Plans for new bypass through Purbeck (From Dorset Echo)

Plans for new bypass through Purbeck

8:00am Tuesday 1st December 2009 in

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PLANS have been drawn up for a new bypass through the heart of the Purbeck countryside.

The bypass would be aimed at easing pressure on the congested A351 which runs through Sandford and providing relief for the village of Bere Regis.

But the road – which would link the C6 Wool-Bere Regis road and the A35 between Bere Regis and Lytchett Minster – could affect Wareham Forest.

Dorset County Council has drawn up the plan but the recession has meant it cannot yet fund the scheme.

A spokesman said: “New development in Purbeck will increase traffic levels on the roads.

“The proposed bypass is just one of a recommended package of measures to improve traffic and environmental conditions on the A351 by improving the attractiveness of alternative routes for through traffic.”

Planning is in its infancy but the county council has commissioned consultants to produce three options for the bypass route.

Though it has ‘yet to consider a preferred route’ a road may affect Wareham Forest, which covers much of the land south-east of Bere Regis.

However, the forest has various protections – parts are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Morden Bog is a National Nature Reserve, which boast even greater protection than SSSIs.

The lack of alternatives for traffic on the Isle of Purbeck has long been a headache for the authorities and relief roads for Sandford have been considered in the past.

But with Purbeck being told it must find room for 5,000 new homes by 2026, subsequent improvements to the area’s infrastructure now seem a certainty.