Residents Association Monthly Newsletter

Many thanks to those of you who have paid your £1 annual sub (plus in many instances a voluntary donation). Several of you, however, haven't renewed your membership. Details of what to do are given at the foot of this newsletter

The Latest Scam

It hasn’t taken the scammers long to attempt to exploit the coronavirus situation.

The scammer calls you claiming to be the NHS coronavirus Test and Trace service.

They will tell you that you've been in contact with someone with coronavirus, that you need to take a test, and they will ask for your address and payment card details to cover the cost of the testing kit.

Please remember that the NHS Test and Trace service is a FREE service.

If it's a genuine phone call from the NHS, you will not be asked for personal details upfront. Instead, you'll be given a unique ID number to log into the NHS England Test and Trace website. The official web address is contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk.

Check the URL carefully to make sure it is the official site. Once you've logged in, you'll be asked some personal information.

Any of the following should set alarm bells ringing. NHS Test and Trace will not:

Ask you to dial a premium rate number (for example, those starting 09 or 087).
Ask you to make any form of payment.
Ask you for any details about your bank account.
Ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts.
Ask you for any passwords or PINs or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone.
Ask you to purchase a product.
Ask you to visit any website that does not belong to the Government or NHS.
Ask you to download any software or hand over control of your PC, smartphone, or tablet. (The Track and Trace app may be the exception to this rule, and we will try to clarify this as soon as we can. For now, however, it is not publicly available).

Grockles cause chaos
Council and emergency services have praised local people for showing restraint after a multi-agency response was needed to deal with the unprecedented visitor numbers arriving on the hottest day of the year.

Car parks in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were full by 10am, roads congested and thousands of people arriving by train throughout the day and evening, leading to extremely crowded beaches, stretched services and widespread anti-social behaviour.

Extra police patrols, enforcement teams and resources were redirected to support the council’s seafront ranger team, particularly around the hot spots of between the piers and at Sandbanks in Poole.

Council Leader Vikki Slade said: Local people have been brilliant, and I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to them for listening and obeying the warnings issued.

We know so many of you share our frustrations at what happened over those two days on our beaches. This is about outside visitors coming into the area in their thousands and refusing to take responsibility for their actions.

BCP Council:
Issued 993 fixed penalty notices for illegally parked cars;
Collected in excess of 50 tonnes of waste from the promenade and beaches in just one day;
Provided outreach youth workers to protect vulnerable young people from risk of exploitation;
Increased security patrols in terms of numbers and were on duty later into the evening;
Kept some public toilets open much later than planned;
Placed extra staff on car parks entrances;
Increased numbers and extended the hours of civil enforcement officers on patrol.

We, the local taxpayers will be footing the bill.

However, a major new support package to help councils respond to coronavirus has been announced by Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick as part of a comprehensive plan to ensure councils’ financial sustainability for the future.

Councils in England will now receive a further, un-ring-fenced £500 million to respond to spending pressures they are facing.

In addition to this funding, a major new scheme introduced by the government will help to reimburse lost income during the pandemic and boost cash flow.

Where losses are more than 5% of a council’s planned income from sales, fees and charges, the government will cover them for 75p in every pound lost.

Additionally, to enable them to get on the front foot and build much-needed breathing space into their budgets, the government is also bringing in changes so that they can spread their tax deficits over 3 years rather than the usual one.

Dorset Police and Stop-and-Search

Like all forces in England & Wales, Dorset Police uses stop and search as a legitimate way to maintain law and order. Stop and search, used properly, is a valuable tool in dealing with criminal behaviour, helping to deal with many offences, from possession of controlled substances to burglary.

However, anyone subject to stop and search will know that it can be an unsettling experience, which only magnifies the upset felt by those who feel they have been stopped without reason or because of bias.

They are aware of the concerns around the use of stop and search, especially considering recent events in the USA.

Policing in the UK has always been by consent, since the days of Robert Peel and this is something that matters deeply to every police officer. It is not acceptable that any section of society should see the police as a threat or hostile to their community

In 2019/20 of the 2,105 searches undertaken, 153 were individuals who identified as black and over half of those people were not residents of Dorset.
This is an important context to recognise because comparisons are based on the resident population rather than visitors and therefore can give false results.
Since October 2017 Dorset Police have been working with an independent scrutiny panel which was established by the Police & Crime Commissioner to ensure that use of stop and search is fair and held to account.
The panel review grounds, outcomes and a small sample of the body worn video available for stop and searches.
The overwhelming response from this panel is the activity of our police officers is proportionate and justified.

The police have also been busy catching drug dealers
As part of the UK’s biggest ever law enforcement operation a series of raids took place in Dorset to target suspected organised crime gangs involved in the supply of controlled drugs.

Dorset Police worked alongside the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the National Crime Agency as part of Operation Venetic to act on intelligence uncovered through the takedown of EncroChat, a bespoke encrypted global communication service used exclusively by alleged criminals.

Following several arrests, a number of investigations took place in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and London. A gun as well as a quantity of suspected controlled drugs and large amounts of cash were located.

Care of our coastline

A new coastal partnership has been established between BCP Council and Dorset Council. The new Dorset Coastal Engineering Partnership area stretches from Lyme Regis in the west to Chewton Bunny in the east.

The Partnership will provide an effective and co-ordinated approach in the delivery of schemes to help protect residents and communities from coastal flooding and erosion.

As well as designing and delivering large government funded projects, the main functions of the new partnership will be to set long term strategies for managing the shoreline, maintain coastal assets and influence the industry through sound research and innovative techniques.

The Partnership will work closely with the Wessex Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (WRFCC). They will consider the co-ordination of proposed schemes and how the costs and benefits of any investment can be spread between geographical areas, communities, and sectors.

