CONTENTIOUS plans to build family homes on a former landfill site where toxic substances were dumped have finally been agreed by council planning chiefs.

Sucessive developers have fought for more than two decades to build on the Canford Heath site but inquiries and appeals always ruled against them.

However Borough of Poole planning committee members finally brought an end to the saga by agreeing 120 homes could be built on the brown field site.

Ward councillor Sandra Moore said: “I am upset and so are a lot of residents.

“The land is contaminated, no one has argued against this, and I question whether it is suitable for family homes.”

Members gave the green light on condition developers Bellway Homes and Miller Homes invest an additional £1.2million to fund on-going site management, install cycle/pedestrian links, and mitigate the impact of building on heathland.

The site borders Kellaway Road, Verity Crescent, Mitchell Road and Scarf Road.

Cllr Moore said: “The lives of residents, particularly in Kellaway Road, will never be the same.

“They are particularly upset because of the remediation work that will be done.

“All the traffic, up to 14,000 HGV movements a year, will come through just one entrance in Kellaway Road.

“We suggested making a temporary access point onto Dorset Way, just for the remediation work, but this was turned down flat.”

Independent environmental tests uncovered low levels of asbestos at the site, which “pose a sufficiently low risk to future site users”, and other tests have been carried out to ensure the area is safe.

But a report to councillors stated: “An ongoing management strategy is required to ensure that periodic inspections of the site are undertaken.

“These inspections will seek to verify that the site surface is not being damaged by misuse.”

The development will have a mixture of family homes and a large area of public space with nature conservation.