A FORMER power station site could be brought under public ownership through a compulsory purchase order (CPO) due to a lack of interest from private developers in developing it.

Poole council and now BCP Council have described the land at Holes Bay in Poole as “integral” to its plans to “revitalise” the town centre and it is allocated in the borough’s local plan for 850 homes.

However, a report to its cabinet says landowners London and Quadrant and Lands Improvement Holdings have “confirmed that they do not intend to proceed” with development of the site.

Poole council first designated the site for housing more than 20 years ago and since then has worked on several initiatives to try and make a scheme, which would be the largest in the conurbation, feasible.

In 2012 the £37 million Twin Sails Bridge was opened with a 1,350-home and commercial development proposal put forward for the power station site submitted at about the same time.

But concerns were raised about the viability of the scheme due to “exceptional” costs, including the estimated £20 million required to relocate a substation.

Following this, the council was awarded £5million for a joint approach with Homes England, Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership and the landowners to develop the site.

Planning permission has since been secured for the port link road and quay wall to prepare the site for development but a cabinet report says the landowners are not willing to continue with a scheme.

“The delivery of housing on this site is a key priority for the council and therefore discussions have been taking place to seek an alternative approach,” it says.

The report raises concerns that a new and increased 2,600 homes-a-year target set by government could be out of reach without the development of the power station site.

“To prevent this site stalling further, with the unacceptable implications given the need for housing in the conurbation, it is now recommended that the council takes an alternative approach and seeks to explore options for acquiring the site,” it adds.

“The preferred option would be to acquire the site with agreement from the landowners through negotiation.

“However, this may not be successful and therefore the council should be planning to use its CPO powers as a default position.”

Cllr Kieron Wilson, cabinet member for housing, said bringing the site into public ownership would enable it have houses built "much sooner".

The report recommends that the cabinet allocates £150,000 to develop a ‘site acquisition strategy’ including provision for the potential requirement of a CPO.

In a joint statement, the landowners said they were "committed" to working with the council to develop the site.

“There are numerous complexities involved in bringing this site forward for development in terms of legal, planning, remediation and infrastructure, some of which have been mentioned in the council report," it said.

“We have a live planning application which is at an advanced stage but we have been delayed due to a holding objection from Natural England relating to the scheme’s impact on Holes Bay Special Protection Area.

“Due to where we are with the planning application and some of the conditions of the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership funding agreement, we were unable to enter the agreement and apply it towards the project, which was a disappointment to us.

"Nonetheless, we remain committed to working with the council and stakeholders to finding ways to bring forward this important site for much needed homes.”