THE remit of a company founded to develop land in the centre of Bournemouth could be expanded to neighbouring towns, a council chief executive has said.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council’s Graham Farrant said no discussions had taken place on the future of Bournemouth Development Company.

But he said it could take on “one or two” projects outside of the town’s boundaries if it was deemed to be working well.

Founded by Bournemouth council in partnership with Morgan Sindall Investments, the company is overseeing several schemes to develop public land in Bournemouth town centre.

Concerns have been raised in Poole and Christchurch that the recently-completed merger could see its work expanded to the neighbouring towns.

While admitting it was a possibility, Mr Farrant said the “heritage and character” of the three towns will be an important consideration of any development.

“There have been no discussions on Bournemouth Development Company and what might happen going forward,” he said.

“We have got to look at the future of all of these council-owned companies and how they fit in with what we are doing.

“That’s an issue that members [councillors] will have to look at after the election and judge how successful they are.

“If we feel it is working well then of course it will be possible to consider looking at one or two sites in Christchurch or Poole.”

More than a dozen sites in the centre of Bournemouth have been built on by the company or are being considered for development.

They include the £150 million Winter Gardens scheme which was given planning permission by Bournemouth council in November.

Concerns had been raised by some members of the council’s planning committee that the proposal, which included the construction of 350 flats, contravened many of its policies and may not have been acceptable had it not been put forward by the council.

Bournemouth Development Company is one of several firms now wholly or partly-owned by the new unitary authority after it inherited them in the merger of the three borough councils.

Others include Seascape which offers building services and Tricuro which was set up jointly between Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset County councils to manage social care.