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MILLIONS in cash for a Bere Regis bypass should be pledged by the leading waste company behind a major plan for a recycling depot at Binnegar south of the village, say Purbeck councillors.

District and county councillor Captain Malcolm Shakesby said: "The impact of traffic from this is going to bear on Purbeck in perpetuity."

He added: "It's about time somebody actually contributed some serious money into Purbeck to rectify the problems."

He said: "We need to draw a line in the sand that Purbeck isn't going to be a dumping ground."

Concerned councillors say at least £4 million should be put up by the operators of the recycling centre to pay for the already desperately-needed new stretch of road - before a recycling centre was up and running.

Councillors were concerned that the waste was not being dealt with closer to where it would originate - and with the proposed multi-million pound mechanical biological treatment plant for Winfrith would mean Purbeck was a main centre for dealing with Dorset's rubbish.

Bere Regis councillor Peter Wharf said though the centre was outside the parish there would be 'a significant and dramatic effect' on the village - which he thought ought to have been included for consultation in the proposals.

It is feared that a major new recycling depot in the countryside would mean a total of 90,000 heavy traffic movements a year through Bere Regis - posing an additional risk to youngsters walking to and from their village first school.

The waste would be trucked in to the centre from the larger built-up areas of Dorset - such as from Poole and Bournemouth to the east - as well as the north of the county and Purbeck.

Capt Shakesby said 70 per cent of the waste-filled truckloads heading for the site would come from the east along the A351 - already reaching saturation point - as well as along the A352.

And he predicted that drivers would avoid the A351 through Sandford particularly during the peak season and take a route through Bere Regis, with a total of 95 per cent of the truck traffic using the C6 road at times. He said: "This is quite staggering."

Wareham councillor David Budd urged calls for more detailed information but argued the idea it could bring forward the Bere bypass was 'cloud cuckoo land'.

Councillor Nick Cake claimed that noise issues should be looked into because sound travelled particularly across the valley and councillor Simon Goldsack said: "We need an independent and comprehensive assessment of the traffic impact."

The application from major refuse company Sita came for comment before Purbeck district councillors.

It is for the area of the minerals workings at Binnegar on the old Puddletown Road to the west of Wareham - and proposes that extraction of sand, gravel and clay from the long-established quarry would end in around four years and the site be restored.

9:30pm Wednesday 19th September 2007

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