COUNCIL chiefs are hoping to avoid an expensive public inquiry into the long-awaited Brown Route relief road by winning over conservation groups in the next few months.

South Dorset MP Jim Knight set the ball rolling when he arranged a meeting between Dorset County Council and environmental organisations to thrash out the issues affecting the road.

Mr Knight said the authority could have "built a few primary schools" with the money it has spent on preparing the road scheme and now wants to avoid any further delays and expense.

Convincing wildlife and conservation groups of the need for the road and satisfying environmental concerns before the planning application is submitted next spring would avoid a public inquiry.

It would be unlikely that the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions would call in the application for a planning inquiry if groups - and particularly the Government's own advisors English Nature - did not object to the road scheme.

The £29million proposed road would affect a number of officially protected landscapes and wildlife sites including sites of special scientific interest (SSSI) and the Lodmoor bird reserve.

Labour MP Mr Knight said he understood the frustration many people in Weymouth felt about the lack of progress on the Brown Route and that it was his 'number one priority' to resolve any outstanding issues.

To move things forward he arranged a meeting at his office in Winfrith between Dorset County Council, English Nature, the RSPB and Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Mr Knight said: "It was agreed at the meeting that everyone represented cash-strapped organisations and if there was any way they could avoid a public inquiry then so much the better. Dorset County Council could have built a few primary schools with the amount of money spent so far on this scheme so we can't afford to have any more unnecessary delays.

"It's possible that some sort of agreement can be reached to speed up the process but the groups need to have more information about the environmental impact of the Brown Route and why a relief road is needed."

The county council is currently undertaking a number of environmental surveys investigating issues like noise, pollution and the effects on wildlife habitats the road may have.

A £5million bill for planning the Brown Route was recently described as 'scandalous' by county councillor Hilary Cox.

Council director of environmental services Miles Butler said: "We could all do without a public inquiry because it would be an additional delay and it would require extra costs. We would like to continue the dialogue with the interested parties to avoid getting into conflict with them. We all want to go forward with the same amount of information."

Jim White, English Nature team manager for Dorset, said: "It would obviously be in everyone's interest if issues could be resolved without going to an inquiry but it depends on the quality of information and whether any questions are left unanswered.

"For a road to pass through an SSSI there has to be some pretty powerful justification for the route and why it is the only option."

RSPB senior casework officer Andrew Dodd said it was a constructive meeting which helped to 'narrow the differences' between the county council and the RSPB. He added: "Public inquiries can be very expensive. To support our organisation we rely on money from our members so we are keen to avoid any unnecessary expenditure. The meeting helped us to find a better way forward."

No-one from the Dorset Wildlife Trust was available to comment on the meeting.