A COUNCILLOR has slammed the ‘staggering’ £244,000 consultation costs to find suitable gypsy and traveller sites throughout Dorset.

It comes the day after Weymouth and Portland Borough councillor John Birtwistle said the 56-page Development Plan Document drawn up by external consultants was ‘complete rubbish’ at a council meeting.

During the debate councillors gave the green light to the proposed shortlist of sites going to consultation in the borough.

Residents will be asked their say, along with West Dorset residents, during the public consultation starting on November 18.

The £244,000 is being paid to consultants at Baker Associates, who started to research and draw up a Development Plan Document last year.

The eight district and borough councils are paying £10,000 each.

Another £150,000 comes from the Dorset Strategic Partnership and a further £14,000 from the South West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (RIEP) Innovation Fund.

Coun Birtwistle said: “I am amazed and find it staggering that it is going to cost that much.

“We have this culture of consultation where we spend an obscene amount of money and often people aren’t even asked the right kind of questions.

“My reservations about this are genuinely based on concerns by the public and my constituents.

“I feel this is not a priority and I can think of a lot better things this area desperately needs with that amount of money.”

In Weymouth three sites have been initially shortlisted including the park and ride site, near the Mount Pleasant Business park, the redundant land next to the household recycling centre in Lodmoor and South Buckland farm, near Coldharbour.

In West Dorset there are seven proposed sites to go forward to the consultation, including one existing site in Piddlehinton.

The whole project will take around two to three years, according to Dorset County Council.

The councils say they have a statutory duty to create the DPD under the Housing Act 2004.

The total number of gypsies and travellers in Dorset is estimated at 2,400 to 3,000 but that may underestimate the number of travelling people living in housing.

l Both consultations for West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council will start on November 18.

For more information visit the website dorsetforyou.com/travellerpitches