BUILDING heights may have to increase if BCP Council is to meet housing targets set by the government and avoid green belt development.

During an update on the progress of the council’s new Local Plan, councillor Stephen Bartlett, part of a working group overseeing the work, said modelling showed it was about 9,000 homes short based on potential urban sites.

He said councillors would be looking at “the potential for building a little bit higher” to reduce the need for green belt land to be developed.

There is a legal requirement on the council to create a new Local Plan for the area following its formation two years ago.

This will set out its priorities for development and provide a blueprint for where housing might be more acceptable and how it will meet targets set by the government.

Dorset Council has a similar requirement and has already but out a controversial draft document for public consultation.

A similar document is being put together by BCP Council’s planning department.

A working group of councillors has been set up to oversee this process and at a meeting last week it considered an urban study which looked at how many homes the built-up area of the conurbation could accommodate.

Speaking at Monday’s scrutiny board meeting, councillor Stephen Bartlett, a member of the group, said this had left the council “around 9,000 units” short of its target.

“This leaves the question of ‘how do we meet our targets?’,” he said. “There’s a couple of obvious potential answers to that and one of those we are focusing on is ‘can we built a little bit higher?’”.

“One of the things the working group will be looking at is the potential for building a little bit higher, in order to avoid the potential for us having to look too much at the green belt.”

He added that development would mean the council has to also look at increasing its provision of Sangs (suitable alternative natural greenspace) to mitigate the impact of new schemes.

A second planning application for a Sang on land in Throop has been submitted after its first attempt at the controversial Hicks Farm scheme was rejected by its own planning committee last year.