DORCHESTER could face losing £1.6million in funding for traffic improvements after a series of schemes failed to achieve public support.

Dorset County Council had set aside £5million for the Dorchester Transport and Environment Plan (DTEP) to address traffic flows in the town centre.

However, after successive schemes failed to attract public support, the council has been reconsidering its options.

At a meeting of Dorchester Town Council’s planning and environment committee Cllr Richard Biggs said that, according to town clerk Adrian Stuart, the county council’s asset management group was now looking at withdrawing £1.6m from the DTEP budget, leaving £3.4m that will mainly be spent on basic traffic light and junction improvements.

He said if the further schemes came forward then the funding would have to be bid for again.

Cllr Biggs said there was also some doubt about funding from the district council, who may not be willing to make a contribution to the scheme as previously planned if it was simply for highways improvements and maintenance.

The district council had earmarked £500,000 for ‘environmental enhancements’.

Cllr Biggs said: “It’s quite a concern if that money is going to disappear because that could be another delay.”

Cllr Andy Canning stressed that no final decisions had been raised, although the county council had acknowledged the project was now about maintenance and improving traffic flow, rather than some of the wider ambitions of the original scheme such as pedestrianisation of areas of the high street and the creation of a heritage quarter.

He added that it was likely now that the various junction improvements would come forward one by one rather than as a single project.

Cllr Canning said that, if they gained approval from the county council’s cabinet in December, the work on the first enhancements could begin early next year.

He reassured members that he believed key traffic light improvements and safety enhancements such as a Top O’Town roundabout should still come forward.

Cllr Biggs added: “All is not lost but once again it’s another challenge.”