ALMOST 1,000 heavy goods vehicles pass through Longham every day, it has been revealed.

In the newly-released town plan, 87 per cent of those who responded said that they “strongly agreed” with the statement “there are too many HGVs driving through Ferndown”.

Those who took the time to fill out the survey said the busiest roads were the A31 and the A348, Ringwood Road.

The most recent figures show that 925 HGVs travel through Longham on the A348 each day, while 590 take the same road daily through Ferndown.

Ferndown’s deputy mayor Councillor Steve Lugg said that plans were in place to deal with the problem. He said: “We now have two new tools to deal with the HGV problem and I will be leading on this, writing to the leader of Dorset County Council shortly.

“The first is the Our Place! programme, which gives locals the chance to have their say and take control, and I am attending a Department for Communities and Local Government briefing on November 8 on behalf of the council.

"The second are the new regulations for the Sustainable Communities 2007, which allow proposals from parish and town councils to be submitted to government, and this also may be useful in forcing action from the Highways Authority.”

He said the problem of HGVs travelling through the town must be stopped.

“What is clear is that if localism is real, then Ferndown residents must be listened to,” he said.

“HGVs in a town centre are not acceptable. Without positive action, standing councillors face a bleak time at the next elections – people have had enough.”

Longham councillor Tony Brown added: “I absolutely recognise the concerns about HGVs, but coming up with a solution to these types of problems is very difficult.

“We don’t simply want to pass the buck to another town by diverting the vehicles away. It is a complex issue.”

Effort behind survey

THE survey was three years in the making, with the first Ferndown Town Plan Open Day taking place at the Barrington Centre in September 2010.

A meeting of a voluntary steering group dedicated to looking into the town plan was held in February 2011, before a questionnaire was delivered to 9,790 residents in Ferndown in March the following year.

Of these, 3,350 – 34 per cent – were answered by individuals or on behalf of families, estimated as representing the views of almost 6,000 residents.

Ferndown has around 17,800 residents in total.