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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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COUNCILLORS MARGARET PHIPPS AND VANESSA RICKETTS

BCP COUNCIL UPDATE
 

Since the June newsletter The Three Towns Alliance administration continues to try to get to grips with the current situation and especially the challenging financial position where a “black hole” of £44m has been identified.  At the first meeting of the Council in May, Christchurch Cllr. Lesley Dedman was elected as Chairman of the Council and Members from each Group were allocated to Committees.
 
BCP Committees
Margaret is on Audit and Governance Committee and Vanessa on Standards Committee.  Audit and Governance met on 27^th July, and Standards Committee has had their first meeting when Vanessa was elected as Chairman.  Margaret has been appointed as Cabinet Support member for Strategic Planning and Local Plan Delivery.  This is not a Cabinet role, but she is taking on responsibility for ensuring that the new BCP Local Plan is brought forward for draft publication and further comment by residents, in a timely manner, before being put before a Government Inspector for examination early next year.  BCP will be engaging with residents in the autumn about policies in the draft plan and we will keep you updated on that.
 
Corner of Hillside Drive and Hurn Road – Application 8/23/0286/ADV - Erection of a digital advertisement
You may be aware that an application was submitted for an illuminated sign on land to the East of Hurn Road/Corner of Hillside Drive. The proposed size of the sign was 7m in width, 5.5m in height and 0.3m in depth. We are pleased to tell you that this application has been refused. The refusal states that the sign would have “a substantial detrimental impact on the amenity of the site which is characterised by its open, undeveloped nature.”
 
Bournemouth Town Centre
The revitalisation and rejuvenation of Bournemouth town centre is a top priority for the new Three Towns Alliance administration. Key to making that happen is what residents think and want. The Council has launched a new survey of residents asking them what they would like to see and do in in the town centre and what would make them come into town more often and stay longer. This is the link to the survey which closes on 4^th August.    https://haveyoursay.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/btc
 
We hope our updates are useful and we are both here to assist you, and will continue working hard for the Commons area, both in the ward and at the council.

Cllr. Margaret Phipps – margaret.phipps@bcpcouncil.gov.uk 
    Tel: 01202 478266
Cllr. Vanessa Ricketts – vanessa.ricketts@bcpcouncil.gov.uk 
   Tel: 07760 391467
 

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Christchurch Town Council operates some main committees, some of which have short term working groups operating as required.
 
Planning
The Planning committee meets bi-weekly  and discusses any plans, which have been submitted to BCP,  which seem to require further examination.  Either because a councillor feels this is necessary, or because one or more residents have asked us to. The Town Council is a statutory consultee of BCP’s planning department, which means they have to ask for our opinion, but they do not have to always agree with us.
Neighbourhood Planning Working group
Neighbourhood Plans are put together with a mix of councillors and residents who have a particular interest in this. A second newsletter will be issued very shortly to show progress and how far we have gone.
 
Community Committee
The community committee is responsible for all matters connected to the allotments, maintenance of land owned by CTC (the Quomps, Mudeford Rec, Druitt Gardens) and the maintenance of our own heritage assets (eg the Old Town Hall).
During 2022/3 there have been three working groups formed:
Jubilee celebrations working group.
The Town Council organised the big Beacon Lighting event on Mudeford Quay for the Jubilee, which attracted around 4000 people. They also installed three Jubilee benches, at the Quomps, in Mudeford Rec and in Druitt Gardens.
Christmas Lights working group
2022 was the first year CTC were allowed to take back control of the Christmas Lights in the town. We had a small subsidy from BCP but funded the rest ourselves and were very happy with the end result, which was much more appropriate for Christchurch and enjoyed by all.
Coronation Working Group
A small working group organised the town council’s coronation activities, including bunting, a large screen on the Quomps to show the event, a stage and live entertainment, food stalls and some local primary schools doing maypole dancing, with maypoles donated by CTC to the schools to celebrate the Coronation.
 
Ownership of land
In 2019 BCP took over many of the open spaces previously owned by CBC, while the town council was established, with the intention of returning them to CTC in short order. This did not happen, so CTC have been negotiating to have some returned. We are now taking back ownership of the Barrack Road recreation ground and the two skateparks. It was felt impractical to take on all the rest as it would involve maintenance costs which CTC could not currently fund. But for Barrack Road, it was felt we could add significant value for the community here.
 
In addition, in May this year, the Town Council chose to purchase 1500 geranium plants and plant up the three large beds on Barrack Road, with the help of a large number of volunteers, which are now looking amazing.
 
Priorities for 2023/4
Barrack Road Recreation Ground
 
The Town Council would like to plan to build a new pavilion here to support sporting activities on the field. Not necessarily in the same place as the old one, but also to consider adding somewhere for our young people to meet (a youth club?) to help combat anti-social behaviour, and possibly a MUGA (Multi Use Games Area).
 
Early in the year we will be consulting on this to get residents opinions and further suggestions of what should be included.
 
Town Council Offices
Currently the only office the town Council has is upstairs in the Mayor’s Parlour at the Old Town Hall. This is not disabled-friendly and not big enough for council meetings with residents attending. So, we have been renting a room in the Library, but this is also not ideal and also not very disabled-friendly. It also appears that we will not be able to use any of the old Civic Offices. So during this year, we will be actively looking for space we can use which will fit all the criteria required.
 
Old Town Hall Maintenance
The old Town hall is in need of significant repair. The roof is leaking and has ruined much of the decoration and the stair carpets have been significantly damaged by the water ingress. As it is a listed building, we have to do all we can to keep it in good condition. 
A project to repair the roof and maintain the building will progress during this summer and autumn 2023. This has been anticipated for some years, and so the funds have been put into reserves to allow this to be done.
 
Plaques and signage
Now that the blue plaques have been restored, we would like to bring back to good repair the large blue metal Christchurch (twinned with) signs at the entrance to the town, to restore a sense of Civic Pride. We will be investigating this further to get the permissions from BCP Highways team as they are sited on their land.
 

 

Christchurch Countryside Volunteers are a group who regularly do practical conservation work on St Catherine’s Hill, as well as other nature reserves and greenspaces in the area. We operate a weekly Tuesday volunteer work party sessions between 10am and approximately 3:30pm, with the location changing each week. The group are very friendly and welcoming and the work is suited to mixed abilities. There is always a job for everyone from litter picking to cutting back and creating new habitat for wildlife. The option is there to come along for as long or as little as you wish . Refreshments are provided and all appropriate tools and PPE.
If you would like to come along, please contact countryside@bcpcouncil.gov.uk for further details, to join our mailing list to be notified of the programmed sessions.

As the cost of living increases it is important to be aware of the benefits, payments and support options available to you. There are local and national schemes that can help you with rent, food, energy and more.
These pages will be updated as more information and resources become available.