A FORMER leader of Bournemouth council wants to revive the idea of a monorail as an answer to several of the town’s worst transport headaches.

David Trenchard, who was Conservative leader of the council in the 1980s, says the scheme has been suggested several times but never taken up.

He says the parking and access problems around AFC Bournemouth’s Goldsands Stadium, Bournemouth Airport, the law courts, Royal Bournemouth Hospital and JP Morgan could all be improved by a monorail linking the sites.

Alderman Trenchard spoke up after correspondence in the Daily Echo about all those schemes and concerns that the situation could be made worse now that the Cherries are in the Premier League.

He described the scheme, first suggested 25 years ago, as “expensive to build but relatively inexpensive to run”.

“I continued to suggest it previously because I think it’s a damn good idea, particularly as it links the car parking in the places where the people need to go,” he said.

He said the idea had not got far when he was council leader. “People at the time thought there weren’t going to be many more cars but the number of cars tends to go up inordinately,” he said.

The AFC Bournemouth car park at King’s Park – which is only heavily used on match days – could be used to provide parking at peak time for those using the facilities in the Littledown area, he said.

On match days, the parking around Castle Lane East would be used to relieve the pressure around the stadium.

“AFC Bournemouth’s car park is free half the time. There’s not enough parking in the law courts during the week or at the hospital,” said Alderman Trenchard.

The monorail could also be linked to Pokesdown railway station, he suggested.

In a report he wrote in 2011, he said: “It must be worth a proper and thorough analysis involving all the agencies and businesses that would benefit. Doing nothing is not what brought us the Bournemouth we enjoy today.”

He added: “We need to start small with a scheme and concept capable of expansion in the future but solving the burning issues of today. It needs to be done soon whilst the land is still available.”

The town is to have a new access to the Spur Road near Royal Bournemouth Hospital as part of the government’s £79million Growth Deal funding for Dorset. It is expected to be opened between 2018 and 2021.