OBJECTORS to the Wessex Field road development have urged the council to rethink the "damaging" proposal.

In a formal objection to the planning application submitted to Bournemouth council, a group of signatories consisting of environmental forums, residents' groups and sustainable travel experts said the scheme is "out of kilter" with local policy.

The borough council, alongside Dorset County Council and Dorset Local Enterprise 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.

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.

The letter to the planning department says: "The junction is on green belt, the new road will generate traffic and create a cut-through to Iford exacerbating air pollution, road injuries and ill-health."

It says the council has not considered any alternatives including improved rail, trams or guided bus routes.

"Rather than out-of-town sprawl, the council should develop sustainably: use existing parcels of undeveloped land near public transport and make more effort to use unoccupied town centre office space.

"Hospital transport needs could be met through sustainable modes and additional accesses from Castle Lane.

"We know from the National Travel Survey that there are no time savings in the long run from road building projects.

"New roads are saturated within five years of completion."

It adds: "If the council proceeds, we’ll be £8 million poorer with green belt lost forever.

"Added pollution and inactivity mean more asthma, obesity and heart disease.

"An unhealthy scheme supported by the very organisation – the hospital – who will end up shouldering the costly burden of ill-health which will result from it."

It is signed by 14 groups and individuals including Stephen Joseph , chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, Dorset Equality Group, Dr Felicity Rice, Fizz Bikes, Simon O'Connor, Greenpeace and Angela Pooley of East Dorset Friends of the Earth.

Peter Henshaw and Peter Aldous from Dorset Cyclists’ Network, Paul Turner from Friends of Riverside have also put their names to it.