Ron Curtis, Environment Agency Area Flood Risk Manager (Wessex), said: “The national strategy encourages Councils to form partnerships, so we are delighted this section of the Dorset coastline is now being managed as one coastal-cell.

As well as ensuring a fair allocation of funds to protect local communities, the partnership will be better able to communicate and involve people in the Dorset-wide coast protection policies. This is crucial as we continue to prepare for climate change, developing and providing solutions for managing coastal flood and erosion risk.”

Our young people lend a hand

School children from schools across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are being invited to create artwork to encourage people to behave responsibly and respect the environment when visiting our parks and beaches.

BCP Council plans to use the artwork on signage across the area’s seafront and heathlands and this will support the council’s Leave Only Footprints campaign.

This year, the council has seen increasing amounts of litter, such as plastic bottles, takeaway containers, and other rubbish, being left behind in our parks, heathlands, and on the beautiful sandy beaches of our area. The school signage artwork project aims to encourage individuals to be more considerate and responsible with their behaviour.

School students will be asked to think of innovative ways to encourage visitors to respect the environment and will create their designs in full colour, which can be hand drawn, painted or digital.

The council plans to use as many of the designs as possible across a range of signs – from A4 boards on lamp posts along the seafront, to prints on tree planters, banners, car park signs and more.

Free School Meals
Vulnerable families across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will now receive free school meal vouchers during the school summer holidays. This means that eligible families will receive a £15 food shopping voucher per child per week throughout the summer.

If you are eligible for free school meals your school should be in touch with you. If you think you are newly eligible, please contact your child's school as soon as possible.

You may be eligible if you receive: Income Support; Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; Income-related Employment and Support Allowance; Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; The guaranteed element of Pension Credit; Child Tax Credit; Working Tax Credit run-on; Universal Tax Credit

Our Libraries Re-open

Four of the area’s largest libraries across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have reopen from 6 July following the government’s latest announcement on 23 June with new socially distanced layout and services in line with public health guidance.

Visitors to the libraries will notice that services have temporarily changed to maintain public and staff safety, and there may be queues at busy times.

The libraries will have one-way systems and protective screens at the staff desks. As new guidance is introduced usual library services will be expanded when it is safe to do so.

The four largest libraries will initially provide:

Book loans and quick choice browsing. All stock will go into 72 hours quarantine on return;

‘Order & Collect’ new service where public can email or phone in requests for favourite genres or authors and staff will pick and pack a selection for pick up from the library;

Book Bundles to borrow;

Enquiry service mainly by email and phone;

PCs with social distancing and cleaning between each use;

The online services and the Home Library Service will continue to operate across the area.

During the period of temporary closure BCP Council's library service has expanded the online digital service providing e-books, e-audio, online newspapers, magazines and comics, and free online information resources, as well as cultural and family activities on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

The Home Library Service is now a doorstep delivery service and is available to new clients.

There are plans for four further libraries at Boscombe, Broadstone, Castlepoint and Canford Heath to reopen in July followed by all others during August subject to review and government guidance. Further details will be made available nearer the time.

Opening hours will change temporarily to allow staff to safely restock and to manage the order and collect service. Further information can be found here

Community Halls remain closed

The Government have just issued 9 pages of guidance on the re-opening of community Facilities such as Halls. If you are interested the guidance can be found here

The guidance supplements information sheets produced by Action with Communities in Rural England.

There is a considerable amount of preparation to do before any such facility can consider reopening. It is unlikely that our local community halls will open until September, and then only on a limited basis.

Cycling on St Catherine’s Hill

BCP Countryside Officer, Robin Harley, is very worried by the damage being done to our SSSI by cyclists in general and downhill mountain bikers in particular.

New signage has been introduced and BCP Officers, with police help, continue to accost those breaking the law by cycling in ecologically sensitive areas. They would like to increase the level of their patrols but don’t have the staffing capacity to do so.

He has asked us to assure you that they are doing their best to manage in difficult circumstances.

Tree Felling at Hillside Drive

BCP has been contacted by Hanover Housing Ltd regarding the rear retaining wall at Hanover Lea on Highview Close, off Hillside Drive which is close to collapse and needs replacement.

The damage to the wall is caused by trees on Council land which are directly adjacent to the wall. In addition to the proximity (and lean) of the trees being an issue, the subsequent replacement of the wall is likely to undermine the trees further.

The tree officer supports the view that the trees need to be removed (this is two large trees at the south end and two small trees at the north end).

Works are not due to take place until August.

Please contact Mark Corcoran Mark.Corcoran@anchorhanover.org.uk from Hanover, should you require any further detail

Membership

If you have yet to renew your membership, you can do so by posting or hand delivering £1 (plus any small additional contribution you might like to make) to 82 Hurn Road, Christchurch.

The house is at the junction of Hurn Road, Marlow Drive and St Catherine's Way being the first bungalow in the service road heading towards the airport.

Alternatively, you can make an electronic inter-bank funds transfer to

Name:             Jumpers & St Catherine's Hill Residents Association
Sort code:       40-13-07
Account:          927 321 06

N.B. Some members have experienced problems with this facility with the bank system telling them that the name of the account is “wrong”. Only HSBC can sort the problem out and that is not going to happen in the short term. Provided you have the sort code and the account number correct, the payment will arrive and if you e-mail us separately, we will confirm receipt for you.

Community Matters is produced and edited by a team of local residents who try to present you with the facts that will both keep you informed and enable you to make up your own mind on local issues
Jumpers and St Catherine's Hill RA

Your Residents Association Newsletter

Community Matters - July 2020