FOUR key elements dominate the Weymouth and Portland Local Plan Review, the document which sets out the borough council's vision of the area's way ahead in the next ten years.

They are housing, transport, development (including employment) and tourism.

Planners say the review is of prime importance in providing for future development and protecting the environment in the borough.

They emphasise that it has to take account of local circumstances and the needs of local people alongside national and regional guidelines from central government.

More than 2,700 new homes remain to be built in Weymouth and Portland to meet Government guidelines of 4,700 by 2011.

Ninety per cent of all new homes will be provided on previously developed 'brownfield' sites, including the accommodation blocks on Portland's former naval air station where more than 250 homes are expected to be created.

Another large area which is expected to yield 120 homes is the southern part of the Weymouth College site at Newstead Road as well as existing college buildings and land off Dorchester Road which will create an extra 53 homes.

Elsewhere smaller brownfield sites will provide more homes including the Larkin Windows' premises off Commercial Road which is expected to create 15 homes when the company completes its relocation to Jubilee Sidings. There is also the Broadwey Motors' site off Boot Hill which planners say could create 30 new homes.

Principal Planning Officer Karyn Punchard said: "It is important to realise that we do have to provide some new greenfield sites to provide a choice and range of homes.

"These include Louviers Road at Littlemoor where about 100 new homes are planned and the former HMS Osprey site at Portland where another 65 homes are planned."

She added that on all brown and greenfield sites of more than 15 homes there will be negotiations to include one-quarter of them as 'affordable housing', with an additional one in ten homes set aside for 'lifetime' homes. These would be designed to wheelchair standard so that older people could spend the later years of their life with their families rather than having to move out.

Major transport plans include safeguarding a land corridor for building Weymouth's A354 Brown Route Dorchester Road relief road.

The scheme includes a single carriageway with crawler lanes, the A353 Preston Link, a cycleway and a new park and ride site at Lodmoor North just off the existing Manor Roundabout on Dorchester Road.

Longer term reservations are also dealt with involving land for the A354 Western Route Rodwell and Wyke Regis relief road, together with the Underhill Relief Road.

Mrs Punchard said that a key point of the transport proposals would be improvements to the footway and cycleway network.

She added: "The Harbourside Walkway will be an important part of this. The first phase from Town Bridge to the marina is nearly complete and the Review identifies Phase II from Town Bridge to the ferry steps as being an integral part of the Local Plan to 2011.

"The Portland Harbourside Walkway from the end of the causeway to Castletown through the former air station site is also highlighted."

Cycling proposals including plans for Chickerell and the Granby Industrial Estate will complete work being carried out on the existing cycleway network, while new proposals for cycle parking facilities, especially for flats, are also included in the Review.

A new approach to public transport at Weymouth Railway Station is included in the Review where changes will enable a smoother transition from train to bus or taxi.

Green travel plans are also spelt out to ensure that any large development includes practical measures to reduce car use.

More land set for creation of new jobs

WEYMOUTH and Portland Borough Council has nearly doubled the amount of land earmarked for employment than the Structure Plan requires them to have.

Planning permission for development has already been granted for 125.21 acres since 1994 including Portland Port, Mount Pleasant Business Park, Southwell Business Park and the former air station site.

Another 67.36 acres is now being considered for employment purposes with the lion's share being provided by the former HMS Osprey site including land for American yacht builder Hunter Marine.

Among small parcels of land which could be developed for employment purposes is 1.58 acres at Southill near the current police headquarters' development next to the Wessex Stadium.

One proposal could change the whole face of Weymouth harbourside with its scheme for a mixed-use development of the gasholder site off Westham Road including the former Southern Electricity Board site, the magistrates' courts, the squash centre and the youth centre.

Principal Planning Officer Karyn Punchard said: "If this goes ahead then Asda supermarket would move to this site and all the existing facilities there would find a new home on the current Asda site.

"Any new Asda would be limited to how much larger it could be from its current 52,000 sq ft up to no more than about 74,000 sq ft."

Tourism has a big role to play

Planners say tourism development has a big role to play in the Local Plan Review.

Land has been allocated at Lodmoor Country Park, the ferry terminal and the former air station at Portland to accommodate leisure proposals.

Principal Planning Officer Karyn Punchard said: "No scheme is on the books for these sites, but we need to have the land available in case they are."

She added that some suggestions which had been put forward included a Portland Quarry Park and Stone Centre which would provide an educational resource and information centre for visitors about the stone industry.

She said: "The Quarry Park proposals are all about sustainable tourism and managing conservation interests."

Land is also being highlighted at Southill and Littlemoor in Weymouth and at Underhill on Portland for a variety of measures, ranging from shops and community halls to nurseries and scout halls.

Weymouth Swimming Pool also features in the Review, although Karyn Punchard said there were no specific proposals for improvements at the moment.

She added: "What we have done is to allocate land there for a possible future expansion of the swimming pool which could include changing facilities and other areas for activities."

Other proposals include one for the Outdoor Activity Centre in Knightsdale Road where land has been set aside for alternative sporting or community use.