RESIDENTS angered by potential plans for gravel extraction in Dorset might have won a small battle to prevent the Roeshot site being utilised by Dorset County Council.

At a meeting of the joint advisory committee for the minerals and waste policy in March, members were told about the results of the consultation process that had taken place last year.

According to the report from that meeting, the Roeshot site, which borders Burton, the Grange and West Highcliffe, was the second most controversial site in the review.

Roeshot is also the focus of a proposed site with Hampshire County Council, which has also had hundreds of objections lodged against its use.

Fears have built due to concerns the site could have two authorities digging there, with worries over the environmental impact as well as the pressure on the local infrastructure.

But due to a legal challenge against the proposed Hampshire site, the progress of the Dorset proposal would be reliant on the neighbouring authority.

And it could be that because of that legal challenge, the proposed site might not become available for use until the late 2020s or early 2030s, which would be beyond the Dorset timescale.

Cllr David Jones said: “We hope that when county considers the plans the factors they will consider will be the infrastructure that is already under pressure.

“We have got to make sure the county council listens to what we say because these proposals will generate an awful lot of problems.

“Christchurch council will lead the fight but the residents have to join us. If we fight we may lose but if we don’t fight we will lose. This is a bottom up process and residents need to make sure they are heard.”