THE Wessex Fields development proposal will deliver jobs essential to Bournemouth's future economic success, the council says.

At a recent meeting resident Mark Elkins asked what statistical analysis had been done to show there was "a need" for the 2,000 or so jobs predicted to be created by the scheme.

The borough council, alongside Dorset County Council and Dorset Local Economic Partnership, last month submitted a planning application for a new junction on the A338 Spur Road, linking up to the Wessex Fields site east of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

The site is earmarked for business development.

In response to the query, Councillor Philip Broadhead, cabinet member for economic growth, said: "I have seen some criticism from various quarters around this council’s continued push toward creating job opportunities and increasing the productivity and success of our local economy.

"Some suggest that, with our unemployment level at an extremely low level at the present, a focus on schemes which continue this push and create jobs for the future is unnecessary.

"However, let’s be clear. To take our eye off the ball would be to undermine years of work in making Bournemouth and the surrounding area the economic success that it is today, and we owe it to the next generation to safeguard this for the future."

He said predicted job numbers for such schemes were "not simply made up" but the product of "formal, established methodologies".

The Wessex Fields junction proposal, intended to reduce traffic congestion, has sparked a campaign in opposition with some residents, and Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood, expressing concern about the loss of green belt land and a listed cob barn.

Some have also expressed fears it will lead to a greater volume of traffic and therefore to increased air pollution.

Cllr Broadhead said the borough was "ahead of the game" in meeting the Government's demand that councils boost local productivity and wages.

"For example, the council was awarded £8.5 million to turbo-charge investment in Lansdowne," he said.

"It is also a key partner of the Bournemouth International Growth Programme that received £45m investment to improve the area in and around Bournemouth Airport, of which Wessex Fields is a major part.

"These projects will help Bournemouth to continue to fulfil its economic potential."