THREE waste facilities in Dorset are being lined up for development after a major project which had been given government finances fell through.

The £14.2m of funding to build new joint recycling sorting facility in Dorset made up a large portion of the £21.3m secured by Bournemouth Borough Council in 2012.

However, after looking into the scheme in more detail with an appointed contractor, the scheme has been scrapped.

Now the Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP) Joint Committee, which is made up of representatives from across the various local authorities that use DWP, is looking to make the most of the remaining £12.9m of central government money still at their disposal.

The joint committee is hoping to invest the money into three existing waste facilities at Hurn, Millhams in Bournemouth and Blandford.

Discussions have started with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) about using the allocated money in this way and a formal application would be needed before any investment can take place.

Larry Austin, Bournemouth Borough Council's service director for environment, said: “Working with the Dorset Waste Partnership we were successfully awarded government funding to develop a strategic material recycling facility for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset.

“Following a comprehensive procurement process to appoint a suitably experienced contractor to design, build and operate a facility the region, it was concluded that this was no longer financially viable.

“We recently submitted a new set of proposals to government which recommends alternative ways in which the allocated funding could be used to develop existing waste facilities across Dorset.

"The new proposal would still comply with the respective waste management strategies, whilst reducing the total household waste and carbon burden of waste management activities in the region. We are currently awaiting feedback from DCLG.

It was reported at last month's Christchurch Borough Council resources committee meeting that there was currently an underspend by DWP.

If this continues until the end of the financial year, the DWP joint committee will decide whether the local authorities receive a refund or if the underspend goes straight into the partnership's reserves.