Town councillors in Dorchester have backed a transport action group for the area.

It aims to build a cohesive 10-year transport plan for the county town and nearby parishes – tackling everything from walking to the railways.

Similar groups already exist in Purbeck with a western area group based around Bridport.

Giles Watts from the Dorchester Climate Action Network told a meeting of the town's planning and environment committee that part of the impetus had been the lack of action from Dorset Council.

The view was echoed by Cllr Tim Harries who said that the last presentation to the town from Dorset Council had revealed how out of date the information was which the unitary council were working on.

Mr Watts told the meeting that it was felt that the next 10 years would bring massive change to transport and there was a belief that the area was not ready for it.

He said that lessons would be learnt from other Transport Action Groups in the county and that the new group hoped to include a range of members, including experts and lay people with an interest in the issues.

He said the remit would cover walking, cycling, electric leisure vehicles, including bicycles and scooters, cars, vans, buses, taxis, freight transport and rail.

He said that transport currently accounts for 38.4 per cent of Dorset's emissions profile accounting for an estimated 765 kilotons of CO2 each year – making transport the single biggest contributor to our county's carbon footprint.

"Transport is fundamental to so many issues affecting Dorchester and this would be an opportunity to drive the decarbonisation agenda locally and do something practical in the town that would support a positive change towards sustainable transport and a better living environment," said Mr Watts.

Cllr Frances Hogwood, one of the town councillors who has been taking part in a survey of walking and cycling routes in the town, welcomed the new group.

She said that one of the key targets ought to be reducing the number of unnecessary car trips within the town – half of which were of less than two miles. Many of these journeys were made because people were worried about their safety in walking or cycling on many local routes.