Tobias Ellwood today addressed the Planning Inspector reviewing the Troika proposal to develop land around the Bournemouth Hospital, arguing that it would compound rather than ease Bournemouth's growing congestion problems.

Bournemouth is Britain's premier seaside resort but is blighted by increasing levels of traffic caused by overdevelopment. Castle Lane is close to gridlock and the Troika proposal will only increase congestion. The Troika proposal is to build six office blocks and a Park and Ride facility, both accessed from a new junction on the Wessex Way.

Commenting on the proposal Tobias said:

"The hospital and JP Morgan are begging for more parking spaces, yet Troika wants to build office space for 3,500 workers with a Park and Ride for less than 1,000 cars.

If Bournemouth is to have a Park and Ride then it must form part of an integrated transport strategy for tackling congestion and would be better placed near the airport accompanied by improved public transport links such as a monorail.

Troika tried to justify that ambulances would have improved access to the hospital via their new junction off the Wessex Way. This might be true if an accident occurred near Ringwood, but would be no quicker for an ambulance approaching from the East or West of Bournemouth.

The scale of development in Bournemouth is a reflection of how the Council has lost control to developers who are building over 1000 new homes a year. The very character of our town is now under threat. Developers play an important role but should not dictate how a town grows. Were this application approved, the new junction would place the green belt land south of Holdenhurst village under threat, merging Bournemouth with Christchurch.

After hearing all the evidence I hope the Planning Inspector agrees with residents' view that this proposal will compound rather than ease congestion and is not in the long term interests of Bournemouth."

Tobias Ellwood MP

House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

Tel:
0207 219 4349
Email:
ellwoodt@parliament.uk