AN empty council depot site in Christchurch is being prepared to be sold.

Christchurch Borough Council said the Grange Road site is being prepared for sale, months after a planning and design brief was put together for the land.

A spokesperson for the council, said: "The council is in the process of preparing the site for disposal. Any future use will need to be compatible with the established planning and design brief.”

A meeting of the community services committee at the end of last year heard the site would need redevelopment when Dorset Waste Partnership left for alternative accommodation in Bournemouth.

The DWP left in February, with the council wanting to avoid increased costs, which were due to rise from £130,180 to £238,000.

Residents called for further consultation on what could be built on the site in the future.

But the council said the community would be put at more risk if a planning brief was not put on the land.

The brief is based on a mix of employment land and housing.

Up to 30 new homes could potentially be built on part of the site, according to the brief, along with an area of parking.

A green buffer would section off the residential land from the businesses.

The brief also calls for further consultation with neighbours and the local community before any other applications are submitted.

It says any consultation must be at a stage that is "sufficiently early" in the process to have a meaningful influence on the final plans.

"Details of the process carried out and the outcomes arising from it should be reported as part of the planning application", it adds.

Linda Clarke, chairman of Grange Residents' Association, said: "We wanted more consultation on the planning brief itself before it got to this stage.

"But at least the council have acknowledged there does need to be more consultation before any kind of planning application is submitted."