PLANS to build a new roundabout at Hurn have been pulled from a Christchurch planning meeting due to a lack of information.

Proposals to build a replacement roundabout with new street lighting and landscaping on the B3073 were due to go before councillors on Thursday.

But due to minimal information about the environmental impact of the work, officers from Dorset County Council, who are proposing the scheme, have gone back to the drawing board.

As part of the report to councillors, the county council say the need for “capacity improvements” to relieve congestion and cater for growing traffic on the busy road is well known.

This is particularly important due to ever-increasing employment at Bournemouth Airport.

In the past, the prospect of a bypass has been mooted but due to the increasing cost and environmental impact, officers have had to look again.

The estimated cost for the so-called “Hurn Southern Bypass” would be around £10million – four times the cost of the proposed junction work.

However, some concerns have been raised about the proximity to the conservation area and the amount of trees which would be felled as a result of the new roundabout plans going ahead.

Detailed plans would be subject to public consultation before the final go-ahead is given, the report stated.

Margaret Phipps, chairman of Hurn Parish Council said: “The problem is although the parish council have been involved in the scheme there doesn’t seem to be much acknowledgement it is in the conservation area.

“They are going to have to take out some substantial mature oaks.

“There should be something acknowledging it and a landscape design scheme if they are putting in an application of this magnitude.

“Councillors need to have all the information.”

Officers at Christchurch council said the lack of a tree planting report was a “serious concern”.

A spokesperson for Dorset County Council said: “The application for the Hurn roundabout scheme has been withdrawn from this month's planning committee agendas at Christchurch Borough Council and Dorset County Council because consultees have asked for further information before they respond.

“This information will be supplied over the next few days, and there will then be a further 21-day consultation period before the application is considered by the planning committees.”