CRANES will be in the sky over Holes Bay come the spring providing local homes for local people – the promise of senior councillors.

Cabinet members at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council have unanimously approved the next steps for their 161-flat scheme at Carters Quay, although the amount of borrowing needed to bring it about remains confidential.

The discussion brought a fresh warning that the projected costs of rents, also secret, are likely to be so high that many local people will not be able to afford to live there.

Creekmoor councillor Diana Butler, who raised the issue, said she was also worried about the overall financial risk of the scheme, the impact of two years of building on residents and businesses and the future costs of maintaining the homes.

But she was almost a lone voice at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Cabinet members lined up to praise the scheme which they say will lead to the regeneration of not only Hamworthy, but the wider Poole area.

Most claimed the project would bring at least £40million to the council over 50 years although none mentioned the lower estimate in official papers of £26m, or the discussion at overview and scrutiny committee where both the occupancy levels and the projected rental income was described as being overly optimistic.

The council say the scheme is likely to take a little over 2 years to come to fruition, with building work starting next spring, the project becoming profitable within 4-5 years.

Council deputy leader Cllr Philip Broadhead said the authority was committed to regenerate Poole “at pace” starting with the Carters Quay scheme which he said would encourage other developments and revitalise the area, offering local homes for local people, while improving access to the waterfront between the two bridges.

“We’ll get cranes in the sky by spring next year…it will have a positive impact on regeneration of the area and on local people…we have control and we can bring this forward,” he said.

Cllr Broadhead denied the authority had been over-enthusiastic about the returns on the scheme saying that, if anything, it was likely to make more profit to re-invest in the local area, than the £41m projected.

He said that with the council’s ownership of the adjoining former power station site it gave the authority control of the three key strategic development sites in the area.

The build to rent scheme will be operated via the council’s wholly owned company, Seascape Homes and Property Limited.

The Cabinet decision gives approval to the acquisition of the Carters Quay site, approves the undisclosed purchase price, gives consent to a 50-year lease to Seascape and recommends to full Council that the council’s capital investment programme be amended to allow the scheme to go ahead ‘by prudential borrowing.’

The scheme is designed across four blocks consisting 62 x 1 bed, 96 x 2 bed and 3 x 3 bed apartments.

A council document says: “The range of accommodation is aimed at young professionals but can accommodate differing needs and it is proposed that all the homes in the scheme will be offered for rent at market rates.”

Included in the development is almost 850square metres of commercial space and 168 car parking spaces, although these are likely to be reduced in number.