Setting up an environment and social wellbeing sub committee. * Supporting provision of affordable housing through mixed development. *Supporting local food production. * Developing a medium term grants/support plan with the organisations that regularly seek larger grants.

Coun Fifield, chairman of the town plan sub committee, said he hoped the blueprint would not become just another glossy document left on the shelf. He hoped it would be a dog-eared document used as a day to day tool.

Copies are available from the Library in South Street or the council offices at Mountfield.