A NARROW road beneath a Poole railway bridge which was closed to traffic last year is set to be reopened by BCP Council.

Keyhole Bridge on Whitecliff Road was one of several active travel schemes brought in by the former Unity Alliance administration on a six-month trial last summer.

But cabinet member for transport, councillor Mike Greene, is set to revoke the traffic order a month earlier than planned.

Since the closure was put in place on August 19, use of the road beneath the railway bridge has been blocked to traffic by planters place on the road.

It was one of the schemes introduced under the first round of the government-funded emergency active travel initiative brought in for an initial six-month trial.

Controversy over the overall project contributed to the successful vote of no confidence in former council leader Vikki Slade in September.

And a cabinet member decision record published at the end of last week says Cllr Greene will now revoke the closure.

He said the move respected a promise to respect the views of ward councillors.

But with the road forming the boundary between both two wards, the scheme is only opposed by the two Parkstone councillors. All three Poole Town councillors support the closure and oppose the road's reopening.

The move will be made despite 128 formal comments in support of the scheme being submitted, compared to 35 objections, and the report saying there will be a “negative” equalities impact.

But the report says most of the favourable views were lodged after “confused information” was issued in October.

“Discounting the correspondence received after the confused information, a report showed nine formal expressions of support and 14 objections,” it says.

“In addition, if the informal responses are considered before this miscommunication then in early October there were 54 per cent support for the measure compared to 43 per cent against.

“The council is not under an obligation to make a decision that aligns with a consultation outcome but must also consider the wider operational and legal issues.”

But the move has drawn criticism with Cllr Slade saying it was “bizarre” these views were discounted.

“I was shocked to see that Cllr Greene intends to remove the planters from Keyhole Bridge and reopen this tiny road to cars,” she said. “This makes no sense as both the consultation and the impact assessments show it is overwhelmingly.

“For a group that claimed their priority was consulting with residents, it is bizarre that they should totally ignore the outcome of this consultation.”

She also criticised the decision not to bring the issue through the cabinet process, meaning there will not be a chance for councillors or the public to give their views in meetings.

The report says the final decision to revoke the closure will be taken by Cllr Greene “not before January 25”. But this could be delayed further if it is "called-in" by a councillor for discussion.