FLOODING and lack of facilities are top of the list of concerns Blandford Town Council has raised about the proposed £13 million redevelopment at the Hall & Woodhouse brewery site.

Councillors reacted cautiously to a presentation on the project given by district council development control manager John Hammond at their last planning meeting.

Cllr Haydn White said: "I am not against social housing. I was brought up in a council house, but we don't need social housing without facilities and those facilities are not being provided."

Hall and Woodhouse hopes to use the part of the complex formerly used to make soft drinks to build a more modern home for the brewery, freeing up land for nearly 200 new homes and a relocated skatepark.

Mr Hammond said discussions were continuing between planning officers and the company and the scheme and that the input of town and parish council would be welcomed with regard to the facilities needed.

The development would be on a floodplain and town councillors questioned how the skatepark could be relocated when in the past the Environment Agency had said a BMX track should not be put on the same land because of the risk of flooding.

Mr Hammond said: "One thing that has been a major determinant on this plan is the view of the Environment Agency, which has been very much involved in the process."

The brewery's plans, which received an enthusiastic welcome from the public at an exhibition in November, include converting the existing Victorian building into flats and building up to 60 much-needed affordable homes.

There are also business units included in the plan that could supply the facilities for up to 500 jobs.

The brewery site actually falls into the parish of Blandford St Mary rather than in Blandford and the parish council, along with the Regional Development Agency and English Landscapes, has not raised any objections to the proposals.