GIVE us more than £100 million for a bypass if you want more homes tacked on to Dorchester.

That's the response from West Dorset District Council to proposed changes to the regional planning blueprint for the years up to 2026.

The council has drawn up a battle plan to shoot down demands that would affect the district if the changes to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the south west are imposed.

Chief target in its firing line is the proposal that an urban extension of 3,000 homes should be made at Dorchester.

In a report being presented to the council's policy scrutiny committee on Tuesday, members will hear that the only possible area for development of that size is north of the town.

But a report by Hilary Jordan, the council's planning policy manager, states that the development could not go ahead unless the Government pledges to pay for a northern bypass.

She states that research by consultants Halcrow Group Ltd for the council shows the development would not be possible without major pubic funding of infrastructure.

The report also demands that if an urban extension is imposed, it should be reduced from 3,000 homes to between 900 and 1,000. This would reflect that work could not start before 2020 - when infrastructure would be in place - and an annual rate exceeding 150 homes a year is not likely to be achieved.

Committee members are also being urged to object to the proposal that land in West Dorset could be used for an urban extension of Yeovil.

The report also calls for members to object to the rate of development in the rest of West Dorset on the grounds that it would put significant pressure on Bridport and Sherborne and villages.

But it does not raise objections to a proposed change that would bring an urban extension of 700 homes for Weymouth into West Dorset land. Potentially viable options would be at Chickerell or Littlemoor.

The Regional Spatial Strategy is now well through its preparation stages following consultations on a submission draft and public examination in 2006 and 2007. Responses to the proposed changes are invited by October 17.