BOURNEMOUTH council will not rule out building on green belt land in the north of the borough.

At a full council meeting Throop and Muscliff councillor Kieron Wilson, of the Independent and Green Group, said: "The green belt of north Bournemouth is under great threat and pressure to

develop.

"Please can I have the assurance that the future of the special conservation areas of Throop and Muccleshell will be fully protected so that it will not be compromised in any way shape or form within the greater green belt plans."

However Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for planning and environment, said "all reasonable options" for growth would be considered.

"As part of the local plan process there are various sites being promoted by developers for housing and open space in the green belt," he said.

"It will be for the local plan process, which includes extensive public consultation and public examination, to determine where development should be located.

"The government wish to see an increased supply of housing across the country and they are likely to introduce a new national methodology to determine that housing need in each area.

"However, when determining the location of development a range of constraints, including heritage assets such as conservation areas, will need to be carefully considered and balanced against the need to deliver development."

Cllr Robert Lawton, cabinet member for housing, recently told the Echo that Bournemouth would struggle to meet the Government's proposed new housing target, since it is surrounded on three sides by the sea, Poole and Christchurch.

"To the north we have green belt, we are not allowed at present to build on that, "he said.

"We need to get in a dialogue with the Government on the numbers they are charging us to build so that we are able to meet that target with the resources and land available."

The borough is currently seeking to build a new junction on the A338 at Holdenhurst, which is in the green belt, and a link road through the Wessex Fields business site to Castle Lane East – a scheme which has provoked protests from environmental campaigners.