Bournemouth draft development plans approved by council

If the plans are approved a water-based family attraction would be built near the seafront

Residents are to get their say on a blueprint for how Bournemouth council wants the town to be developed.

The Town Centre Vision document covers 30 sites in the Dorset town, including the Asda site at Lansdowne and the Winter Gardens and Pavilion Gardens.

The plans include building up to 2,000 new homes.

A public consultation is due to begin after Bournemouth Borough Council's Cabinet approved the Draft Town Centre Area Action Plan.

The council hopes to adopt its Area Action Plan in May 2012.

Among the proposals, the council agreed to explore the cost of acquiring the former bus station, now an NCP site, and the feasibility of turning it into a public transport hub.

Casino 'dropped'

It also said it would sell the Winter Gardens site to a private pension fund, A P Bond Children's Settlement, which wants to build a 66,000 sq m complex, including cinemas, shops, parking and landscaped areas.

The developer now has until 1 March 2012 to obtain planning permission.

The council also welcomed proposals to drop the building of a casino at a development planned for the Pavilion Gardens.

Planning officers will now continue to work with the developer, Trevor Osborne Property Group (TOPG), on the future of the site.

Leader of the council, councillor Peter Charon, said he was "encouraged by TOPG's discussions with the Odeon cinema operator regarding possible relocation to the Pavilion Gardens complex".

The town vision also includes creating a water-based family attraction near the controversial Imax complex, which blocks seafront views and which the council plans to demolish.