THE next stage of a scheme to install temporary accommodation for people with physical or learning disabilities gets underway at in the new year.

Dorset Council is financing the project – which includes temporary 'relocatable housing' – at the former Wareham Middle School site, Worgret Road,

This site has sat unused since 2013 when the buildings were demolished.

Plans for more widespread redevelopment of the land at Worgret Road, including the construction of a new ‘health hub’, care home and housing, are still being put together by the council.

Meanwhile, 18 units of temporary accommodation will start to be put in place early January, with a view to being finished by mid-April.

These temporary buildings, which are made in a factory and lifted into position on site, will remain until the wider work is carried out.

Dorset Council housing cabinet member Graham Carr-Jones said: “This type of housing allows the council to use sites while medium and long-term plans are developed.

"There is a local need for housing and we need it quickly."

ESS Modular Ltd is the main contractor for the construction of the units. They will be on site to set up from Monday January 6. They have also written to residents within the immediate area to advise of their contact details and schedule of works.

Laura Miller, health cabinet member at Dorset Council, said: "Permanent housing will be developed alongside the relocatable housing, giving people the opportunity to see their permanent house being built and then move when complete, freeing up the relocatable housing units for craning off the site and to a new location.”

There is still a growing need for social care housing in the area, council bosses say. These include people being discharged from long-term hospital stays, moving on from home, or currently living in inappropriate housing.

According to Dorset Council there are currently 33 local people who need accommodation in the next 12 months. And this need is not something that can be met through traditional building programmes, argues the council.

Also, there are 41 people in Purbeck who have a need for housing in the next five years which will be addressed by longer term plans.

Visit at www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/buildingbetterlives to find out more about the scheme.